Abbé Pierre: life, influence, legacy, prayers

Henri Grouès, known as Abbé Pierre, was born on August 5, 1912 in Lyon. A priest, he held a number of positions. He is best known as the founder of Emmaüs. He died in Paris on January 22, 2007, at the age of 94, leaving behind an important legacy in France, with Emmaüs and the foundation bearing his name. Unfortunately, his life was also shattered by sexual abuse scandals. Let's go and meet Abbé Pierre (discover other saintly figures in Hozana's guide to saints ).

Abbé Pierre's biography

Born into a middle-class family, Henri Grouès was the fifth of eight children. He was particularly influenced by his father, who took care of the homeless and beggars every Sunday. His experience as a Scout de France also left its mark on young Henri.

In 1931, he made his religious profession with the Capuchins, becoming Brother Philippe. At the same time, he renounced his share of the family patrimony, by virtue of his vow of poverty. His formative years were marked by great austerity. Daily nocturnal adoration left its mark on him. Ordained deacon on December 18, 1937, then priest on August 24, 1938 for the Capuchins, he left the Order a year later due to ill health. Shortly afterwards, however, he was incardinated as a diocesan priest in the Diocese of Grenoble, where he began his ministry as curate.

After starting out as a curate, his priesthood took on a new dimension, as he later became a member of the French Resistance, then a member of parliament, and founder of the Emmaüs movement, including the Abbé-Pierre Foundation, whose mission is to provide housing for the underprivileged.

He died in 2007, and his body now lies in the Esteville cemetery, 30 minutes north of Rouen, where several Emmaüs companions are also buried.

What can we learn from Abbé Pierre?

Resistance fighter, then politician

He was mobilized as a non-commissioned officer in December 1939. Later, in 1942, Henri Grouès became involved in the Resistance. Following the Vel'd'Hiv roundup, he helped Jewish survivors and resistance fighters by smuggling them out of the country. He also took in Jewish children.

In addition, he took part in the creation of maquis, enabling young people to escape the Service du Travail Obligatoire (STO). Working clandestinely, Henri Grouès took on several identities, hence his enduring name, Abbé Pierre. He was arrested by the German army in 1944. Later released, he was sent to Spain, Algeria and Morocco, where he served as a naval chaplain in Casablanca. Considered a great representative of the Resistance, Abbé Pierre was encouraged to enter politics, which he did.He was a member of parliament for Meurthe-et-Moselle, for the MRP (Mouvement républicain populaire) from 1945 to 1950, then for the Ligue de la Jeune République (1950-1951). He was not re-elected in 1951.

From Emmaüs to the Abbé Pierre Foundation, and his fight against poverty

In 1949, Abbé Pierre founded the Emmaüs movement (known today as Emmaüs France), whose mission was tohelp the homeless, the most destitute and the victims of exclusion. He was able to become fully involved from 1951, when he was freed from politics following his non-re-election. Initially, the aim of his movement was to salvage objects for resale, with the aim of making a profit to finance temporary housing.

The Emmaus movement reached a turning point in the freezing winter of 1954, when a woman died in the street. Outraged, Abbé Pierre launched an appeal on Radio Luxembourg on February 1, 1954. This media appeal generated a resounding response, and an immense surge of generosity and solidarity, dubbed the "insurrection of kindness". 

Following his appeal, in addition to the very substantial donations received, a law resulting from Abbé Pierre's struggle, Law no. 56-1223 of December 3, 1956, established a period during which tenants could not be evicted.All this feedback also enabled the Emmaüs association to continue its rapid expansion.

Abbé Pierre will also use his experience in politics and his aura to meet personalities and politicians to defend his causes. Combating the problems of cold, hunger and housing, he was made Commander of the Legion of Honor in 1987. The Fondation Abbé-Pierre pour le logement des défavorisés (Abbé-Pierre Foundation for Housing the Disadvantaged) was recognized as a public utility on February 11, 1992. Today, Emmaüs France and the Abbé Pierre Foundation continue their mission.

A man marked by heavy accusations of sexual abuse

In July 2024, Emmaüs International, Emmaüs France and the Abbé Pierre Foundation published a report revealing that Abbé Pierre had been sexually assaulted and harassed by women between the end of the 1970s and 2005. The report states: "The majority of testimonies refer to behaviors that resemble those identified in the first accounts transmitted to the Egaé group [in July 2024]. These include unsolicited touching of the breasts and forced kissing. Several testimonies refer to serious events of a different nature: repeated sexual contact with a vulnerable person, repeated acts of sexual penetration with a person over 18, as well as sexual comments, forced kissing and other sexual contact with a child. The events described took place between the 1950s and 2000. Behind his fight against poverty, Abbé Pierre will unfortunately be remembered as a true predator. Following these accusations, Pope Francis even described him as a "terrible sinner". In September 2024, Mgr Eric de Moulins-Beaufort, President of the French Bishops' Conference, admitted that "at least some bishops" were aware of Abbé Pierre's activities as early as the 1950s.

What can Abbé Pierre bring us today, despite the scandals?

Participation in the life of the community

Having become involved in politics, as a deputy, with the authorization of the Archbishop of Paris, Abbé Pierre can remind us that, as baptized people, we are called to get involved in the community. The Second Vatican Council, in its decree on the apostolate of the laity, encourages the baptized to be present in all places, including political life.

The presence of Catholics in political life is therefore "indispensable", as Mgr Bruno-Marie Duffé, Secretary of the Dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development, reminded us in 2019. Dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development, in which he highlighted the close link between the proclamation of the Gospel on the one hand, and "participation in building a society of justice and fraternity" on the other.

Being sensitive to poverty

Abbé Pierre also reminds us of the importance of being sensitive to poverty in all its forms. In our daily lives, we can reflect on simple gestures we can make in relation to all aspects of poverty.

To find out more about Abbé Pierre

Books on Abbé Pierre

Here are some books to help you learn more about Abbé Pierre:

• Jean-Marie Viennet and René Poujol, Le secret spirituel de l'Abbé Pierre, Salvator
• Frédérique Féron, Pascal Meynadier, Marc Brincourt, L'Abbé Pierre. Un bâtisseur d'humanité,Éditions du Chêne

Books written by Abbé Pierre

Abbé Pierre has also written several books, including :

• Testament (1994)
• Mémoire d'un croyant (1997)

Prayer "When you're suffering, love more!" by Abbé Pierre

"When you suffer, love more! Love those who are in more tears than you, in more cold, in more hunger and more alone in themselves and almost more non-existent, more absent from themselves. For you, no other deep joy is possible. Love them enough to make them be all the fullness of what they can, they'll hurt you, love them more. Is your vocation for a time? Forever? What do you know about that? Is inevitably to enter into this madness of the absolute. There is no other way to stand upright, stumbling and yet upright, than this tiny love and all the tiny offerings of all the tiny moments, this love of the smallest, the most puny, the most pitiful, the most unranked, for it is then that the single rank seems the most important.it is then that the single grade appears the absolute that veils itself but appears under the most defeated, under the most soiled, under the most mocked, under the last of the faces, the face of a man, image of the Eternal, invisible face. So be it. "

Join Hozana in following Christ and Abbé Pierre

Abbé Pierre's experience of nocturnal adoration can help us rediscover Eucharistic adoration, for example, through Hozana's communities.

If Abbé Pierre was committed to his mission to help the poorest of the poor, it was thanks to his relationship with Christ, and Hozana can help you to pray every day in different communities.