World Mourned the Passing of a Man Passionately Committed to the Poor...

One of France's most revered figures, Abbe Pierre died on Monday, aged 94.

President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin were among the mourners on Friday.

The Roman Catholic priest was France's leading champion of the destitute and homeless, topping a national popularity poll year after year.

Abbe Pierre will be buried in a private cemetery in the Normandy village of Esteville, on a day of "national homage".

The last Frenchman to be honoured in such a way was the environmentalist and inventor, Jacques Cousteau, in 1997.

Example for nation

Former President Valery Giscard d'Estaing and Paris mayor Bertrand Delanoe were among the mourners, as were cultural celebrities including Robert Hossein, Laetitia Hallyday, Jean Reno and Lambert Wilson.

Earlier mourners paid their respects before his open coffin in the 17th-Century Val-de-Grace church in Paris, beside the hospital where he died.

"Abbe Pierre showed us the way of the heart, of generosity, of the spirit of rebellion to help the most vulnerable," Mr Chirac said.

"His message must stay alive in each of us and it is up to all of us to follow it through."

Abbe Pierre was the codename he used - abbe is a title traditionally given to priests - during his work with the French Resistance, smuggling Jews out of occupied France during World War II.

Born Henri Groues, he founded the Emmaus association in 1953, and fought for a law to stop parliament expelling tenants during the winter months after a freezing spell hit the country.

He demanded the nation act when he went on the radio in the winter of 1954, highlighting the case of a three-month-old baby who had frozen to death in inadequate housing and a woman who had died on the streets clutching an eviction order.

In the subsequent decades, he continued his tireless campaign for the destitute - and his hostels started to appear around the world in the 1970s.