Under scrutiny over clergy abuse, Francis asks Catholics worldwide to pray rosary

As the Vatican and the Catholic Church's leadership deal with a continuing crisis of accountability for clergy sexual abuse, Pope Francis is asking the faith's 1.3 billion members worldwide to pray the rosary each day in October to "protect the church from the Devil."

A Sept. 29 note from the Vatican press office said the pontiff was inviting the faithful to pray especially to Mary and St. Michael the Archangel to "preserve the church from the attacks of the evil one, the Great Accuser."

The Vatican said Francis was hoping that the intercession of the saints would also make the church "more aware of its mistakes, its errors, its abuses -- committed in the present and the past -- and more dedicated to fight, without any hesitation, so that evil may not prevail."

Although the press office note announcing the papal initiative did not mention clergy sexual abuse, Francis called the Devil the "Great Accuser" in a Sept. 11 homily that was seen by some as his tacit response to a former Vatican ambassador accusing him and the Catholic hierarchy of covering up for ex-cardinal Theodore McCarrick.

That former ambassador, Italian Archbishop Carlo Viganò, released a document in August alleging a systemic cover-up of allegations against the retired Washington archbishop.

In his only remarks on the matter to date, Francis said the document, which contains a host of unsubstantiated and ideological claims and has now been revealed to have been drafted with the help of several ultra-right-wing Catholic figures, "speaks for itself."