Missionary to African schoolchildren, Chicago prostitutes to speak at Cornell
MOUNT VERNON — A Catholic laywoman from England who founded a haven for prostitutes in Chicago will talk about the intersection of faith and social justice in a lecture Thursday, Dec. 8, at Cornell College.
Edwina Gateley will give Cornell’s Small-Thomas Lecture on “One Woman’s Journey of Faith from the African Bush to the Bars and Brothels of Chicago” at 11 a.m. in Hedges Conference Room of The Commons. She will lead a discussion on feminism and Roman Catholic spirituality at 3:30 p.m. in Hedges. Both events are free and open to the public.
A poet, author and leader of retreats for abused and marginalized women, Gateley’s journey began when she left her native England in 1964 for Uganda, where she worked for four years as a teacher and lay missionary, starting a school for African girls. After returning to England, she founded the Volunteer Missionary Movement in 1969 to recruit, prepare and send missionaries to work in countries of the developing world. More than 1,700 missionaries have served, mainly in Africa, Papua New Guinea, Central and North America.
In the early ’80s, following nine months in prayer and solitude in a hermitage in Illinois, Gateley says she was called to work with prostitutes. She spent over a year on the streets, walking with the homeless and women in prostitution. In 1983 she founded Genesis House, which provides hospitality and nurturing for women involved in prostitution.
“I haven’t met a happy hooker yet. Most hate themselves for what they are and what they do,” she has said. She continues to assist with Exodus, a program in Chicago for women in the second phase of recovery from prostitution.
Her work and ministry have been honored by the late Cardinal Joseph Bernadin, former President Bill Clinton, the governor of Illinois and the mayor of Chicago. Among her numerous awards are the Oscar Romero Award, the Pope John XXIII Award, Catholic Woman of the Year in England and Wales and the Spirit of St. Francis Award for outstanding Catholic laywoman in Illinois.
Gateley’s 11 books include “There Was No Path, So I Trod One,” “A Mystical Heart,” “Psalms of a Laywoman,” “Christ in the Margins” and “Soul Sisters: Women in Scripture Speak to Women Today,” which won a Catholic Press Association Award. She holds a master’s degree in theology from the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.
The Small-Thomas Lecture Series, which began in 2000, is funded by Richard Small, a past chair of the Cornell Board of Trustees and a 1950 graduate, and his wife, honorary alumna and trustee Norma Thomas Small. Previous speakers have included Sean Farren, a key negotiator in efforts to bring peace to Northern Ireland, and U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill.
