Heroic French Priest Abbe Pierre Dies

[La_Fourmi_Rouge]

France has lost one of its heroes: a 94-year-old priest and champion of the homeless called Abbe Pierre. He died from a lung infection at a Paris hospital early Monday, plunging the nation into mourning. Lisa Bryant has more from the French capital on his extraordinary life:

A monk, a priest, a one-time resistance fighter and lawmaker - Abbe Pierre wore many hats, but he is mostly known as a passionate defender of the homeless, who issued a wake-up call to the nation during the bitterly cold winter of 1954.

After a homeless woman died of cold on the French streets, Abbe Pierre went on the radio. "People must send the suffering a message of welcome, he said. "That whoever you are come in, eat, sleep, find joy again, we love you."

The French priest also made practical requests: for French to deliver blankets, tents and cooking stoves to help the homeless survive that cold winter, half a century ago. The drive pushed the French parliament to pass legislation soon after to create 12-thousand new shelters for the homeless.

<http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-01-22-voa43.cfm>

[xchrom]

1. "That whoever you are come in, eat, sleep, find joy again, we love you."

good night sweet prince -- there are too few of your kind in this world.

god bless and keep you now and always.

[rockymountaindem]

2. Requium in Pace

I hope I got that right. In my religion we would say Shalom, so I'm not sure. He was truly a man of God for his efforts.

[MasonJar]

3. An amazing life! Thank you for your influence for good.

[Hav]

4. .

Good article.
They showed film footage of how people were building these houses. It's remarkable how a single person can have such an impact (the article said that his organization for the homeless had chapters in more than 50 countries). He truly was "A man of action" and showed what it means to be "christian".

[La_Fourmi_Rouge]

5. Front page of LeMonde...

Un proche de l'abbé Pierre évoque le "manque de reconnaissance" de l'Eglise:

<http://www.lemonde.fr/#go>

The French have long had a strong collective sense of Social Justice. Abbe Pierre was the conscience of a nation for more than half a century.

[superconnected]

6. Wow, what a great man. Thank you Abbe Pierre.

May you rest peacefully.

[happyslug]

7. More on Abbe Pierre:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abb%C3%A9_Pierre

And in French (Which goes into more details including a 1996 incident):
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abb%C3%A9_Pierre

In the French version the 1996 "Scandal" involving abbe Pierre's support for a book of a Friend, that was later called an attack on Israel. Abbe Pierre later admitted to never have read the book, but just spoke of the book as a favor to his Friend. I used Yahoo translators to read the article so this may be wrong, someone who has a better knowledge of French can explain the scandal better.

Beside the 1996 "Scandal", Abbe Pierre is definitely of the liberal wing of the Catholic Church, he has supported married and female priests and advocated Condoms when it comes to the AIDS crisis (and a outreach program for Homosexuals).

[burrowowl]

8. RIP

Abbe Pierre