KEY POINTS
  • According to two anonymous people familiar with the probe, federal prosecutors have served subpoenas on dioceses across Pennsylvania. 
  • The subpoenas follow a state grand jury report in August that detailed hundreds of allegations of children being sexually abused by priests in dioceses across the state.
St. Paul Cathedral, the mother church of the Pittsburgh Diocese in Pennsylvania. 
Jeff Swensen | Getty Images

The U.S. Justice Department has opened an investigation of child sexual abuse inside the Roman Catholic Church in Pennsylvania.

That's according to two people familiar with the probe, who say federal prosecutors have served subpoenas on dioceses across the state that seek a trove of sensitive files and testimony from church leaders.