chastity

The UN mission also noted that a “Hijab and Chastity” bill was in the final stages of approval before Iran’s Guardian Council and could be finalised imminently.

Born Henri Grouès in 1912 in Lyon, Abbé Pierre was ordained in 1938, taking a vow of chastity.

Speaking on Monday, the head of Emmaus International, Adrien Caboche, confirmed that throughout that time Abbé Pierre’s non-observance of his vow of chastity had been no secret to those in the know.

Weeks before the unrest in the summer of 2022, President Raisi had ordered a tightening of Iran's "hijab and chastity law" which obligated women to behave and dress modestly.

The sisters’ vows of chastity and poverty and the air of secrecy that shrouds their cloistered lives are all intriguingly antithetical to modern Western values of sex, money and fame.