Adrien Chaboche, general delegate of Emmaüs, speaks for the first time following the accusations of sexual violence against Abbé Pierre on RTL. According to him, the image of the character changes completely and he now represents “a sexual predator”for everyone and especially for victims of violence.
This has consequences on the image conveyed by the association itself. “We must be aware that when we display our portrait, we send a message, we have a responsibility.” While the Abbé Pierre Foundation has decided to change its name, Emmaüs France is currently working on a modification of the logo. “There is also a change of status since the name is ‘Emmaüs France founder Abbé Pierre’. In agreement with the employees at the headquarters, we have removed the portraits, it is a path that each Emmaüs group must take”, explains the general delegate.
According to him, everything must not continue as before.
However, “there is no question of forgetting everything,” believes Adrien Chaboche. “We are very aware of what Abbé Pierre did, of what we owe him, of the power of his words (…) What we are changing today is the way in which we, as a movement, present ourselves to the world. Victims and donors could not understand how everything would continue as before after such a revelation.“, he thinks.
In expressing his thoughts to the victims and saluting their courage, Adrien Chaboche also evokes his “huge disappointment” with regard to Abbé Pierre, “a very strong shock” et “lots of emotions”. “I can’t speak for everyone (at Emmaus), but we are deeply disappointed. There is also a misunderstanding on the fact that a man who understood the issues of human dignity so well, who upheld the strong values of humanity and solidarity so well, could have been so disastrous in his relationship with women.” Emmaüs expects to hear more testimonies.
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