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The beginning
He was born as Henri Marie Joseph Groués -
His True Calling
Henri was spiritually inclined from an early age and was just 12 when he decided to become a missionary. -
Brother Philippe
He finally entered Capuchin Order, the principal offshoot of the Franciscan monastery of Notre Dame du Bon Secours at St Etienne. He renounced all his wealth and inheritances and offered all of his materialistic possessions to charities. Thus he left behind his identity as Henri Marie Joseph Grouès and took the name of Brother Philippe. -
Abbé Pierre
He took the nickname Abbe Pierre during World War II when he was a resistance chaplain and forged ID papers to smuggle refugees out of France. -
Emmaus
The first Emmaus community was founded in Paris, in 1949, by Father Henri-Antoine Grouès, better known as Abbé Pierre. He was an MP, Catholic priest and former member of the French Resistance who fought to provide homes for those who lived on the streets of Paris. -
A sad but happy Day
On that day he made a PSA saying that My friends, come help. A woman froze to death tonight at 3:00 am, on the pavement of Sebastopol Boulevard, clutching the eviction notice which the day before had made her homeless. Each night, more than two thousand endure the cold, without food, without bread, more than one almost naked.
Within a few hours gifts money and food flooded in the charity -
Lung Cancer
Abbe died on this day, lost his battle to lung cancer
