Ground broken for Baltimore garden dedicated to Pope John Paul II

Published: 2008-04-14

BALTIMORE (CNS) -- Church and civic leaders were among the dignitaries who pressed gleaming golden shovels into a patch of soil not far from the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary April 11 to break ground on the long-awaited Pope John Paul II Prayer Garden in downtown Baltimore. Heralding the 8,000-square-foot sanctuary as a future oasis of peace and contemplation, the leaders said the garden is meant for all people of all faiths. Baltimore Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien said the garden will serve as a monument to the historic papacy of Pope John Paul and a "living postcard" of the Polish pope's 1995 visit to Baltimore. It also will be a monument to religious freedom and to "the friendship with our sisters and brothers of other faiths -- a brotherhood so richly rewarded by the service of our late pope and our own Cardinal (William H.) Keeler," retired archbishop of Baltimore, said Archbishop O'Brien, who sprinkled holy water on the site.

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