CARTERSVILLE (GA)
Daily Tribune News
August 25, 2018
By James Swift
It was a solemn service at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Cartersville Thursday evening.
The Holy Hour observance called for “reparation of the damage done by clergy in the past, healing for the victims and purification of the Church.” The ceremony came just three days after Pope Francis issued an open letter urging the Catholic Church to stand in solidarity with victims of clergy sexual abuse and to “condemn these atrocities and join forces in uprooting this culture of death.”
A little under 100 people turned out for the observance at 850 Douthit Ferry Road in Cartersville. About half of the attendees were middle-aged and senior Caucasians, the other half predominantly middle-aged Hispanics and their children.
Father Juan Francisco Anzora presided over the service, alternating his sermon in English and Spanish.
He prayed for the communities affected by “suppressions of abuse” — as well as the friends and families of the abused and their abusers alike — and for their feelings of “shock and horror” to be replaced by feelings of trust and optimism.
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