Abbé Pierre: Vatican Was Informed as Early as 1955, French Church Calls for Accountability

Following the release of the investigative book Abbé Pierre, the Making of a Saint (Allary Editions), co-authored by journalists Laetitia Cherel and Marie-France Etchegoin, new and damning revelations have emerged regarding the founder of Emmaus, who has faced accusations of sexual abuse since 2024. The investigation draws on previously unpublished Vatican archives, particularly from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The book reveals that the Holy See was aware of Abbé Pierre’s alleged misconduct as early as the autumn of 1955. A ten-page internal Vatican document from March 1957 outlines the chronology of reported abuses, letters of concern from American and Canadian cardinals in 1955, and decisions made by the Holy Office. It also mentions an official request made to the Bishop of Versailles to initiate judicial proceedings—a request that went unanswered.

Among the records is a letter from a canon dated October 25, 1955, warning of “immoral acts” reportedly committed by Abbé Pierre in the United States. The Vatican also suspected him of harboring ties to communism. Notably, the archives never refer to the individuals involved as victims: “The word victim is never mentioned,” said Laetitia Cherel, who emphasizes how the fear of scandal prevailed over acknowledgment of harm.

Since July 2024, 33 individuals have come forward to accuse Abbé Pierre of sexual assault, some of whom were minors at the time of the alleged incidents, which span from the 1950s to the early 2000s.

French Bishops Demand Clarification

In response to the book’s publication, the French Bishops’ Conference (CEF) issued a statement on Thursday, April 17, expressing a desire to “shed light on the behavior of the French bishops who were in positions of authority at the time,” particularly those who were part of the former Assembly of Cardinals and Archbishops (ACA), the predecessor of the CEF. The Church also aims to understand how some records may have vanished from ecclesiastical archives after the 1970s.

The CEF announced plans to approach the Vatican in order to clarify what the Holy See knew and when. This echoes a request made by the French Church in 2024, which has so far remained unanswered.

Antisemitic Remarks Also Resurface

The investigation also revisits statements made by Abbé Pierre on July 21, 1944, in which he described Jews as “families forced into idleness (not of their own fault, to be fair), but brimming with gold, which they used to ruthlessly hoard everything.” These remarks echo the controversy sparked in the 1990s when Abbé Pierre publicly supported philosopher Roger Garaudy, author of a revisionist book.