Abbé Pierre’s nephew breaks the silence on a taboo family subject

For the first time, Guy Tuscher, Abbé Pierre’s nephew, spoke publicly to France Bleu Isère on Monday October 7. He confided that the family was aware of Abbé Pierre’s difficulties with his sexuality, but did not suspect the sexual assaults denounced by more than twenty women. “They need to talk to start a healing process and move away from what they’ve suffered,” he says, while offering his support to the victims.

Guy Tuscher also explains that his mother, Anne-Marie, Abbé Pierre’s sister, encouraged him to undergo psychoanalysis to overcome his troubles, a suggestion he always refused. In his opinion, his uncle’s celibacy was a source of great suffering and tension within the family. “Celibacy was unbearable for him”, he recalls, recalling the many arguments between his mother and Abbé Pierre on this delicate subject.

A close friend of Abbé Pierre’s during his childhood, Guy Tuscher admits today to being troubled by the duality of the character. “Why did he act as he did? It remains a mystery,” he wonders. “Everyone was fascinated by the myth of Abbé Pierre. But what man was really behind this charismatic figure? We’re only just beginning to find out.”

Despite the pain of discovering this dark side of his uncle, he doesn’t wish to deny his memory. “He’s still my uncle. Everything he achieved should not be erased,” he acknowledges. But it is with a certain bitterness that Guy Tuscher confides his “disappointment with the man”, while continuing to admire the work of the Emmaüs founder.