EUROPE : Controversy Topples France’s Pillar of Virtue

The spotlight first fell on Abbe Pierre in the grim winter of 1954, when he announced that a homeless woman, eviction papers still clasped in her hand, had frozen to death on a sidewalk here. Within hours, he had opened this city’s first shelters and launched a funding appeal with the words: “My friends. Help!”

The small, bearded Roman Catholic priest gradually became France’s conscience and most admired citizen. He was often dubbed the “Mother Teresa of France.” Movies were made about him. Presidents and prime ministers praised him in public and feared his clout and his courage.

But Abbe Pierre, 83, the paragon of French virtue for four decades, has taken a nasty tumble from his public pedestal. He’s being denounced by friends, politicians, church officials and community leaders. And last week, he was expelled from the French-based International League Against Racism and Anti-Semitism, where he had been a member of the honor committee.

His downfall began with a letter, written last month, in which he praised “The Founding Myths of Israeli Politics.” The new book, written by Roger Garaudy, a longtime friend, challenges what it calls “the myth” that 6 million Jews were exterminated during World War II. Published by a French company that specializes in neo-Nazi literature, it argues that although the Jews suffered “massacres,” those did not amount to genocide or Holocaust.

Abbe Pierre’s letter and his refusal to withdraw his remarks not only may have permanently stained the good priest. They also have reopened sores here, recalling the animosity between the Catholic Church and Jews. And it has given succor to the small band of Holocaust revisionists in France.

Garaudy, 83, a Roman Catholic who converted to Islam, has been placed under investigation in France, where it is illegal to question what courts have judged to be “crimes against humanity.” No formal charges have been filed, and he insists, “I have done nothing wrong.”

Abbe Pierre, who helped Jews escape Nazi-occupied France during World War II, has tried to explain his way out of the crisis. But he is by nature a combative man, having led many a militant march on behalf of the impoverished and homeless; with each explanation, he digs himself in deeper.

“I don’t want in any way to allow any doubt about the atrocious reality of the Shoah [Holocaust] and of the millions of Jews exterminated because they were Jews,” Abbe Pierre said in a statement. “I condemn all those who want to deny, falsify or trivialize the Shoah.”

Still, he has refused to condemn the book, saying only that Garaudy, his friend for half a century, should correct any mistakes he’s made and that the Holocaust “is a subject on which debate is not closed.” (The priest admits he hasn’t actually read the book and has relied on aides who have.)

Further, Abbe Pierre said he believes he’s being criticized for having the courage to question a taboo subject. “We will not let ourselves be called anti-Jewish or anti-Semite if we say that a Jew sings out of tune,” he told the Paris daily Liberation. “Once the tornado is passed, many average French people will say, ‘He [Abbe Pierre] helped us see more clearly.’ ”

But his stand is unacceptable to many in France. In expelling him, the anti-racism league said he must “take the consequences of his choice and leave the association, where his presence is no longer justified.”

Jewish groups, which once admired the priest, have chastised him and expressed concern that he has given new life to those who deny the Holocaust. “The Holocaust is a story that is tragically too true to need, 50 years later, reevaluation,” said Jean Kahn, president of the local Jewish congress.

And Bernard Kouchner, founder of Doctors Without Borders and co-author of two books with Abbe Pierre, has observed: “I’m sorry to say it, but being a humanitarian doesn’t necessarily make one progressive.”

The affair has cast a long shadow over a remarkable life. Born as Henri Groues, he adopted the nom de guerre Abbe Pierre, or Father Pierre, when he joined the French Resistance during the Nazi occupation. He founded a humanitarian organization that now feeds and houses thousands of people. For years, opinion polls have ranked him as the person whom the French most admire.

Asked if public opinion had changed irrevocably, Abbe Pierre recently told a Paris newspaper: “The day I appear before God, the only thing I want to hear him say is: ‘You are an honest man.’ ”