A Voice For Abuse Survivors Within The Catholic Church

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Marie Collins (left) and Vatican spokesman father Federico Lombardi leave at the end of a press conference at the Vatican on May 3, 2014. Collins, a clergy abuse survivor, was chosen as a member of Pope Francis' abuse advisory board. (Riccardo De Luca/AP)

by NPR Staff
May 11, 2014
10:51 AM ET

For decades Marie Collins has advocated on behalf of sex abuse victims and spoken out against the way the Catholic Church has handled the crisis.

Collins was selected by Pope Francis to sit on the new commission he set up to try to right past wrongs and to make recommendations for dealing with pedophile priests in the future.

“I certainly had no expectation that I would ever be asked to do anything in the Vatican ... particularly with my history of criticism of the church. - Marie Collins

Collins is one of four women on the new commission and the only member who is also herself a survivor of clergy sexual abuse. She told NPR's Rachel Martin about the abuse, how she overcame it and went on to help other victims.

When Collins was 13 years old she had an operation at a children's hospital. It was her first time from home and she was scared, she says. The chaplain of the hospital began coming by a lot, including in the evenings to read to her.

http://www.npr.org/2014/05/11/311412142/a-voice-for-abuse-survivors-within-the-catholic-church