The portrait of Abbé Pierre, emblematic figure of Emmaüs, will soon disappear from the facade of the center of Villeurbanne. Find out why the association is distancing itself following recent accusations of sexual violence against its founder. Work will begin in January…
This is another hard blow for the image of Abbé Pierre. According to information reported by a source close to the matter, the emblematic portrait of the founder of Emmaüs should soon disappear from the facade of the Emmaüs Gratte-Ciel center in Villeurbanne, in the suburbs of Lyon. Work to erase this familiar face should begin in the first week of January 2025.
This decision comes a few months after the shocking revelations concerning the accusations of sexual violence which would have been perpetrated by the man of the Church during his lifetime. Since then, the Emmaüs association has strived to distance itself from the image of the man who was its charismatic founder, in order to preserve its charitable action among the most deprived.
A erased portrait of public space
The portrait of Abbé Pierre on the front of the Emmaüs center in Villeurbanne is not the only one doomed to disappear. Already, at the end of November, the figure of the priest had been erased from the famous Fresque des Lyonnaisa painted wall in the 1st arrondissement of Lyon where he rubbed shoulders with other illustrious local figures.
Further south, the town of Irigny, where Abbé Pierre spent part of his childhood, has also decided to stop a memorial showcase project who was to pay homage to him. The question of the presence of religion in public space has agitated many municipalities since the accusations made against him.
Accusations that shake the icon
As a reminder, these are the testimonies of 24 womencollected by an internal investigation carried out by Emmaüs International itself, which caused Abbé Pierre's pedestal to shake. These women claim to have suffered sexual violence from the priest, who was allegedly guilty of“acts contrary to chastity” according to the established formula.
If the facts, which allegedly took place over a period ranging from the 1970s to the 2000s, are now prescribed, they nonetheless constitute a real earthquake for the association founded by the abbot in 1949. Emmaüs, which nevertheless continues to work on a daily basis to help the excluded, has since struggled to free itself from the shadow of its fallen creator.
The difficult road to reconstruction
Beyond the erasure of the physical representations of the abbot, the whole challenge for Emmaüs is now to reaffirm one’s identity and valuesby detaching them from the personality of its founder. A major challenge for this world-famous charity movement, which must both come to terms with its history and rebuild itself.
This involves in particular speaking out on these sensitive subjects. Interviewed recently, the president of Emmaüs France recalled the importance of “look our history in the face”while emphasizing the need to “continue our fight, that of the unconditional welcome of the excluded”.
Our priority is first to think of the victims and to give them all our support. But it is also about preserving the collective work of Emmaus, its spirit of solidarity and fraternity which remains intact despite this terrible ordeal.
An Emmaüs manager
For now, the legal proceedings remain impossible concerning Abbé Pierre, who died in 2007 at the age of 94. But the association does not rule out becoming a civil party if victims were to take legal action, said an internal source.
Thus, despite the shock and astonishment caused by these revelations, Emmaüs intends continue its action in favor of the most deprived. With or without the portrait of Abbé Pierre on its walls, the main thing remains not to forget the fight of a lifetime: that of the fight against poverty and exclusion.
