DAYTON (OH)
National Catholic Reporter
December 7, 2017
by Brian Roewe
Memorial Mass for co-founder of National Survivor Advocates Coalition is Dec. 9 in Dayton, Ohio
A memorial Mass Dec. 9 in Dayton, Ohio, will remember Kristine Ward, a lay Catholic compelled by the Boston Globe’s 2002 clergy sex abuse investigations to become a prominent advocate for survivors.
Ward died Nov. 9 after a years-long battle with cancer. The Mass will take place at Queen of Martyrs Church, in Dayton, followed by a celebration of life reception.
Ward was chair and co-founder of the National Survivor Advocates Coalition, an organization formed in 2009 by lay Catholics with an intent focus on promoting justice for abuse survivors and educating other Catholics about sexual abuse.
“She was just a fierce and loving advocate, and she set the bar high for the Catholics in the pews, and I think that will be her legacy, that very strong and uncompromising voice of hers,” said Anne Barrett Doyle, co-director of BishopAccountability.org.
Jason Berry, a leading journalist and author in unmasking the clergy abuse scandal, described Ward as “a moral advocate for survivors” who worked tirelessly on their behalf.
Friends and colleagues remember Ward as a dynamic speaker, fierce defender and fun-loving. It was Ward who introduced an ice cream social at annual Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) conferences as a way to help attendees feel more comfortable and also to add some cheer before serious and, often emotional, discussions.
“There’s a lot of people in the movement that do great things and you like and respect them, but Kris was somebody you had a good time with,” said Barbara Dorris, SNAP executive director. “When you were with Kris, you knew you were going to have a good time.”
“From the tip of her flame-colored hair to her cherry-red lips and scarlet nails, Kris Ward was a walking firebrand,” her close friend Ginny Hoehne stated in a testimonial she plans to read at the memorial service. “But the true flame came from within. The flame of love, compassion, caring, and desire for justice for children of abuse. Those abused by war, and those abused by clergy, Kris devoted her life to find justice for these hurting souls.”
A former UPI reporter, Ward grew up in Pennsylvania and earned a degree in broadcast journalism from Penn State University. Like many Catholics, she was devastated in 2002 by the Boston Globe’s Spotlight investigations into the sexual abuse of children by at least 70 priests and the cover-up efforts undertaken by the Boston Archdiocese. Rather than hold her in despair, the revelations shook her to take action.
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