FRANCE/ FILE: Abbe Pierre, a Roman Catholic priest and a tireless anti-poverty crusader who became one of France's most revered men, dies at the age 94.

Abbe Pierre, a Roman Catholic priest who renounced wealth to campaign for the homeless and became one of France's most revered men, died on Monday (January 22) aged 94. The outspoken priest was hailed by many as a tireless anti-poverty crusader and champion for the outcasts of society. Abbe Pierre was admitted to a Paris hospital on January 14 suffering from bronchitis. He died at 0525 CET. (0425 GMT) on Monday after failing to recover from the lung infection. The frail priest, who spent most of his life protecting people dumped on the margins of Western life, was little known outside France but was cherished at home as a modern-day saint. "Today we are losing the defender of the homeless the one that started pushing for solidarity among the French people, the one who helped French people understand that they need to take care of the homeless and underprivileged," said Jean Baptiste Eyraud, DAL (Right for Housing Association)spokesman. Born in 1912, Henri-Antoine Groues was the fifth child of a silk merchant but gave up his comfortable life to become a monk. He took his nickname Abbe Pierre -- "abbe" is a traditional title for priests -- as a resistance chaplain during World War Two, when he forged ID papers to smuggle refugees out of France. He began campaigning for the homeless in 1949 and shot to fame in 1954 when he went on air to demand shelter for thousands of people threatened with death during a bitterly cold winter. His appeal set off a wave of sympathy, and his Emmaus chain of hostels for the homeless now covers 41 countries. His militant stance in favour of the poor made him a national icon in his trademark black cape, beret and walking stick, and put him consistently ahead of entertainers and politicians in popularity polls. "Because of his initiative a law will be presented to the national assembly for the right to housing. He is at the initiative of such a law. He managed to shake all French politicians. He was able to mobilise the best feelings of the public opinion," said Eyraud. Abbe Pierre was a man of fierce convictions and compared at times to Mother Teresa of Calcutta. But he was not always a model Roman Catholic. In 2005 he shocked the Church by speaking out for married and female priests and admitted to having broken his vows of chastity.

ITN Source | January 22, 2007

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