“to shed light on the matter”, the Church immediately opens its archives to researchers

Targeted by 17 new reports of sexual violence, Abbé Pierre is suspected of having threatened people who wanted to denounce these acts 50 years ago.

The Conference of Bishops of France (CEF) announced in a press release this Thursday that it was deviating from its regulations and making “accessiblefrom now on“all the archives of the National Center of Archives of the Church of France (CNAEF) concerning Abbé Pierre.

Without this “lifting of the communication deadline“, these documents “would not have been available for consultation until 75 years after the death of Abbé Pierre, i.e. the year 2082“, underlines the CEF, which justifies this decision”exceptional” by “the seriousness of the successive revelations concerning Abbé Pierre, documents from other archives already in circulation, and in order to shed full light“.

The CNAEF takes care of the archives of the Conference of Bishops of France, but also “donations and deposits of archives relating to the history of the Catholic Church in France and coming from various sources: religious institutes, lay movements, private individuals, etc..”, he explains on his website.

The documents can therefore be consulted by “all authorized persons, in particular researchers, members of the Commission of experts announced by Emmaüs, and journalists investigating Abbé Pierre“. These are the archives of the Church of France kept in Issy-les Moulineaux, distinct from those of the dioceses. Concerning Abbé Pierre, they contain “a fairly thin file” with “some letters“which show that the Central Office of Cardinals of the time”became aware of the behavior” of the priest, according to Eric de Moulins-Beaufort, president of the Conference of Bishops of France.

“There is an element that he went to Switzerland” in the 50s, but without “no details on what’s going on there“, And “that’s about it“, added the CEF official.Some bishops certainly knew a certain number of facts, but exactly which ones? It will take a historical investigation to tell and I strongly encourage the investigation that Emmaus has just opened.” he added.