Announcing a U.S. Speaking Tour with Marie Collins, Irish Abuse Survivor and Former Papal Advisor, in September

MEDIA ADVISORY
August 21, 2019

Marie Collins, the foremost advocate for justice for survivors of clergy sexual abuse and accountability in the Roman Catholic Church, will speak in 6 U.S. cities from September 9-20, 2019, stopping in Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia, Chicago, New Orleans, and Los Angeles. Collins, a survivor of clergy abuse as a child in Dublin, Ireland, and former member of the Vatican’s Commission on the Protection of Minors, will offer her unique diagnosis of the Catholic Church’s culture of abuse and cover-up and concrete actions Catholics can take to demand reform. 

Organized by a coalition of progressive Catholic reform groups, the third “Catholic Tipping Point” tour comes at a time when revelations of the scale of clergy abuse worldwide continue to shock and demoralize Catholics, and the response of Church leaders continues to be painfully insufficient. Collins served as a founding member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Children until she resigned in 2017 in protest over the Vatican’s stonewalling and resistance to transparent processes and accountability. 

“Marie Collins is a woman of immense integrity and courage; her relentless pursuit for children’s safety and institutional reforms challenge not only clerics at the Vatican, including Pope Francis, but all Catholics to demand civil and spiritual justice,” said Kate McElwee, Executive Director of the Women’s Ordination Conference. “Her voice needs to be heard now more than ever.”

 “In the face of criminal activity on the part of too many priests and prelates, along with a culture of corrupting clericalism, Marie Collins stands out as a modern day prophet, a voice that Catholics can trust,” said Deborah Rose-Milavec, Co-Director of FutureChurch. “Her willingness to stand for truth in her dealings with the Vatican is not only a source of hope and inspiration for Catholics who have had enough of cover ups and lies, but a map for how we should engage the institution in our work for reform and justice.”

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What: “A Crisis of Culture: Seeking Justice to Reclaim the Church” U.S. Speaking tour with survivor and expert, Marie Collins of Dublin, Ireland. 

When and Where:

September 9, 2019: Washington, D.C., 10:30 a.m., United Methodist Building, 100 Maryland Ave NE (Press event)

September 10: Baltimore, MD, 7 p.m., First Unitarian Church of Baltimore, 1 W Franklin St.

September 12: Philadelphia, PA, 6:30 p.m., Commonwealth Chateau at SugarLoaf, 9220 Germantown Ave.

September 14: Chicago, IL, 7 p.m., First United Church of Oak Park, 848 Lake St, Oak Park

September 17: New Orleans, LA, Community Church UU, 6690 Fleur De Lis Dr, (with Jason Berry) 

September 20: Los Angeles, CA, 6:30 p.m., IMAN Cultural Center 3376 Motor Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90034 

Who: The Catholic Tipping Point tour is sponsored by Call To Action, Catholics For Choice, CORPUS, DignityUSA, the Ecumenical Catholic Communion, FutureChurch, New Ways Ministry, Quixote Center, RAPPORT (Renewing and Priestly People Ordination Reconsidered Today), Southeastern Pennsylvania Women’s Ordination Conference, Survivors Network of those Abused By Priests (SNAP), Women-Church Convergence, and Women’s Ordination Conference.

Contacts:
Kate McElwee, Executive Director, Women’s Ordination Conference, kmcelwee@womensordination.org

Deborah Rose-Milavec, Co-Director, FutureChurch, debrose@futurechurch.org