French prosecutors won't investigate sexual abuse allegations against revered priest Abbé Pierre

PARIS — The Paris prosecutor said Tuesday it cannot investigate allegations by several women who said they were sexually assaulted or harassed by Abbé Pierre, a nationally revered priest and humanitarian crusader who died in 2007.

The allegations against him first surfaced last year and were detailed in an internal report by Abbé Pierre's foundations. The French Catholic Church last month asked prosecutors to initiate an investigation, saying it wanted to uncover the full extent of the abuse, any other victims and any systemic cover-up.

The Paris prosecutor's office said Tuesday that it looked into legal options, but that Abbé Pierre's death makes it impossible to open an investigation into his past actions.

It also studied whether to investigate those who covered up or failed to report the abuse allegations, but because of statute of limitations, no investigation is possible.

Abbé Pierre was a French Catholic priest renowned for his dedication to aiding the poor and homeless, and was long seen as the conscience of France. In 1949, he founded the Emmaüs movement, an international organization focused on combating poverty and homelessness.

The allegations against him were an important step in France's broader reckoning with clerical abuse.

In July 2024, Emmaüs International and the Fondation Abbé Pierre released a report detailing accusations from seven women, including one who was a minor at the time, alleging sexual assault and harassment by Abbé Pierre between the late 1970s and 2005. A dedicated channel for victims led to 17 additional accusations, with incidents reportedly occurring from the 1950s to the 2000s across various countries, including France, the United States, Morocco and Switzerland.