his defaced portrait on the Fresque des Lyonnais

Between the city of Lyon – his hometown – and Abbé Pierre, nothing is going well. After the municipality, which announced on September 19 that it would ” withdraw “ its name from the public space to the “following the serious and numerous accusations of sexual assault”his portrait painted on the Fresque des Lyonnais was defaced.

A journalist from Agence France-Presse (AFP) noted, Monday September 30, that the word “rapist” has been tagged in capital letters and that red paint blocks Abbé Pierre’s eyes. The blindfold of red paint over the eyes was drawn on Saturday, and the word in black capital letters, underlined by an arrow directed towards Abbé Pierre, was written during the night from Sunday to Monday. On Monday afternoon, the tags and the upper half of the portrait were covered with a large square gray poster stuck on the wall, an AFP photographer noted.

The future of the portrait will be decided soon

“Following the report of the investigation into the sexual violence committed by Abbé Pierre, a citizens’ committee will meet soon to decide on the future of Abbé Pierre’s presence on the Fresque des Lyonnais”indicates a placard affixed to the gray panel. The decision to cover the tags was taken by the CitéCréation cooperative – owner of the fresco and which has produced several hundred painted walls in France and around the world – “in connection with the town hall” from Lyon, the latter announced to AFP.

The Fresque des Lyonnais is a trompe-l’oeil painted on a six-story building depicting famous, historical and contemporary Lyonnais, the latter being represented on the ground floor level of the building. The full-length portrait of Henri Grouès, known as Abbé Pierre, born in Lyon, stands alongside those of the chef Paul Bocuse, the writer Frédéric Dard and the director Bertrand Tavernier. Since the revelations of sexual assault targeting the religious, the painting of the former icon of the fight against poor housing had remained intact, until the damage this weekend.

“The city of Lyon understands the impatience generated by the revelations concerning Abbé Pierre but regrets the deterioration of the fresco”she reacted Monday morning to AFP after the discovery of the tags. While many cities have already renamed places named in homage to the founder of Emmaus, the question arose for this fresco.

The Lyon town hall reported in mid-September that it was “ready to support the withdrawal of Abbé Pierre” of the painted wall, and had supported “CitéCréation’s proposal to put up a poster” aimed at informing the public about the ongoing process.

In France, some one hundred and fifty roads or localities are named Abbé-Pierre or Henri-Grouès, according to an AFP count made in mid-September from the national address database.