New York City, N.Y., Oct 22, 2018 / 14:30 pm
Ambassador Nikki Haley used her speech at the annual Al Smith dinner in New York City to acknowledge the Church's efforts to address the sexual abuse scandal while continuing its "incredible work" helping "millions of desperate people" around the world.
The outgoing U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations was the guest of honor at the fundraising dinner for the Archdiocese of New York, held Oct. 18. While the dinner raises millions of dollars for the Church's charitable outreach in the city, Haley said that the efforts she had seen went "way beyond that."
In the course of her time as ambassador, Haley said that she had been to some "truly dark places" where the suffering endured by many people would be "hard for most Americans to imagine."
"I've been to the border between Colombia and Venezuela, where people walk 3 hours each way in the blazing sun to get the only meal that they will have that day. Who's giving that meal? The Catholic Church," she said.