L'abbé Pierre died today in Paris at the age of 94.The founder of the international Emmaus Community for the poor, Abbe Pierre had served as a spokesman for France's conscience since the 1950s when he persuaded parliament to pass a law — still on the books — forbidding landlords to evict tenants during winter months.President Jacques Chirac said in a statement, "We have lost a great figure, a conscience, an incarnation of goodness."A former monk, Resistance fighter and parliamentarian, Abbe Pierre long remained spry and determined despite the infirmities of old age. Last year, he spoke to parliament from his wheelchair, urging lawmakers not to reform a law on low-income housing. Often donning a beret and cape, Abbe Pierre — a code name from his World War II days — topped polls as France's most beloved public figure year after year. He had the ear of French leaders for decades.The Roman Catholic priest freely admitted to using provocation as a tactical weapon in his war on misery. "I'm not by temperament a man of anger," Abbe Pierre said in a 1994 interview with The Associated Press. "But when I must denounce something that destroys man, I get mad...."It is love that engenders this holy anger. They are inseparable."
Photo (above): Remy de la Mauviniere, AP
Photo: Reuters
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