WASHINGTON (OSV News) -- A national garden proposed by survivors of clergy sexual abuse promises to foster healing not only for survivors but also for the Catholic Church as a whole in the nation's capital.
"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.
Hoffman, a survivor of childhood sexual abuse by clergy, and Deacon Bernie Nojadera, executive director of the U.S. bishops' Secretariat of Child and Youth Protection, spoke with OSV News about the efforts behind the National Healing Garden, which will be on the grounds of The Catholic University of America in Washington. The garden is planned for the east side of Caldwell Hall by the St. Francis Peace Garden.
In a statement, Peter Kilpatrick, president of Catholic University, said that 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. Organizers are seeking to raise $200,000 by spring 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," Hoffman said.
The vision statement by the National Healing Garden Working Group -- a group of seven clergy abuse survivors and other members including Auxiliary Bishop Evelio Menjivar-Ayala of Washington driving the garden -- reflects this desire.
Members of The Catholic Project, a Catholic University initiative dedicated to collaboration between clergy and laity in the wake of the Church's sexual abuse crisis, were also part of the working group from the beginning, including Stephen White, former executive director, and Sara Perla, acting director.
"As clergy sexual abuse survivors from across the United States, in relationship with the Church, we offer empathy and acknowledgement to all survivors of any kind of abuse," the statement reads. "In this sacred healing space, we invite the entire Body of Christ into the journey of accompaniment and reconciliation, imploring God's mercy to bring healing to the lives of everyone harmed by abuse in the Church."
It concludes: "Pledge with us to continue working to respect, protect, defend, and restore the dignity that all deserve as children of God."
The garden is put forth in relationship with the Church, particularly the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People. As liaison between the working group and the bishops' committee, Deacon Nojadera said the working group of survivors did the heavy lifting for this new project.
"In the end, I'm hoping the Church transforms, converts and ends up even a healthier and holier Church -- and that's going to be with the assistance of our survivors, of our survivor-victims, who, in a way, are showing us what it is they need for this healing, for their healing," he said.
The garden also has the prayerful support of nine bishops and archbishops, eight Catholic organizations, five Catholic academic institutions and three parishes.
The garden draws inspiration from other, more local healing gardens across the country, including one in Chicago, which Hoffman was also behind, and five in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
Hoffman, who also serves as chair of the Hope and Healing Committee of the Archdiocese of Chicago, said the Chicago garden helped him in his healing journey. He first came forward to tell his story of clergy abuse in 2006. He called a meeting with the late Cardinal Francis E. George of Chicago, a Catholic University alumnus, his "major healing milestone." As a Church leader, the cardinal apologized to him.
"One reason why I'm here today is because I could unburden myself to Cardinal George, and he could hear that," Hoffman said of their 2008 meeting.
Hoffman stressed the importance of placing gardens in public, visible spaces. He said how these gardens are used is also important. The Chicago garden, which has been in place for over a decade, holds an annual child abuse prevention prayer service attended by hundreds.
"That's healing to me," Hoffman said. "The issue has driven so many of us apart, and here is a healthy and healing space that has brought us together."
He said organizers plan to hold similar events in the national garden.
The creation of a national garden, or "a permanent site of healing, prayer, and accompaniment for victim-survivors of clergy sex abuse and The Dallas Charter | USCCBfor the broader Church," is one of four proposals identified by Hoffman's NCRJI.
Hoffman suggested the garden's opening might coincide with the 25th anniversary of the Dallas Charter in 2027. The charter, formally called the "Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People," is a set of procedures from the USCCB for addressing allegations of sexual abuse of minors by clergy and prevention of further acts of abuse.
At the USCCB, Deacon Nojadera hoped the garden will remind God's people that "they are wonderfully created in the image and likeness of God" and of "the reality that every one of us is unconditionally loved."
