Pope Francis on Friday reacted to allegations of sexual violence against Abbot Pierre, calling the Emmaus founder “a terrible sinner”. He also admitted that the Vatican was informed of these facts at least “after his death” in 2007.
The Vatican has been informed allegations of sexual violence aiming abbot Pierreat least “after [s] died” in 2007, Pope Francis assured during a press conference on Friday, describing the Emmaus founder as “a terrible sinner”.
“What did the Vatican know about Abbot Pierre? I don't know when the Vatican found out about it […]. I don't know because I haven't been here (the pope) and it hasn't occurred to me to research it,” Francis said on the plane back to Rome, upon returning from his Asia-Pacific tour.
“Definitely, after [s] dead, that's for sure. But first, I don't know,” he told accompanying journalists, calling the abbot a “terrible sinner.”
Seven weeks after the first revelations accusing him of sexual assault, Abbé Pierre, who died in 2007 at the age of 94, is the target of 17 new testimonies accusing him of sexual violence committed between the 1950s and 2000s.
“We don't have to say: to cover”
Pope Francis said it was a “very painful, very delicate” issue. “Good people, people, people who do good – you quoted Abbé Pierre – later, despite all the good things (he did), we discover that this person is a terrible sinner is our human condition,” said the Argentine Pope to a journalist's question.
“We must not say: cover it, cover it so that it does not show! Public sins are public. And they must be condemned. Abbot Pierre is a man who has done so much good, but he is also a sinner”, he added. “We have to be clear about these things, not to hide, the work against bullying is something that we all have to do. Not only against sexual abuse, but also against all kinds of abuse: social abuse, educational abuse , changing people's mentality, attacking freedom. … abuse is, in my eyes, a demonic thing!”
“Because any type of abuse destroys the dignity of the person, any type of abuse seeks to destroy who we all are: I am happy when these cases are made public,” continued the head of the Catholic Church. “Sexual assault against children and minors is a crime!” he concluded.