Late French priest Abbe Pierre accused of sexual abuse, charities say

By Marine Strauss

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The late French Catholic priest Abbe Pierre, a lifelong campaigner for the homeless and the poor, has been accused of sexual assault, the charities he founded said, adding they believed the accusations and stood by the victims of abuse.

Seven women, including one minor at the time, had reported suffering acts that could be interpreted as sexual assault or harassment, a report published on Wednesday by Emmaus International and the Fondation Abbe Pierre said -- the first time the situation has been made public.

It said the victims were employees, volunteers from some of their member organizations or young women in Abbe Pierre's personal entourage.

"Our organizations salute the courage of the people who have testified and, through their words, have enabled these realities to be brought to light. We believe them, we know that these intolerable acts have left their mark and we stand by their side," Emmaus added.

The charities commissioned the report after a woman reported a sexual assault a year ago to Emmaus International, the non-profit movement Abbe Pierre founded in 1949. They asked the Egae group, a firm specializing in violence prevention, to conduct a listening and analysis exercise.

"The Emmaus Movement is making public acts that could be likened to sexual assault or sexual harassment, committed by Abbe Pierre, between the end of the 1970s and 2005," the NGO said in a statement on its website.

Henri-Antoine Groues, known as Abbe Pierre, was a Roman Catholic priest who renounced wealth to campaign for the homeless and became one of France's most revered men before dying aged 94 in 2007.

"These actions profoundly change the way we look at a man known above all for his fight against poverty, misery and exclusion," Emmaus said.

The not-for-profit said it would continue to collect confidential testimonies and provide support to the victims.

The French Bishops' Conference said in a statement on its website that "it is deeply saddened to learn of reports of sexual assaults committed by Abbé Pierre against women who came to work at Emmaus."

The fifth child of a silk merchant, Abbe Pierre gave up his comfortable life to become a monk. He took his nickname Abbe Pierre as a resistance chaplain during World War Two, when he forged ID papers to smuggle refugees out of France.

He began campaigning for the homeless in 1949 and shot to fame in 1954 when he went on air to demand shelter for thousands of people threatened with death during a bitterly cold winter.

(Reporting by Marine Strauss Editing by Jean-Michel Belot and Philippa Fletcher)