Abbé Pierre, defender of the poor and founder of the Community of Emmaüs and one of the most popular figures in France since the 1950s, died Monday morning at a Paris hospital. He was 94. "In all of France, everyone's hearts have been touched," said French president Jacques Chirac."Abbé Pierre died at 5:25 a.m. at Val de Grâce [Hospital] around those close to him," announced Martin Hirsch, president of Emmaus France. "The pulmonary infection which he had been hospitalized for, although he was improving throughout the week, finally overcame him," he added. Abbé Pierre was hospitalized with bronchitis.
Abbé Pierre, whose real name is Henri Grouès, founded the first Emmaus community in 1949. Emmaus was a village mentioned in the New Testament where disciples invited an unrecognizable Jesus to stay with them to eat. After he prays and breaks the bread, they recognize him, and he disappears. (Luke:24, John:20).
Jacques Chirac declared that he was shaken by the news saying France has lost "an immense figure, a conscience -- an incarnation of kindness
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