French priest accused of sexual assaults 17 years after death

French Roman Catholic priest Abbé Pierre, remembered as a champion of the homeless, has been accused of sexual assault 17 years after his death.

One of France's most revered figures, Abbé Pierre died in January 2007, aged 94.

But now the country has been shocked by allegations that he sexually assaulted or harassed seven women between 1970 and 2005.

The news was broken by the Emmaus anti-poverty movement which he founded. The organisation said it had heard testimony from the seven women and it believed them.

"These revelations have shaken our organisations, where the figure of Abbé Pierre plays a major role," the charity said in a statement on its website.

"We all know his story and his message. These acts profoundly change the way we regard this man, who was known above all for his struggle against poverty, destitution and exclusion."

The scandal represents an extraordinary posthumous fall from grace for the priest, who repeatedly topped national popularity polls during his lifetime.

His movement had an international impact, with Emmaus hostels in dozens of countries.

When he died in 2007, the president at the time, Jacques Chirac, said that France had lost "an immense figure, a conscience, an incarnation of goodness".

Emmaus said it began investigating the allegations a year ago, when it received "a first-hand account from a woman who was subjected to sexual assault by Abbé Pierre".

After that, it commissioned an outside firm to pursue the inquiry. This uncovered incidents involving six other women, one of whom was under 18 at the time.

"It is reasonable to consider that other people were affected, although it is difficult to estimate how many," Emmaus said.

The charity paid tribute to the "courage" of the women who had spoken out and made it possible to bring the events to light.

"We believe them, we know that these intolerable acts have left their mark and we stand by them," it added.

The revelations were splashed across the front pages of Thursday's French press, with commentators expressing astonishment that such a respected figure had, as Le Parisien put it, fallen from his pedestal.

Left-wing newspaper Libération saw the scandal as part of the dissipation of the Catholic Church's "long vow of silence" about sexual abuse, adding that before the advent of the MeToo movement, the women's allegations would have gone unheard.

Emmaus said it had set up a confidential system for gathering testimonies from people who had experienced or witnessed "unacceptable behaviour" by Abbé Pierre and invited them to come forward.

It said they would be provided with guidance and support.