Abbe Pierre, who was repeat-edly voted France’s most popular man, died recently aged 94. His name at birth was Henri Grou, and was born into a prosperous and devout1) Catholic family in Lyon on 5th August 1912; he was inspired to follow a religious life and in 1930 joined the Capuchin monks. He stayed for 8 years but, partly due to ill health, he struggled with the disciplined and ascetic2) life. Therefore, he left and became a priest in Grenoble. In 1942, he joined the resistance and helped to hide Jewish members of the community from the Nazi’s and Vichy police. Eventually, he was arrested, but he managed to escape and fled to North Africa to join the free French led by Charles de Gaulle.
Act of Charity
In the post war period Abbe Pierre became a member of France’s national assembly, but felt he was able to achieve very little. Therefore, he decided to leave and set up a charity Emmanus in 1949. His charity was aimed at helping the homeless to find shelter. However, he viewed the traditional view of charity with almost contempt. He felt the most effective charity was when others were helped to help themselves. If charity was just a condescending gift from the rich to the poor he felt it would be of little benefit other than to appease3) the consciousness of the rich. The British- based version of Emmanus says its philosophy is “Giving people a bed and a reason to get out of it”.
His charity also had a left wing association as he felt the resources from the charity should come from the unneeded surpluses of the rich. He was later criticized for his politics, in reply he said he knew nothing of left and right, “the only extreme I support is upwards towards heaven.”
In 1954 he made an impassioned radio broadcast on behalf of the homeless. His words touched a chord4) with the French public.
He said, “My friends, help me! A woman has just frozen to death at three this morning, on the pavement of the Boulevard Sebastopol, clutching the document by which she was expelled from her home the day before...”
Abbe Pierre became the unofficial spokesman for the homeless. He appeared to transcend religious and political differences of the country and was appreciated by a variety of sources. He was admired by Catholics, for presenting the best aspects of a living Catholic faith. At the same time he was also appreciated for his strong criticism of the Catholic Church’s conservatism.
An Angry Man
There was a dramatic prelude to Christmas 1994 in Paris. On Sunday December 18, a crowd invaded a large, empty, office building in the rue du Dragon, a fashionable area near to St Germain des Pr. More than a hundred of them announced that they were homeless and that they intended to stay there.
In Normandy, at his rest home in Esteville, the 82-year-old Abbe Pierre chartered a helicopter at his own expense and joined them. Surrounded by many well-known people such as socialist politician Harle?Dir, Madame Mend弒-France, widow of the prime minister of 1954~1955, the ecologist Antoine Waechter and the dissident5) communist Charles Fiterman, he gave an impromptu6) press conference. “I have brought all my medication with me,” he said, announcing that he would stay there until it was certain that the invaders would be allowed to stay where they were. “They will have to drag me away,” he shouted, and the frail priest’s voice trembled with anger. He then asked to see the prime minister, and although it was Sunday, Mr. Balladur agreed to see him at once, and assured him that there would be no attempt to expel the new occupants ofrue du Dragon. They were then photographed shaking hands on the steps of the Hotel Matignon, the prime ministerial residence, and Mr. Balladur put an official car and chauffeur at his disposal. Later that evening two ministers appearing separately on television, expressed their sympathy for the squatters.
The next day Jacques Chirac, the mayor of Paris and a declared candidate in the forthcoming presidential elections, announced that he would see to that buildings which were not in use and which were empty would be put at the disposal of the homeless. But he had reckoned without the Abbe Pierre. With a rare violence, the Abbe accused Mr. Chirac, and his staff at the Hotel de Ville, of hypocrisy7), and of trying to make political capital out of other people’s suffering. He declared that such men were incapable of governing France. Here was not only a challenge to the conscience of individuals; it was also a challenge to politicians and to the state. They must do better.
This was a typical appearance of the Abbe Pierre. He appeared regularly as an angry man, denouncing the authorities and appealing for help. He was aggressively independent. He returned all the decorations and honours that he had received, he refused to be enrolled in any political party, he made few references to the church or to religion.
A Quiet Man
For many years he was in the public eye, but he didn’t like the inherent fame that was associated with his role. For several years he dropped out of the public limelight8), spending time in semi- retreat. However, when he returned to the public limelight in the mid 1980s, speaking again on issues such as homelessness, his message again received widespread and popular support. It seemed many remembered his initial message back in the 1950s. Abbe Pierre also became a strong spokesperson against the nationalistic view of J. Marie Le Pen. Abbe Pierre disagreed that France’s ills could be pinned9) on immigrants. To the end of his life he supported the cause of immigrants especially in regard to housing.
A Popular Man
Despite his war time record of saving Jewish people from the Nazi’s and his ardent opposition to the far right in France, Abbe Pierre was dragged into controversy for his support of his long time friend Roger Garaudy. Roger had written a book claiming Israel had exaggerated the extent of the holocaust and had used it as an excuse for mistreating the Palestinians. However, despite this episode, his reputation was generally undiminished because of his sincere and fervent10) belief in the equality of men.
In the last years of his life he was frequently voted France’s most popular man. He actually asked to stop being nominated to allow “someone from the younger generation”. His successor was Zinedine Zidane, the footballer and immigrant from North Africa.
Abbe Pierre’s death united France in paying homage11) to a unique character who brought together many opposing factions12), in particular he was a representative of the Catholic Church who was able to appeal to even those who were militantly anti Catholic. He stood for the ideals of serving others and living up to the Christian philosophy of “doing unto13) others as you would have done to yourself.” 法國的良心：皮埃爾神父
