Following accusations of sexual violence targeting Abbé Pierre since July 2024, the municipal councilors of Arras decided to rename their street named after the priest. This will now be called Marietta Martin, named after an Arrageois resistance fighter, writer and activist.
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The Arras municipal council decided this Monday, October 7. As several municipalities in France have already decided, the capital of Pas-de-Calais has also chosen to erase from its streets the name of Abbé Pierre, Catholic priest and father of the Emmaüs communities. accused of sexual harassment and assault.
Until now highly appreciated for his fight against precariousness and poor housing, Abbé Pierre has been accused since July 17, 2024 of sexist and sexual violence against at least seven women, since the 1970s. Recent investigations have made it possible to discover other problematic actions of Abbé Pierre during trips to the United States in the 1950s, of which the Catholic Church would have been aware.
The question of renaming places paying homage to the priest therefore naturally arose in town halls. And Arras is no exception since on September 11, the City decided that rue de l’Abbé Pierre, to the north of the town, would be renamed.
But what about the new name? The hardest part for the City was ultimately to agree on the personality that would attach its identity to the street. After deliberation at the last municipal council, the name of Marietta Martin finally came up. An Arrageois personality mentioned in 2019 to appear on a building or a public place.
► Also read: Emmaüs communities in turmoil: “We must separate the evil man from his humanitarian action, which is extraordinary”
According to the town hall, this choice is explained by the political trajectory of the City, which thereby reaffirms its commitment to the fight against violence against women. “Through the choice of Marietta Martin, we wanted to highlight the fight of a woman, but also that of all the female figures, known or more confidential, who distinguished themselves 80 years ago by their courage and without whom the Liberation would not have been possible“, underlines Frédéric Leturque (LC), mayor of Arras.
Unlike Abbé Pierre, a very popular figure who enjoyed a reputation as a good Samaritan until recent revelations, Marietta Martin is a personality almost exclusively known to history buffs and specialists in the Second World War.
A literary great, doctoral student, poet, Marietta Martin developed a great sense of politics and committed herself to France during the Second World War within the Hector network, within which she held the role of second lieutenant. Arrested in Paris in February 1942 by the German counter-espionage services, Marietta Martin was indicted for writing and disseminating clandestine publications and accused of being an activist in the National Liberation movement. Deported to Trier then placed in Frankfurt am Main prison, the activist was sentenced to death and died on November 12, 1944.
The unfailing patriotic commitment of this resistance fighter has already been celebrated through commemorative plaques installed in Arras and in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, where she lived since 1914. Above all, before Arras, Paris had already inaugurated a street in her name in 1955, still in the 16th arrondissement.
The inauguration of Marietta Martin Street is a priori scheduled for around March 8, 2025.
