These communities have recently come to public attention due to information about their founders, Marthe Robin and Fr. Georges Finet.
In particular, in 2020, a book by the Belgian Carmelite Conrad De Meester (1936-2019) was published. He was asked in 1988 to study Marthe Robin's writings for her beatification process.
The monk's notes, published posthumously, highlight his conviction that Marthe Robin was guilty of "mystical fraud."
She allegedly lied about supernatural events such as the stigmata. She also was not forthcoming about her abstinence from food while plagarizing other authors.
The Foyers de Charité are communities bringing together priests and lay people. They were co-founded in 1936 in France by Marthe Robin and Fr. Georges Finet. Today, they have nearly 900 members spread across 68 houses on four continents. These structures welcome more than 50,000 people per year for spiritual retreats.
A renewed commission is taking over the investigation on behalf of the Foyers. The independent group is composed of two historians, a lawyer, a sociologist, a theologian, and a psychoanalyst, so reports La Croix. The work is scheduled to conclude with a report due in October 2026.
"The aim is not to repeat the investigation into Marthe Robin—the material is already extensive, and a canonization investigation is underway with a 14,000-page dossier…—but to include her in a broader overview, an institutional history of the Foyers, from their founding in the 1930s to the 2000s," explains Florian Michel, professor of contemporary history at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and a member of the commission.
The investigators will meet with current and former members of the Foyers and gather testimony from all those familiar with their operations. The main research topics will focus on the systemic aspect of the abuse. "Is there an internal dynamic to these phenomena?"
He believes it is "verifiable that a certain number of perverse theologians sought validation in Châteauneuf-de-Galaure [where Marthe Robin resided]." Among them was Fr. Thomas Philippe (1905-1993), convicted of sexual assault.
"We will naturally draw on the conclusions of the various investigations published in recent years – that of the Ciase, that on Jean Vanier, that of the Brothers of St. John, since in each of these reports, Marthe Robin appears in the background," explains Florian Michel.
On January 31, 2025, the commission launched a call for testimonies. The study covers France and abroad, from its founding to the present day. The research will focus on the mechanisms by which abuse occurs, as well as the individuals directly involved or who may have concealed these incidents.
With this objective in mind, the commission is launching a call for individuals affected by forms of abuse or mistreatment to provide their testimony about their experiences. The call also concerns witnesses who could provide data on the operation of the Foyers de Charité, the working conditions of employees and volunteers, the relationships between priests and volunteer employees, and the handling of reported cases of abuse.