Abbé Pierre

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

L'Abbé Pierre (born August 5, 1912) was born as Henri Grouès in Lyon and is a French Catholic priest. Abbé (abbot) is a courtesy title given to Catholic priests.

He is the French founder of the Emmaüs movement which has the goal of helping poor and homeless people, and refugees. He was ordained a Roman Catholic Priest in 1938.

His pseudonym dates from his work with the French resistance during the Second World War, when he operated under several different names. He saved thousands of lives during the war, both Jews and politically persecuted, by helping them in their escape to Switzerland or Algeria.

Emmaüs was started in 1949. Abbé Pierre has also the distinction of having been voted France's most popular person for many years, and in (2003) he beat Zinedine Zidane into second place. Besides founding Emmaüs, he has also been somewhat controversial. He is a friend of the philosopher and convicted Holocaust denier Roger Garaudy. On the other side some conservatives have criticized his support of gay adoption and admission of once having had casual sex with a female despite his vow of chastity.<ref>http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2005/10/29/2003277868</ref>

Abbé Pierre maintains a strong relationship with the controversial, ultraprogressist French Catholic Clergyman Bishop Jacques Gaillot.

In 2005 Abbé Pierre came third in a television poll to choose Le Plus Grand Français (The Greatest Frenchman).