The Abbé Pierre Foundation distances itself from its founder. This Wednesday, she reaffirms her decision to change her name, after the series of revelations of sexual accusations targeting the priest who died in 2007.
“Despite the terrible revelations about Abbé Pierre which caused a shock wave within the entire society and our difficult decision to change our name, our role remains the same,” underlines Christophe Robert, general delegate of the Foundation.
The Foundation keeps its “fight”
“We are going to write a new chapter for the Foundation, but our mission is to continue to fight poor housing, exclusion and inequalities,” adds Christophe Robert. “The Foundation is changing its name, no fight. We will not weaken. For the people we support and because the social emergency is there.”
Iconic figure and founder of Emmaüs, Abbé Pierre, whose real name is Henri Grouès, has since July been the target of a series of testimonies from women on sexual violence committed between the 1950s and the 2000s, and for some of which may amount to rape or target minors. In the wake of these revelations, the Abbé Pierre Foundation announced that it had “initiated” steps to change its name as well as the definitive closure of the place of memory dedicated to Abbé Pierre in Esteville, in Seine-Maritime.
A “very difficult but necessary decision”
“A certain number of decisions have been taken, notably the change in the name of the Foundation,” the Foundation underlined this Wednesday. “It is a very difficult but necessary decision, with regard to the victims because the facts are serious.” “The legal steps to change the name have been initiated but it is a cumbersome legal procedure,” she adds, hoping however to be able to announce the new name “soon”.
