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Abbé Pierre accused of sexual assault: revelations cause astonishment
At least seven alleged victims have accused Abbé Pierre of sexual assault. A painful step given that the man was one of the French people’s favorite personalities.
(France 2)
At least seven alleged victims have accused Abbé Pierre of sexual assault. A painful step given that the man was one of the French people’s favorite personalities.
Seven alleged victims, and possibly more, waited, sometimes for decades, before reporting sexual assaults the abbot Pierre. Speaking out can be an even more difficult ordeal when it comes to such a popular figure. “To denounce the acts of aggression of a personality like Abbé Pierre was to denounce the favorite personality of the French”explains Olivier Savignac, co-founder of the association “Parler et Revivre”.
He was unanimous throughout society and presented himself as the standard-bearer of the Catholic Church, which has been accused several times of covering up cases. In 2019, in Lyon (Rhône), Cardinal Barbarin was prosecuted for failure to report pedophile acts committed by a priest of the diocese, before being cleared. In recent years, mentalities have changed within this very closed institution. After the revelations, the French Bishops’ Conference expressed its shame and pain.
