Gloria Purvis is an African-American Catholic public scholar, speaker, author, podcaster, and activist in Washington, D.C. She has spoken and written extensively on women's rights, abortion, sex, marriage, family, religious liberty, and racial justice.^[1]

Early life and education

Born and raised in Charleston, South Carolina, Purvis was educated by the Oblate Sisters of Providence and converted to Catholicism as a child.^[2][3] She later graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor’s of Science in Human Development and Family Studies.

Career

Purvis worked for more than a decade in the mortgage and finance industry before becoming a policy manager at a major financial services company, where she co-chaired the Catholic Employee Network.

Purvis for years co-hosted the Morning Glory show on EWTN Radio, which ended in December 2020 when the show was abruptly canceled. Purvis was not given a reason for the cancellation, which was part of "a year-end spate of changes at EWTN."^[4] She later began hosting The Gloria Purvis Podcast in collaboration with America Media.^[5]

In 2021, the University of Notre Dame's Office of Life and Human Dignity at the McGrath Institute for Church Life appointed Purvis its inaugural Pastoral Fellow.^[6]

In November 2022, Purvis spent two hours at the private residence of Pope Francis as a member of a five person team from America. She is the first African-American female Catholic journalist to interview Pope Francis for such an extensive time period at his personal residence.^[7] Purvis shared with Pope Francis some of the concerns and experiences of Black Catholics in the U.S. Catholic Church.^[8]

Purvis held an interview in May 2022 with Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco, discussing with him his reasons for barring Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi from receiving communion in her home diocese.^[9]

In the aftermath of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision from the Supreme Court of the United States, Purvis penned a piece for Deseret News decrying abortion as a solution for Black women.^[10]

Purvis was named a scholar in residence at St. Martin's University for the 2023-24 academic year.

Volunteer work

Purvis served as Chairperson of the Culture of Life Committee and Coordinator of the Young Adult Association at St. Augustine Catholic Church in Washington, D.C., from 1998 to 2002 and on the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council for the Archdiocese of Washington from 1999 to 2003.

Purvis has served as a board member for the Northwest Pregnancy Center and Maternity Home in Washington, D.C. and an advisory board member on the Maryland Catholic Conference’s Respect for Life Department. She has also served on the National Black Catholic Congress’ Leadership Commission on Social Justice. She was the Chairperson for Black Catholics United for Life, which has sought to increase the size and strength of active Black Catholics participating in the pro-life movement.

Media appearances

Purvis has been featured in The New York Times, National Catholic Reporter, Newsweek, and Catholic News Service. She has also been a featured guest on PBS NewsHour and Fox News.^{[11][12][13][14][15][16]} She was interviewed by Robert P. George for the Witherspoon Institute's online journal Public Discourse.^[2]

She created a six part Youtube video series for Word on Fire Institute titled Racism, Human Dignity and the Catholic Church in America.^[17]

Accolades

St. Martin's University awarded her a Doctorate of Humane Letters in May 2023, at which time she was also the commencement speaker.^[18] The University of Portland awarded Purvis a Doctorate in Humane Letters Honora Causa in 2022.^[19]

References