Montgomery County Teacher Fired Over Marriage Invited to White House For Pope Reception

By STEPHEN SILVER

Margie Winters, the educator and religious studies director at Merion Station’s Waldron Mercy Academy who was fired from the Catholic school earlier this year after complaints about her marriage to another woman, has been invited to the White House for a ceremony to greet Pope Francis on Wednesday.

According to multiple media reports, Winters and her wife, Andrea Vettori, have been invited to the private event by the LGBT rights group Human Rights Campaign.

Winters told the Inquirer Monday that while she and Vettori will not have a chance to speak to the Pope directly, but are hoping to have an audience with Francis at some point.

The firing of Winters led to a major local media frenzy in July and has remained a controversy leading up to the Papal visit, with local Catholics deeply divided over the action.