(Paris) Following the revelations of sexual assaults targeting Abbé Pierre, many French cities are preparing to rename places named in homage to the former icon of the fight against poor housing.
The clergyman has been the target of accusations of sexual violence since July, with a new wave of testimonies on Friday of facts that could, for some, be similar to rape or concerning minors.
The facts reported date back to a period from the 1950s to the 2000s, mostly in France but also in the United States, Morocco and Switzerland.
Since then, many have distanced themselves from a name that has become controversial.
The Abbé Pierre Foundation announced on Friday that it would change its name and permanently close the memorial site located in Esteville (North-West). The village school, which also bears the priest’s name, should also be renamed.
PHOTO LOU BENOIST, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE ARCHIVES
The Abbé Pierre Foundation announced on Friday that it would change its name and permanently close the memorial site located in Esteville.
In France, 150 streets or places are named Abbé-Pierre or Henri Grouès (his birth name), according to an AFP count from the national address database. But the number is likely to decrease.
A “very wise” measure, because “the name of Abbé Pierre is sullied and can no longer be proposed as a model”, believes Véronique Fayet, former president of Secours Catholique, in the daily newspaper The Cross Wednesday.
The historian Mathieu da Vinha recalls in the same article that we are talking about facts punishable by law at the time: “despite the action of Abbé Pierre in favor of the poorest and the poorly housed, very clearly, this legal criterion alone leads to his name being removed from the public space.”
The City of Nancy (East) announced on Monday the upcoming removal of a commemorative plaque placed at the former parliamentary address of Abbé Pierre, who was a member of parliament for Meurthe-et-Moselle from 1945 to 1951.
In Paris, and “exceptionally” the city “wishes to rename the Grands Moulins garden” bearing the name of Abbé Pierre.
In Lyon (Centre-East), it is the “fresco of the Lyonnais”, a trompe-l’oeil representing famous Lyonnais, which raises eyebrows. The fresco is private property, which complicates any decision, but a debate is underway, they explain at the town hall.
The question also arises in smaller cities.