“Everything suggests that there may be other victims,” ​​according to the general delegate of Emmaüs International

“Everything suggests that, given the time span of the events, there may indeed be other victims.”said Thursday, July 18, on franceinfo the general delegate of Emmaüs International Adrien Chaboche. Abbé Pierre is accused by at least seven women of sexual assault, announced Wednesday Emmaüs and the Abbé-Pierre Foundation. The facts denounced were committed “between the end of the 1970s and 2005”the organizations said, based on an investigation report written by a firm of experts. One of the victims “was a minor at the time of the first events”. “We who are the heirs of Abbé Pierre, we who carry on these battles, we must say it today: what he did is unacceptable.”asserts Adrien Chaboche.

Long a favorite personality of the French, “His aura, his immense popularity were a strong element in what the victims felt and suffered”he emphasizes. Following the publication of the independent report published on Wednesday, “We did not doubt because we met the person and his testimony seemed completely credible and sincere to us”continues the general delegate of Emmaüs International. “Our desire is first of all to listen to the victims and to recognize the harm they have suffered”he comments. These revelations are a “very strong shock” for Emmaüs, this structure founded by the priest of the poor in 1949, “but I do not want this to call into question the correctness, the usefulness, the necessity of the actions that we are taking”pleads the general delegate of Emmaüs International.

“Priority is given to victims and to listening to them, to recognizing what they have suffered”adds the general delegate of Emmaüs International, who does not wish to call into question “all the fights and all the good” what Abbé Pierre was able to do. “But all the struggles he fought and all the good he did do not erase the pain and suffering that these acts caused.”underlines Adrien Chaboche.