Abbe Pierre Groues: 1912-2007

By Sister Irene Hartman, OP

Henri-Antoine Groues was born to a wealthy silk manufacturer in Lyons, France in 1912. Today he is know as a tireless advocate for the homeless, who, in 1949 launched the world-wide movement known as the Emmaus movement. Already at the age of 18, he had signed over his inheritance and entered a friary of Capuchin Franciscans. After a bout with tuberculosis, he left the Capuchins and became a priest of the Grenoble diocese.

When France fell in World War II, he joined the Resistance, helping Jewish refugees cross the Swiss border. He operated a laboratory for forging documents and even took part in surprise raids against German and Italian barracks. The Italians captured him but he escaped and went on to found an underground newspaper and to forge identity cards for escapees.

After the war, he rented an apartment in a Paris suburb, and soon took in a young couple with a baby who had been evicted from their home and had no place to live. Soon his apartment overflowed with poor and homeless Parisians. For more space, he bought a barracks building in an abandoned prisoner war camp, charging the homeless 15 cents for a night’s lodging. He averaged 5,000 homeless annually.

Through the Emmaus movement, which accepted people of all religious denominations, Abbe Pierre provided the homeless a way to get a new start in life. He said, “You’ll get your soup if you believe or not.” The homeless refurbished donated furniture and household goods to sell in a common shop, sharing the profits. The movement has grown to 327 communities in 39 countries.

In 1954, when France was experiencing an especially bitter winter, he went on national radio to appeal for help for the homeless, insisting, “Empty your attics, Parisians. There may be venerable things in them, but they’re less venerable than the lives of babies.” And again, “It’s not enough to prevent miserable people from dying in the streets. They have to be helped so they can live like human beings.”

Abbe Pierre has been described as lively, energetic, charismatic, one directed and dominated by will power. Was there a link between his faith and his social commitment? A student who had worked in the Emmaus program said Abbe Pierre did not wear his faith on his sleeve, but radiated deep holiness. Not everyone considered Abbe Pierre a saint. Publicly he confessed that he did not always keep how vow of celibacy. However, his generosity merited for him the title of “Mother Teresa of France.”

“Abbe Pierre represents a towering example in the 20th Century of faith in action, an icon of what Pope Paul VI meant when he said that in this age, the church will be an effective teacher only to the extent that it is first a witness to the love of Christ.” – National Catholic Reporter, Feb. 2, 2007