PARIS (Reuters) - France's Catholic Church called on prosecutors on Friday to open a probe into sexual assault accusations against the late French priest Abbe Pierre, who was a lifelong campaigner for the poor and homeless, and potential cover-ups of such abuse.

The Catholic Church in France has called on prosecutors to investigate allegations of serious sexual abuse by the once venerated priest Abbé Pierre, who died in 2007. Only the courts had the necessary investigative resources to ensure that the whole truth was told about the silences and denials from which Abbé Pierre may have benefited,

Catholic dioceses, eparchies and men’s religious communities spent more than $5 billion on allegations of sexual abuse of minors, according to a new report released Wednesday (Jan. 15) by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University.

The French church has formally requested that prosecutors open an investigation into Abbé Pierre, a once-revered priest and humanitarian icon who died in 2007, following new revelations of sexual viol