MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
I want to let you know that this next story includes descriptions of sexual assault. It's a story about accusations of sexual abuse, by one of France's most revered religious and humanitarian figures. Abbe Pierre was a Catholic priest who made his name fighting for the homeless. He died almost two decades ago, but now the church has called for a full judicial investigation into accusations of rape and sexual assault against him. NPR's Eleanor Beardsley has this report from Paris.
ELEANOR BEARDSLEY, BYLINE: In the brutal winter of 1954, with homeless people freezing to death, French priest Abbe Pierre shook the nation's conscience with a radio appeal.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ABBE PIERRE: (Speaking French).
BEARDSLEY: "Those who suffer, whoever you are," he declared, "come sleep, eat and take hope. You are loved." Born in 1912, Henri Groues joined the French Resistance as a young priest. He became known by his nom de guerre, Abbe Pierre. After the war, he founded a charity network in France. The diminutive priest with his signature beret became a major voice for those on the margins of society.
XAVIER LE NORMAND: Everybody in France loved Abbe Pierre, not only the Christians. Everybody loved him. Think of a French Mother Teresa.
BEARDSLEY: That's Xavier Le Normand, editor-in-chief of La Croix, a respected Catholic daily newspaper. In 2007, thousands spilled out of Notre Dame Cathedral for Abbe Pierre's funeral...
(APPLAUSE)
BEARDSLEY: ...Applauding as his coffin passed. But not until last July did the revelations of abuse begin to emerge. So far, 33 people, mostly women, say Abbe Pierre sexually assaulted them. Four were minors at the time. One, then a boy, says he was raped.
(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "ABBE PIERRE, 50 YEARS OF IMPUNITY")
UNIDENTIFIED NARRATOR: (Speaking French).
BEARDSLEY: A recent documentary on French television network BFM, "Abbe Pierre, 50 Years Of Impunity," shows how the priest often preyed on the vulnerable who sought his help. Pascale, whose last name is not revealed, reached out to him in 1993, when she was alone and trying to get help for her severely scarred face from a fire in her childhood.
(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "ABBE PIERRE, 50 YEARS OF IMPUNITY")
PASCALE: (Speaking French).
BEARDSLEY: "I was mad with joy when he answered my letter," she remembers. "I thought, finally, I'm saved."
Abbe Pierre brought Pascale to live for two weeks in one of his homes for the poor. The abuse began in his office. She was 18. He was 80.
(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "ABBE PIERRE, 50 YEARS OF IMPUNITY")
PASCALE: "He grabbed and groped me and pinned me to the wall," she says. Other victims describe similar violence. But to speak out would have been like denouncing God, says one. This month, the head of the Conference of Bishops in France, Eric de Moulins-Beaufort, asked the Paris prosecutor to open a full investigation, even though there is no one alive to prosecute.
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ERIC MOULINS-BEAUFORT: (Through interpreter) We have to get to the bottom of this and find the whole truth, not only the victims but anyone who might have known, to understand why no one came forward.
BEARDSLEY: While the French public was unaware, some who worked with Abbe Pierre did know about his predatory behavior.
(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "ABBE PIERRE, 50 YEARS OF IMPUNITY")
UNIDENTIFIED NARRATOR: (Speaking French).
BEARDSLEY: The documentary shows the diary entries of the theology professor who helped organize Abbe Pierre's trip to the U.S. and Canada in the 1950s. His visit had to be cut short to avoid a scandal after several women complained, but no disciplinary actions were taken.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Speaking French).
BEARDSLEY: Inside one of the shops run by the Abbe Pierre Foundation in Paris, 53-year-old Anne Masse is browsing through racks of second-hand clothes.
ANNE MASSE: It's difficult to talk about this - very difficult - because a long time, I love him. I love this man. (Speaking French).
BEARDSLEY: Switching to French, she tells me, "he was a light, a hope, an example, and he's destroyed everything." The French face a dilemma, says newspaper editor Le Normand.
LE NORMAND: The accusations against him are awful, and what he did is awful, but the reasons why he was a hero are still valid. So it's a national trauma.
BEARDSLEY: This week, Abbe Pierre's charity foundation voted to remove his name. In a statement, the board said, he will always be part of our history, but it has become impossible to honor his memory.
Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News, Paris. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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