SafeNet | Offering help and hope for all survivors of clergy sexual abuse.

The Garden of Forgiveness

Healing the Wounds of Clergy Sexual Abuse: A Proposal

The Garden of Forgiveness is a hopeful project being proposed and sponsored by SafeNet. It will be the first garden of its kind created specifically to address healing the wounds of clergy sexual abuse by acknowledging and exploring the power of forgiveness.

This project is national in scope and encourages all parties to focus on healing. Its goal is to raise $1 million in donations. SafeNet is actively soliciting the financial support of everyone impacted by and involved in the clergy abuse crisis. This includes appeals to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, SNAP, parishes, dioceses, survivors, attorneys on both sides, insurance carriers, and members of the press.

To learn more about this project and to contribute to it, please read our proposal.

Court Rulings

Court rulings can often be painful to read. When we feel we have prepared ourselves for the worst, we sometimes discover that we haven't. When we believe we have recovered from our injuries, we often find our deepest wounds have been reopened. It is natural to feel this way. It is also good when we can accept that these feelings are present in all of us.

The Solidarity Bench Dedication: Saturday, July 18, 2009

The Solidarity Bench Project was initiated by SafeNet and community and parish members of Santa Barbara, California, to install a bench and create a place near St. Anthony's Seminary that acknowledges and honors all who were hurt by the sexual abuse crisis.

An athletic bench that Brother Clem Wehe, O.F.M., built in the fifties from plank wood and old bed rails is now in place on the grounds of Old Mission Santa Barbara. To view a photo of the bench click here.

The formal dedication ceremony for The Solidarity Bench will be on Saturday, July 18, 2009.

The dedication will coincide with the annual St. Anthony's Seminary Alumni Association reunion and we are inviting everyone to attend. To complete this project we need your financial support.