Charities Emmaus and Fondation Abbé Pierre announced Wednesday that a deceased French priest, renowned for his dedication to helping those in need, has been posthumously accused of sexual assault. The allegations involve multiple women, including one who was a minor at the time of the alleged incident.
"Our organisations celebrate the courage of the people who have given testimony and, through their words, allowed these facts to come to light. We believe them," the organisations Emmaus and Fondation Abbé Pierre said in a joint statement about Henri Grouès, known as "Abbé Pierre", who died in 2007 aged 94.
Independent report
The allegations are detailed in an independent report commissioned by the charities after a claim that Grouès assaulted a woman.
"This work meant the testimonies of seven women could be gathered, attesting to behaviour that could be interpreted as sexual assault or sexual harassment," between 1970 and 2005, the charities said.
One of the women "was underage at the time of the events", added.
A source at Emmaus said that no criminal complaint has so far been filed.
The bishop's conference of France's Catholic Church professed "deep compassion and shame that such acts could be committed by a priest" in a post to X.
Familiar face
Some 17 years after his death, Grouès's gaunt, bearded features remain a familiar sight in posters in charity shops and in metro stations urging French citizens to think of the poor.
He gave his inheritance away aged 18 to join the order of Capuchin monks, later becoming active in the Resistance to Nazi occupation and spending several post-war years as a member of parliament.
In 1949, he founded the Emmaus community that preaches self-help for excluded people, and which has since spread to dozens of countries.
He was also a backer of the Restos du coeur soup kitchens movement and attacked city governments for failing to lodge the homeless.
(with AFP)
