A national garden for the United States proposed by survivors of clergy sexual abuse promises to foster healing not only for survivors but also for the Catholic Church as a whole. Source: OSV News.
“We can’t heal alone,” said Mike Hoffman, chair of the National Healing Garden Working Group.
“We want to heal with you, with our Church, with the bishops, with the priests. We want to heal together,” added the executive director of the National Catholic Restorative Justice Initiative, a group dedicated to restorative justice for survivors of Catholic clergy abuse.
Mr Hoffman, a survivor of childhood sexual abuse by clergy, and Deacon Bernie Nojadera, executive director of the US bishops’ Secretariat of Child and Youth Protection, spoke about the efforts behind the National Healing Garden, which will be on the grounds of The Catholic University of America in Washington.
Catholic University president Peter Kilpatrick said the garden “will serve as a tangible sign of God’s mercy and an extension of our commitment to lift up human dignity”.
The university is managing fundraising efforts as well as collaborating on the design. Organisers are seeking to raise $US200,000 ($280,500) by mid-2027 to fund the garden that will include flowers, shrubbery, seating, plaques and a prayer labyrinth representing the nonlinear pathway of healing.
The garden, which is currently being designed, will serve as a healing space for survivors of clergy abuse and for anyone who has been abused or impacted by abuse.
“Our outreach is to all survivors across the country of any kind of abuse … no matter their faith background, no matter where they came from and no matter who the perpetrator was,” Mr Hoffman said.
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New national garden promises healing for abuse survivors and all Catholics (By Katie Yoder, OSV News)
