Three Perspectives on the Catholic Church & Pope Francis’ Visit to the US

Guests: Sister Simone Campbell, John Salveson, and Julie Chovanes

Pope Francis’ visit to the United States is being celebrated by many Catholics and non-Catholics throughout the region and many have been encouraged by his humility and his willingness to engage with a variety of people. For some, his trip and the spotlight on the church have proved to be painful because of past experiences. Today we’ll hear three different takes on Pope Francis the Catholic Church, in light of his upcoming stopover in the states. Marty speaks with SISTER SIMONE CAMPBELL, the executive director of NETWORK, a national Catholic social justice lobby, and JOHN SALVESON, founder and president of the Foundation to Abolish Child Sex Abuse. In 2012, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, which represents 80,000 American nuns, was reprimanded in a Vatican report that the group has strayed from the church and had adopted “radical feminist” views. Her organization was also sanctioned in the report. Salveson was molested by a priest as a teenager and has campaigned for the World Meeting of Families, the event leading up to the pope’s visit to the Philadelphia, to host sessions on sexual abuse within the church. We’ll also be joined by local transgender Catholic JULIE CHOVANES to hear about her experiences with her faith and the church. She is the founder and executive director of Trans Resource Foundation, a nonprofit in Philadelphia providing legal and social services to the trans community and consulting and professional education services about trans people to the world at large.