Following the revelation on September 6 of new testimonies from women accusing Abbé Pierre of sexual assault, Emmaüs announced an independent commission.
The Conference of Bishops of France (CEF) will open its archives to researchers without delay, and without waiting the usual 75 years, and in particular to those mandated by Emmaüs to investigate Abbé Pierre, its president, Éric de Moulins-Beaufort, announced on Thursday, September 12. The archives “are open to researchers, normally there is a delay of 75 years before they can be consulted but we have decided to open them to researchers, in particular to the Emmaüs inquiry commission”he said on RCF et Radio Notre Dame.
These are the archives of the Church of France kept in Issy-les Moulineaux, distinct from those of the dioceses. Concerning Abbé Pierre, they contain “a fairly thin file” with “some letters” which show that the Central Office of Cardinals of the time “became aware of the behavior” of the priest. “There is an element that he went to Switzerland” in the 50s, but without “no details on what’s going on there”et “That’s about it”added the CEF official.
Behavior known since the 1950s
As for the degree of knowledge within the Church of these actions, Mgr de Moulins-Beaufort repeated: “unable to say” who knew what. “Some bishops certainly knew a certain number of facts, but exactly which ones? A historical investigation will be needed to tell, and I strongly encourage the investigation that Emmaüs has just opened.”he added.
Following the revelation on September 6 of new testimonies from women accusing Abbé Pierre of sexual assault, Emmaüs announced an independent commission tasked “to explain the dysfunctions” which allowed him “to act as he has done for more than 50 years”. Mgr de Moulins-Beaufort recalled that Abbé Pierre “did not live in an ecclesiastical framework, he lived with Emmaus” et “That’s where the archives are. That’s where we have to try to understand.”.
“In the 1950s, when this behaviour began to become known, it worried many people and the Church tried to help him by forcing him to undergo a psychiatric stay in Switzerland.” and a companion. “Apparently, Abbé Pierre has always managed to get around this. But I wouldn’t say that the Church has done nothing.”he said.
