Workers removed a statue of the late French charity icon Abbe Pierre from its pedestal in a small village in eastern France on Tuesday, marking his dramatic fall from grace after a series of abuse allegations that spanned five decades.
“There was no discussion” about removing the life-size resin statue, said Mayor Denis Mailler of Norges-la-Ville, north of Dijon.
He added that a vote in the village council last week was “unanimous.”
Abbot Pierre, a Capuchin monk since 1932 and an ordained Catholic priest since 1938, died in 2007 at the age of 94.
Abbe Pierre (Abt Pierre, literally: Henri Groues) was born Henri Groues and was an icon in France: a friend of the poor and the founder of the charities Emmaus and the Abbe Pierre Foundation.
But in recent months, his name has been swept by allegations of abuse, with women publicly reporting assaults ranging from groping to rape and “sexual contact with a child.”
Since the allegations emerged, many people associated with the cleric have rushed to distance themselves from their fallen hero.
At least some bishops of the French Catholic Church knew about “serious behavior towards women” by Abbot Pierre as early as 1955-57, almost seven decades ago, Eric de Moulins-Beaufort, the head of the country’s CEF bishops’ conference, wrote in the daily Le Monde on Monday.
He said that “measures have been taken, including psychiatric treatment” and that Abbot Pierre has been quietly assigned a chaperone to prevent him from misbehaving.
According to De Moulins-Beaufort, this was “a strong reaction, given the way things were going at the time”.
The removal of the statue of Abbé Pierre from the spot where it had stood since 2013, near the town hall of Norges-la-Ville, is particularly significant. The village of 940 inhabitants is home to the second largest branch of the Emmaus Foundation in France.
Emmaus provides shelter to people who are struggling or on the margins of society, and helps them find work.
“Abbé Pierre meant a lot to me. He was a symbol. It’s the fall of a symbol,” Mayor Mailler said.
“There was nothing else we could do, for obvious reasons.”
Mailler could not yet say what will happen to the statue. It is currently stored in the village workshop, along with lawn mowers and other garden tools.
The Emmaus community in Norges can accommodate up to 120 marginalized people. There is also a drop-off and sale point for second-hand goods and a recycling center.
Removing the statue “is not a problem for us,” the center’s boss, Bernard Quaretta, told AFP
“We are an Emmaus community, not the community of Abbe Pierre.”
He said it was “up to the city council” what happened to the statue.
Local sculptor Yves Roulleau, who created the statue, was also happy that his work was no longer on public display.
“They let me know beforehand and I had no problem accepting the decision,” said Roulleau.
When the statue was erected, “France was still in shock over the death of (Abba Pierre). After what has come to light, things are completely different,” he added.
Roulleau even suggested that it might be appropriate to destroy the statue altogether, but the decision on that lies with the council.
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