News and Events

Child Abuse Prevention Month

Pinwheels for Prevention: 14th Annual Prayer Service for Child Abuse Prevention

Thursday, May 1 at 11 a.m.

Archdiocese of Chicago’s Healing Garden 
1080 W. Roosevelt Rd., Chicago

Please join the Archdiocese of Chicago in its ongoing commitment to the ministry of protecting children at the Annual Prayer Service for Child Abuse Prevention presided by Bishop Lawrence J. Sullivan, Vicar General, with Superintendent Greg Richmond. Participants will be invited to plant a pinwheel (symbol of child abuse prevention efforts) during the service.

Flyer (PDF)

About the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Healing Garden

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, a place where the community comes together each year during the month of April which is observed as National Child Abuse Prevention Month.

 

“Yes, ours is a Church of many nations and many cultures, a diversity that we must respect, but zero tolerance when it comes to harming children and full accountability are non-negotiable. These are not values to be held in the abstract, or simply codified as a list of procedures to be ticked off as a matter of routine. No, they must be lived values. They must be values that permeate the very air we breathe as a Church—so that everyone from the volunteer tutor to the bishop knows that building a culture of accountability, justice and healing is essential to what it means to be church, to follow Christ’s call.”

Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, archbishop of Chicago, Remarks from Nov. 2018.

 

How to Get Involved

If you are unable to attend our events, there are simple ways to have your parish or school commemorate that April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month:

  • Hold your own prayer service at your parish and/or school. The Child-Abuse Prevention Prayer Service Worship Guide is posted online to use at your site.
  • Create a banner, pinwheel, poem or other creative display about child-abuse prevention. Send a photo to the Office for the Protection of Children & Youth: we will display images of your projects on our webpage and on the Archdiocese of Chicago social media pages.
  • Consider creating your own pinwheel garden and hanging blue ribbons (around trees, on fences/gates, etc.) at your parish/school. 
  • Dedicate a moment during Mass or school assembly to child-abuse prevention: make an announcement, say a prayer, read a poem, or have a moment of silence.
  • Visit the Healing Garden website for more information.

Pinwheels for Prevention

Pinwheels for Prevention campaign is part of a national movement by Prevent Child Abuse America (PCA) to not only raise awareness to child abuse, but also to promote supporting positive practices to allow healthy child development. 

The Archdiocese of Chicago joins PCA America in planting pinwheel gardens throughout the archdiocese to remind each of us of the important role we play in children’s and young people’s daily lives.