A life devoted to the poor

Following a pulmonary infection, Abbé Pierre, founder of the Emmaus Community, died at the age of 94 on 22 January. He had been admitted to the hospital of Val-de-Grace in Paris on 15 January. News of his death was announced by Martin Hirsch, president of the Compagnons d’Emmaus. One of the great protagonists of French Catholicism in the 20th century, Henri Antoine Groue’s – that was his full name – was born at Lyon. At the age of 19 he entered the order of the Capuchins in the same city, after having distributed his inheritance to the poor. He was ordained priest in 1938. He became the Abbé Pierre in 1942. During the war he falsified passports and helped transport various people hunted by the Gestapo over the Alps and the Pyrenees. On his return to France, he became a deputy. In 1949 he began to spread his message: “The poor must give to the poorer”. “With his actions on behalf of the poor, he gave a witness of charity that comes to us from Christ”, said BENEDICT XVI in his tribute to the Abbé Pierre, “a priest who combated poverty throughout this life”. In his telegram of condolence, signed by the Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Pope extends his apostolic blessing, “as sign of comfort and hope” to the family of the late Abbé and to members of the Emmaus Community. The passing away of the founder of the Emmaus Community was widely mourned in France and throughout the world, in churches, movements and international institutions. FRANCE. “I pray for all those whom he helped and whose spokesman he became, sharing their poverty and breaking down the wall of indifference. May they find comfort in the hope of God as Love to whom he always gave witness”, said the President of the French bishops and Archbishop of Bordeaux, Cardinal JEAN-PIERRE RICARD , in his tribute to the Abbé Pierre. “I remember with emotion – says the communiqué put out by the French Bishops’ Conference – the sentence with which the abbé Pierre ends his ‘Letter to God’ of 4 October 2005 in which he says: ‘Father, I have waited so long to live in your presence which is love’. The abbé Pierre has reached his Father”. Ricard’s thoughts also go to the French, “whose admiration” for the religious “never slackened. Through him they expressed their attachment to generosity, solidarity and attention to the disinherited”. “The Emmaus Community and the Abbé Pierre Foundation will continue to work in his name, since poverty and homelessness remain a constant concern, in France as in other countries. These associations – concludes Ricard – give us an exceptional witness of the dedication and humanity to which the abbé Pierre devoted his life”. “The whole of France is touched to the heart”, declared French President Jacques Chirac. “France has lost a man of enormous stature, a conscience and incarnation of goodness. He will always represent the spirit of the revolution against poverty, suffering and injustice”. BELGIUM. “A giant of compassion”, commented Cardinal GODFRIED DANNEELS , on behalf of the bishops of Belgium, in paying tribute to the abbé Pierre. “We give thanks to God for his life. Beyond the various religious or philosophic aspects, he reminded us all of our duty of humanity. For half a century the man with the beret was the living embodiment of the love of Jesus Christ. May he rest in peace and inspire in many the wish to continue his struggle for justice and brotherhood”. BULGARIA. “ Abbè Pierre was a great person distinguished by his deep faith – said the Assumptionist Father Daniele Jilier, who works among the poor -. His example has helped me a great deal in my work with the poor in Bulgaria. He showed me how the poor working for the poor can help them so much and give them identity and dignity. In Bulgaria so many people are homeless; they live on the street in the arctic cold of winter and above all feel themselves abandoned. At times when one works with the poor there is a risk of discouragement, but the example of the Abbè Pierre inspires us not to give up”. SPAIN. “We give thanks to God for so fruitful a life at the service of those most in need” commented the Primate of Spain and Metropolitan Archbishop of Tarragona, Jaume Pujol. “In the same way in which the Abbé Pierre in 1949 opened the door of his home to down-and-outs, asking them to help him in helping others, we pray to the Lord that by his example He may make us more aware and open our hearts to the sufferings of others”. HOLLAND. Monsignor DE KORTE , auxiliary bishop of Utrecht and head of the Church and Society department within the Dutch Bishops’ Conference, expressed his condolence for the death of the abbé Pierre in the following words: “an entire life devoted to the poor. A monument in the fight against poverty. […] The abbé Pierre is one of the priests who through his fully conscious choice put into practice the works of mercy for and with the poor”. COUNCIL OF EUROPE. “A great loss for European values”, declared Maud de Boer Buquicchio, deputy secretary general of the Council of Europe, in commemorating the founder of the Emmaus Community. “I had occasion personally to know his tireless dedication to social justice and his indefatigable appeal for solidarity”. According to the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, René van der Linden, the abbé Pierre “consecrated his life to the poor, devoting himself to the defence of human dignity and fighting against all forms of injustice”.