CHICAGO (IL)
Archdiocese of Chicago IL
April 27, 2023
Bishop Robert Lombardo will preside over the prayer service that begins at 11 a.m.
Chicago, (April 27, 2023) – The Archdiocese of Chicago’s 12th annual prayer service for child abuse prevention and pinwheel planting will be held at 11 a.m., on Thursday, April 27, 2023 at the Healing Garden at Holy Family Parish, 1080 W. Roosevelt Rd., Chicago. The outdoor service will be led by Bishop Robert Lombardo.
“More than 30 years ago, the Archdiocese of Chicago established policies and procedures to address sexual abuse of minors and we remain resolute in our commitment to ensuring our schools and parishes are safe places for children,” said Cardinal Blase Cupich, archbishop of Chicago. “We must continue to build a culture of awareness, accountability and trust and offer healing and justice to abuse survivors and their families.”
Students from archdiocesan Catholic schools will participate in prayer and song at the service and pinwheel planting event. As part of the prayer service, students, staff, parishioners and community members will plant pinwheels and tie blue ribbons on to trees in the Healing Garden, both symbols of child safeguarding efforts.
The prayer service will include: Bishop Lombardo leading the opening prayer and reflection; Michael Hoffman, chairman of the Hope and Healing Committee for the archdiocese’s Office of the Protection of Children and Youth (OPCY), offering the opening greeting; Superintendent of the Archdiocese of Chicago Catholic Schools Greg Richmond reading scripture; students from St. Mary of the Woods School, Holy Angels School, Northside Catholic Academy, Augustus Tolton Catholic Academy, St. Celestine School and St. Theresa School leading the prayers of the faithful; St. Ignatius College Prep students providing the music, attending clergy delivering the closing reflection and Fr. Patrick Fairbanks, SJ leading the closing prayer.
“We are very excited to return to in-person prayer for our 12th annual Pinwheels for Prevention Prayer Service,” said Hoffman. “From my perspective as a clergy abuse survivor, public outreach that supports the dignity, safety and well-being of all children is real progress from the time I was a little boy. Also, public prayer such as this, is an important way to raise awareness in the Church, that every child is a child of God and it is our mutual responsibility to protect and nurture all children in a healthy, safe, and loving environment.”
The Healing Garden of the Archdiocese of Chicago is a place dedicated to the healing, recovery and reconciliation of child abuse victims and their families and the larger Catholic Church community. It has served as the site where the community comes together each year during the month of April, National Child Abuse Prevention Month.
The garden was created by a committee of victims-survivors, diocesan priests, and staff from OPCY. Through the garden, many victims-survivors have been able to heal, learn and grow from the events they’ve suffered, freeing their spirits from fear, shame and judgement.
Through OPCY, schools and parishes provide age-appropriate, research-based training to children and youth enrolled in our schools and parish religious education programs to help them better recognize inappropriate behavior and understand how they should report it to trusted adults. More than 100,000 students receive safe environment training in Catholic school religious education classes annually.