Conference Speakers

Christine Niles has worked in media for more than a decade, first launching her Forward Boldly radio network in 2012. Prior to this, she worked as a senior producer, reporter, and investigative journalist at St. Michael’s Media for 10 years. She has published hundreds of stories and programs.

In 2023, she went out on her own and founded Stella Maris Media, a faith-based organization that features her popular weekly podcast Forward Boldly, along with her newscast Catholic News Roundup. Christine has been a leading voice and proponent of Catholicism; supporting Catholic Teachings, and encouraging Catholics to stay true, firm, and strong in their Catholic Faith.

Christine was born in Saigon, Vietnam one year before it fell to the communists and has lived in France and England. She graduated from Notre Dame Law School with a Juris Doctor in Law (2000-2003), a Master of Studies in Theology from Oxford University, and a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from The University of Florida. She lives in South Carolina with her family, which includes four children, two cats, two dogs and a horse.

Bishop Joseph L. Coffey, after heeding a call to the priesthood, attended St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia, PA. He later graduated with a Master of Divinity degree (M.Div.) and was ordained a priest in 1996 by Anthony Cardinal Bevilacqua. Then in 2000 he earned a Master of Arts (MA) in Moral Theology. While still in seminary in 1992, Father Coffey was given permission to enter the U.S. Navy Chaplain Candidate Program with the rank of Ensign. He stayed in the Navy Reserve for the next nine years, and in 2001 was given permission for full-time active duty as a Navy Chaplain.

Bishop Coffey’s duty assignments have included: Combat Assault Battalion, Okinawa, Japan; Division Officer and Command Chaplain on board USS GEORGE WASHINGTON (CVN 73), home ported in Norfolk, VA, with a 6 month deployment to the Arabian Gulf; Command Chaplain at the U.S. Coast Guard Training Center, Cape May, NJ; Marine Air Group 39, Camp Pendleton, CA, an assignment that included a seven month deployment to Camp Leatherneck, Helmand Provence, Afghanistan; U.S. Navy Recruiting Command, St. Louis, MO; Command Chaplain on USS RONALD REAGAN (CVN 76), home ported in Yokosuka, Japan, with a six-month deployment to the South Pacific Ocean; and his final assignment as Assistant Chief of Staff for Religious Ministry, Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, CA.

Bishop Coffey’s military awards include the Meritorious Service Medal, the Navy Commendation Medal with two (2) gold stars, the Navy Achievement Medal with two (2) gold stars, the Navy Sea Service Medal, the National Defense Medal, the War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the War on Terrorism Service Medal, and the NATO Service Medal, and three (3) Battle E Ribbons. He retired as a Navy Captain. On October 16, 2024 he was awarded the Philopatrian Sourin award by the Philopatrian Literary Institute at the Union League in Philadelphia, PA where 454 people were in attendance to celebrate this special occasion.

Bishop Joseph Coffey is the son of the late Dr. William F. X Coffey, M.D., and Roseanita Schubert Coffey. He is the fifth of nine children and the proud uncle of 46 nieces and nephews, and 42 great nieces and nephews. He was raised in Philadelphia and is a life-long fan of all Philly sports teams.

Deacon Mariusz Mark Kosla was ordained a Permanent Deacon in the Archdiocese of Chicago, Illinois in 2010. He holds an adjunct faculty position at the University of Saint Mary of the Lake Seminary where he serves in various roles as a Permanent Deacon and Registered Nurse.

In Nursing, he has over 30 years’ experience and holds a Master’s degree in Nursing (MSN) and a Master of Arts (MA) degree. He has a wide range of knowledge in Critical Care and Cardiology where he holds active Certifications as a Critical Care Registered Nurse (CCRN) and a Cardiac Medicine Certification (CMC). He has expertise in resuscitation science, and ethical consulting just to name a few.

Deacon Mariusz is passionate about End-of-Life issues and issues related to the ethical care of patients and their families. He has presented many such topics to the public, the laity, and his colleagues in the medical and nursing fields, locally and nationally.

He challenges the professional nurse to be vigilant in all current health care delivery arenas, safeguarding the patient’s right to ethical decision making, advocating for their spiritual care, and not dismissing the moral conscience of each patient and clinical care giver.

Sr. Anne Victory, HM, RN, MSN is currently serving as a member of the Leadership Team of the Sisters of the Humility of Mary. She served as Director of Education for the Collaborative to End Human Trafficking, Cleveland, OH from 2010-2021 and is now a volunteer for the organization. A nurse by profession, she served for 32 years as a clinician, educator, and administrator in nursing and as Vice President for Mission and Director of Staff Education at St. Joseph Hospital, Lorain, OH, (now named Mercy Health and part of the Bon Secours Mercy Health System).

Sr. Anne is one of the founding members of the Alliance to End human Trafficking (formerly US Catholic Sisters Against Human Trafficking) and past president of the board. She has given presentations to a wide variety of audiences on the issue of human trafficking. One of the lenses through which Anne views human trafficking is as a public health issue–one that requires a collaborative, trauma-based approach involving multiple systems and service providers. She recently received the Servant Leader Award from the Sisters Against Trafficking, a philanthropic organization associated with Talitha Kum, the international network of Sisters and others working across the globe to end human trafficking. Sr. Anne holds a BSN from St. John College, Cleveland, and a MS in Nursing from Ohio State University.