From 2007, the sexual assaults of Abbé Pierre were the subject of a documentary, which did not find a broadcaster

Broadcast on the BFMTV platform, the documentary “Abbé Pierre, 50 years of impunity” traces the attacks committed by the priest. He gives a voice to the victims and to Patrick Charles-Messance, a filmmaker who tried to produce a film on the death of the abbot.

Emmaüs has just revealed, in a third report commissioned from the Egaé firm, nine new direct testimonies accusing Abbé Pierre of sexual assault, including rape of a minor. Since the publication of the first accusations last July, journalistic investigations have multiplied. Michaëlle Gagnet makes her contribution with her very dense documentary Abbé Pierre, 50 years of impunity, broadcast Sunday January 12 on BFMTV and available in replay.

In addition to the astonishing facts told by the victims and already read in the press, his story illustrates what the archives reveal little by little: many knew. In Emmaus, in the Catholic hierarchy, and in the priest’s family circle. A director, too, had heard of the violence that Henry Grouès was capable of. In 2007, when the religious had just died, Patrick Charles-Messance met several women who confided to him about sexual assault, including the model and artist Sanda Slag, a former friend of Abbé Pierre. Patrick Charles-Messance sent Michaëlle Gagnet the two cassettes of the interview filmed in 2007, never made public until then despite a film project proposed to numerous television channels. He returns to this moment when the silence could have been broken.

In 2007, why did you decide to investigate Abbé Pierre?
It’s the story of Jean-Christophe Ménétrier, this man who is convinced that he is the son of Abbé Pierre, who tipped me off. He had just published his book, which was very poorly received by critics. His story, whether true or false, made me want to dig deeper. I met him, he made me listen to sound recordings of the abbot, who at no time acknowledges being his father. But I was troubled. Then, I came into contact with the singer and model Sanda Slag, a great friend of the abbot in the 1980s and 1990s. Knowing she had cancer, I decided to film her interview, with her agreement. She confided to me extremely brutal, shocking facts. Recurrent attacks on her breasts, so violent that they leave her with bruises. She also narrates two scenes where the abbot suddenly undresses completely. One of these scenes took place in a Parisian apartment, near the Pantheon, in the presence of Sanda’s daughter. The other takes place at Sanda’s house. She says he hands her a dagger, telling her that he wants to have his penis amputated. This echoes his first attempt at mutilation as a child, which we recently discovered in an article in Monde.

What do you do after collecting this testimony?
I meet two other women, who confide to me about harassment and systematic attacks on the breasts. I also speak with members of the team who had put on a play with Abbé Pierre. They tell me that he groped women during rehearsals. I am then working on a documentary project. My idea was not to produce an incriminating film, but to paint the portrait of a complex man, to explore his gray areas and his contradictions.

Why didn’t this film see the light of day?
I couldn’t find a broadcaster. However, I offered it to almost all the major French chains, public and private, as well as to smaller chains. Despite the reminders, I haven’t had much feedback. It was either silence, which is a form of response, or refusals. The few who responded explained to me that Abbé Pierre was untouchable. I remember a program manager for a channel who was quite willing and even enthusiastic at the start. But after reading the file, she was more reluctant and I didn’t hear from her again. Even if I put forward concrete facts, you have to believe that this was not the time. It was certainly unbroadcast at the time, I was somewhat expecting this unanimous refusal.

You didn’t share this information with other journalists?
It would have been no use. Even in the written press, no one would have published, I am convinced. Besides, some were also aware and said nothing. At the time, the silence was total! He was an icon, and you don’t touch icons. The success of Emmaus rested on Abbot Pierre, and there was still little talk about the sexual excesses committed by priests. I myself felt a moral difficulty: we do not want to harm a structure which helps so many unfortunate people. But there is also a truth to convey.