This is a new earthquake. Abbé Pierre, a figure of the social struggle and long one of the favorite personalities of the French, is accused by 24 women of sexual violence. The specialized firm Elaé has identified 17 new accusations in addition to the 7 already revealed in July. Revelations published this Monday by the investigation unit of Radio France even also report pressure from Abbé Pierre against his accusers.
In the morning, Adrien Chaboche, the general delegate of Emmaüs International, admitted on RTL on Monday that the name of Abbé Pierre was now associated with that of a “sexual predator”.
Faced with this sudden increase in accusations, questions arise about the silence that reigned during the lifetime of Abbé Pierre, who died in 2007.
“If the institutions had worked, there would not have been so many victims”
“If the institutions had worked, there would not have been so many victims,” complains Véronique Margon, president of the Conference of Religious Men and Women of France (Corref), to the Parisian.
Over the past ten years, the Church of France has already adopted several measures, such as the creation of cells to listen to victims or the training of members of the clergy.
Following a series of revelations of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, the socialist group in the Senate had requested a commission of inquiry, transformed into a fact-finding mission whose report was submitted in 2019.
The mission stressed in particular the need to train all ministers of religion on issues of sexual violence, emphasizing reporting obligations and the primacy of French law over their internal rules.
“On the issue of lifting medical confidentiality, we were unable to reach an agreement even though we were in favour, but the report risked not being voted on,” regrets Dominique Vérien, president of the Senate delegation for women’s rights and equal opportunities between men and women. The Union centriste senator for Yonne adds: “There must be a report from the priest or doctor, at least the anonymity of the person who reports so that an internal investigation can be carried out, and so that justice can then do its job.”
Dominique Vérien also recommends “extending the role of the Sauvé commission to violence against men and women, as is the case for Abbé Pierre, and not just children.”
As for Marie Mercier, LR senator from Saône-et-Loire and doctor by profession who worked on the 2019 information mission, she recommends “conducting psychology tests on young people when they make their vow of chastity to verify that this commitment is deep”.
Compensation for victims considered by Emmaüs International
The associations founded by the priest, Emmaüs France, Emmaüs International and the Abbé Pierre Foundation, have reaffirmed their “total support” for the victims. Emmaüs International says it is considering compensation for Abbé Pierre’s victims, as its general director specified on Monday.
The three organizations had decided to launch “a listening exercise […] to establish whether other similar facts could have occurred.” They entrusted the collection of testimonies to the Egaé firm. The Abbé Pierre Foundation also indicated that it had initiated steps to change its name.
“Is it normal that an organization that has not denounced crimes and acts of sexual violence […] “Can the police take justice into their own hands by appointing a private firm?”, however, contests activist Arnaud Gallais, head of the association of victims of sexual violence Mouv’Enfants, who is demanding that the structures look into their responsibility and that the justice system takes up the case again.
Faced with the new revelations, the president of the Conference of Religious Men and Women of France (Corref), Véronique Margron, is calling for the establishment of “a process of justice, recognition, and reparation” similar to what was done after the report of the Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church (Ciase). “It is not a simple meeting that victims need, but for an institution to recognize its responsibility,” she adds.
Abbé Pierre, who died in 2007, can no longer be prosecuted, while most of the facts are likely to be considered statute-barred. In a law on the protection of young minors from sexual crimes, an amendment by socialist senator Laurence Rossignol, however, provides for an interruption of the statute of limitations when the perpetrator of a first crime against a minor commits the same crime against another minor.
Related News :