On July 17, 2024, a press release from the associations Emmaüs France, Emmaüs International and the Abbé Pierre Foundation sent shockwaves through the public. It reported the release of an independent report authored by the Egaé group, a company specialising in gender equality, workplace discrimination and violence. The investigation unveiled the dark side of a man who had long been ranked as “the most beloved figure in France.”
Henry Grouès (1912-2007), better known as Abbé Pierre and the founder of Emmaüs – an international charitable organisation founded in France in 1949 – allegedly sexually assaulted numerous women from the 1950s into the 2000s. These revelations have profoundly impacted the constellation of groups associated with Abbé Pierre and Emmaüs, exposing the challenges an organisation faces when using a historical figure as a symbolic and strategic resource while also attempting to distance itself from such a figure.
