If the first reaction of the president of the Conference of Bishops of France was “horror”, upon the announcement of the new testimonies published this week against Abbot Pierre, he is now calling for the opening of an investigation.
Monday January 13, nine new accusations of sexual violence, including rape of a little boy, were revealed in the third report commissioned by Emmaüs on Abbé Pierre's past. In total, 33 testimonies were collected and 57 potential victims identified. This Friday, the Church decided to raise its voice. At the microphone of RMCMgr Éric de Moulins-Beaufort, president of the Conference of Bishops of France, announces that the Church is officially requesting the opening of a judicial investigation.
A report to investigate “possible non-denunciations”
According to Mgr Éric de Moulins-Beaufort, the prosecution has resources that the Church and Emmaüs do not have. This is why a report was sent to the courts on Tuesday in writing. “I consider that we must get to the bottom of the truth. That's why I asked, I wrote a report to the Paris prosecutor to ask him to consider opening an investigation into Abbé Pierre ( …) So that we can investigate possible other victims, accomplices and non-denunciations”, he explains on the set ofApolline Morningthis Friday, January 17.
A decision also motivated by the arrival of new testimonies against Abbot Pierre this week, which are added to the long list already known until then. “We think of these victims who tell terrible things. With each report we cross a threshold in the discovery of what Abbé Pierre was able to do and the kind of system that he seems to have built”, deplores Mgr Éric de Moulins -Beaufort. He admits, “it's very difficult to talk, it doesn't provide immediate relief. Telling what we're going through means reliving it. One of the challenges for our society is to create places to listen.”
-“Abbot Pierre escapes the measures we are taking”
He also wanted to recall this Friday that the actions of Abbé Pierre were subject to the first suspicions, already 70 years ago. “In the years 55-57 we began to know things about the sexual behavior of Abbot Pierre. He worried a lot. My distant predecessors tried to do things, we tried to limit his interventions, we tried to warn the authorities of not to highlight it, we send it to a clinic in Switzerland because we think we can cure it,” he explains on RMC. “But Abbot Pierre escapes the measures we are taking,” he concedes.
So, can all grievances be made against the Church? “It is striking regarding Abbé Pierre that so many biographers and filmmakers have taken an interest in him without any victim feeling authorized to speak,” remarked Mgr Éric de Moulins-Beaufort this Friday. At present, the Conference of Bishops of France has not received a response from the French justice system regarding its latest report.
