ON BOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) — Pope Francis called sexual abuse “diabolical” Friday as he weighed in on the latest revelations of sexual abuse against a legendary French priest, Abbe Pierre, who devoted his life to the advocacy of the homeless.
Abbé Pierre, who died in 2007, was one of France’s most beloved public figures. The founder of the Emmaus international community for the poor, Abbé Pierre had been part of the French conscience since the 1950s, when he convinced parliament to pass a law—still on the books—banning landlords from evicting tenants in the winter.
Emmaus International announced this week that it has substantiated 17 more allegations against its late founder, in addition to the seven made public in July when it revealed that the allegations amounted to “sexual abuse or sexual harassment.” The scandal has sparked outrage among French Catholics, for whom Abbe Pierre was a hero and icon.
During a press conference on the plane home from Asia, Francis was asked what the Vatican knew about Abbe Pierre and when. There were reports that at least some people close to him knew about his impulsive sexual behavior.
Francis said he did not know exactly when the Holy See became aware of his abuse, but that it was only after he had died.
He called Abbe Pierre a “terrible sinner,” but said such a “shameful crime” was also the “human condition.”
“He is a man who has done so much good, but he is also a sinner. We must speak clearly about these things and not hide them,” he said. “Abuse, in my opinion, is something demonic, because any type of abuse destroys the dignity of the person.”
According to Emmaus, the new 17 cases involve women who reported behavior similar to that of the first seven victims, expanding the abuse allegations dating back to the 1950s and 2000s. Their allegations include “unsolicited breast touching and forced kissing,” as well as repeated sexual contact with a vulnerable person, sexual penetration with an adult woman and sexual contact with a child, Emmaus said.
The case of Abbe Pierre is the latest involving a respected, charismatic Catholic leader who has been revealed as a sexual predator. It is similar in some ways to the scandal surrounding another French icon, Jean Vanier, who founded the L’Arche movement to care for people with disabilities and was later caught misbehaving with adult women.
Francis faced a similar case during his visit to East Timor. Timorese Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo won the Nobel Peace Prize for his nonviolent campaign for independence, but the Vatican revealed in 2022 that he had been sanctioned for sexually abusing young boys. Belo was allowed to quietly step down by St. John Paul II in 2002, and the Holy See has never revealed what it knew or when about his crimes.
Francis did not mention Belo by name while in East Timor, where Belo is still revered and many Timorese refuse to believe he was an abuser. But Francis did condemn “abuse” in general terms when he arrived in Dili.
Emmaus and the Abbe Pierre Foundation have announced a number of measures to distance themselves from their founder. They are changing the name of the foundation, the logos of Emmaus and closing a monument in honour of the priest.
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