The press release of the associations Emmaüs France, Emmaüs International and the Abbé Pierre Foundation on July 17, 2024 caused shock amongst the public. It was announced that an independent report had been published by the Egaé group, an organization specializing in gender equality, workplace discrimination and violence. Investigation revealed the dark side of the man who had long been considered “France’s most beloved figure.”
Henry Grouès (1912-2007), higher generally known as Abbé Pierre and founder of Emmaüs – a world charity founded in France in 1949 – he allegedly sexually assaulted multiple women from the Fifties to the 2000s. These findings have had a profound impact on the constellation of groups related to Father Pierre and Emmaüs, revealing the challenges a corporation faces in leveraging a historical figure as a symbolic and strategic resource while concurrently attempting to distance itself from such a figure.
Abbé Pierre: A key symbolic resource
In 2018 we published article about how organizations use history as a strategic resource, specializing in the case of Emmaüs, which from the very starting has been closely linked to the personality of Abbé Pierre. The life of this priest, the history of the founding of Emmaüs, and the various symbolic elements related to Father Pierre’s image, equivalent to his clothing and public persona, supported the organization even after his death. Until early September, the logo and name of the Abbé Pierre Foundation, the fundamental part of Emmaüs, demonstrated this connection.
Strategic historical resources are each assets of organizational legitimacy and a battleground for power. Unlike tangible or financial assets, they’re shaped by each internal and external aspects, making it difficult for a corporation to totally control them. The public and legendary elements of historic resources make it difficult to denationalise or monopolize: Abbé Pierre essentially belongs to everyone.
Building and controlling narratives based on historical resources
Based on these observations, we provide insights into the strategic use of historic resources. Our model considers 4 dimensions to handle the challenges of strategic historic resources: appropriation, ownership, retention, and distancing.
Appropriation involves organizing scattered elements to create a coherent, easy historical narrative. For Emmaüs, this includes frequent use Abbé Pierre’s 1954 winter appeal and its image to strengthen the organization’s identity and mission. Emmaüs also faced challenges in controlling the use of Abbé Pierre’s image, well known in France as a public good. The organization needed to implement mechanisms equivalent to mental property rights to guard this resource. Conservation means preserving, enhancing and transmitting over time the characteristics and values related to a historic resource. For Emmaüs, this meant maintaining the values promoted by Abbé Pierre, even after his death, as a way to strengthen internal cohesion. Finally, distancing is about knowing when to maneuver away from a historical resource to avoid idolatry and organizational rigidity (and, on this case, accountability). In the past, Emmaüs needed to distance itself from Abbé Pierre to permit for organizational evolution while still recognizing his historical contributions.
Moving away from a historic resource
In the context of our archival evaluation, we now have already observed that since the Fifties, the organization or some of its stakeholders have made several attempts to distance themselves from the historical resource represented by Abbé Pierre. Although we now have not identified the sexual assault allegations mentioned in the Egaé report, several sources have indicated that Abbé Pierre can have did not keep the vows of chastity associated together with his ecclesiastical status as early as the Fifties. The challenge of distancing itself from Abbé Pierre for the Emmaüs constellation was not merely a matter of repute, as this organization, non-religious and financially independent, was relatively detached from the Catholic Church and its hierarchy.
Rather, the fundamental problem was controlling a person who was proof against managing structures and following rules. Moreover, during the Nineteen Nineties, Abbé Pierre created problems for Emmaüs by collaborating with the revisionist historian Roger Garaudy and by publicly collaborating with “rival” associations equivalent to the Droit au logement whose methods, if not goals, were diametrically against those of Emmaüs. In the summer of 2024, the model we proposed seems to have come to fruition and even intensified as the Abbé Pierre Foundation begins to distance itself from the image of Abbé Pierre. This distance has recently been dramatically increased following latest revelations made available by this organization in early September 2024.
Different distancing strategies
By analyzing 43 articles published in the French press between April and August 2024, we can outline the most significant messages of Emmaüs and the foundations advised by the crisis communications company. These messages, evident in statements from current and former leaders, can be summarized in six distancing levers:
| Spacer levers | Organizational responses | Strategic goals |
| Recognition and distance | Emmaus acknowledges the seriousness of the accusations, particularly reaffirming its commitment to support the victims and looking for to distance itself from Abbé Pierre. | Insist that the Emmaus movement not be limited to its founder and that charitable work proceed regardless of his transgressions. |
| Surprise and shock | Emmaus leaders express surprise and shock at the reports, although some admit there have been rumors of Father Pierre’s problematic behavior before. | Demonstrating recent collective awareness and willingness to face the facts. |
| Medical and psychological language | The directors discuss Abbé Pierre’s “impulses”, describing his behavior as a “disease” for which he would should undergo “treatment”. | Attacking Father Pierre’s personal responsibility by placing it in the context of mental illness, while minimizing his actions by talking about “carelessness” |
| Focus on the Emmaus mission | The statements stressed the importance of the Emmaus mission, recalling that the movement was founded to fight poverty and that this mission must not be hijacked by scandal. | Reaffirm the priority of helping the most disadvantaged people. |
| A call for transparency and justice | Emmaus leaders emphasize the need for transparency to shed full light on the accusations. | Confirm your willingness to totally cooperate with the authorities and support the victims. |
| Defending a positive legacy | While admitting their mistakes, leaders defend Abbé Pierre’s positive legacy, highlighting his contribution to the fight against poverty and exclusion. | An try to separate a person’s wrongdoing from the lasting and helpful impact of his work. |
From distancing to a whole break
These points reflect a communication strategy aimed toward preserving the integrity of the Emmaüs movement while meeting the demands for justice and recognition of the victims. The distance from his historical resource is evident, but Abbé Pierre stays an important historical reference. However, in early September 2024, the situation escalated with the publication of additional, much more serious testimony.
The Egaé Reportpublished on September 4, documents several cases of sexual assault, including one involving a vulnerable person and one other involving a toddler, in addition to rape cases.
Following these latest reports, the Abbé Pierre Foundation announced a series of actions, planning to completely abandon the image of Abbé Pierre in its activities and communications. Three organizations have taken radical steps to distance themselves from their historical resources by reviewing their memory policies. The Abbé Pierre Foundation will change its name, Emmaüs France is considering removing the words “Founder Abbé Pierre” from its logo, and the memorial/museum dedicated to Abbé Pierre will remain permanently closed.
Perhaps more revelations will come to light, as quite a few “historical cleansings” have already been announced. Even as the organization struggles to survive, distancing itself from its founder, it must depend on the values that bind its community of volunteers, employees and donors to assist them survive what can be described as “organizational mourning.”