The mayor of Nîmes announced this Tuesday, October 15, his wish to rename the town’s Place Abbé-Pierre. He will propose the name “Mother Teresa Square” at the next municipal council in November.
The town hall of Nîmes announced this Tuesday, October 15, its wish to name the Place de l’Abbé-Pierre in the town so that it becomes Place Mère-Teresa. A proposal which will have to be validated at the next Municipal Council, on November 16, the municipality announced in his diary.
Abbé Pierre, who died in 2007, is accused by around twenty women, sometimes minors at the time, of sexual violence. Since these revelations this summer, several municipalities and establishments named after him have decided to change their name.
Abbé Pierre, “a sexual predator”: new damning accusations
Requests for tribute to Mother Teresa
Mother Teresa, born in 1910 and died in 1997, founded a Catholic religious congregation, the Missionaries of Charity, and was involved throughout her life in supporting the sick and orphans in particular. She received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 and was canonized by Pope Francis in 2016.
“Having received requests to pay tribute to this global figure of charitable work, I wanted to consult Monseigneur Brouwet, Bishop of Nîmes on this proposal, who validated the principle,” declared the mayor of Nîmes, Jean- Paul Fournier, quoted by the town hall newspaper.
“The celebration of this new denomination could take place during the unveiling of the renovated facade of the cathedral, in conjunction with state services. Mother Teresa is universal. Her action for the poorest is remarkable,” he said. he added.
Nearly 150 roads in his name
Across France, 149 roads (streets, avenues, squares, etc.) bear the name of Abbé Pierre or his real name, Henri Grouès, according to a count carried out by BFMTV.com in mid-September. Several municipalities have announced in recent months their intention to rename these roads, such as Lyon or Limoges.
Schools have also taken these steps. At the beginning of September, the Abbé Pierre Foundation announced the same thing, as well as the closure of the place of memory dedicated to the priest in Esteville, in Seine-Maritime.
Abbé Pierre is an emblematic personality in France for his tireless commitment against poor housing. His image has been seriously tarnished since the publication this summer, in two stages, of damning testimonies.
In total, 24 women accuse him of sexual violence committed between the 1950s and the 2000s, according to reports from the Egaé firm commissioned by the associations of the Emmaüs movement which he founded.
These testimonies report “unsolicited contacts on the breasts”, “forced kisses”, but also “repeated sexual contacts on a vulnerable person”, “repeated acts of sexual penetration” or even “sexual contacts on a child”.
