Some people are wondering if Mary Ann Collins as a person, even exists. Will the Real Mary Ann Collins Please Stand Up
Some interesting quotes from the above article;
"What is unusual is that Mary Ann Collins cannot be located other than on her web site. She states on her web site that her father and pastor cautioned her not to give any personal information. Collins obeyed them with such zeal that many Catholics and Protestants alike now question whether she exists at all or is actually a creation devised by a person or people to credibly spread disinformation about the Catholic Church. In this information age it is fascinating to find someone about which there is no concrete information. No one has admitted ever knowing or seeing her. No one knows where she lives or what she does for a living. She has never given an interview, including anything as innocuous as speaking at a local church to promote her discoveries or books".
"Collins' own biography contributes to her elusiveness. For example, since she attended a convent for over two years and was asked to leave, it is reasonable to think that someone could be found who remembers her and could identify its location. However, this has never happened. Perhaps if one could find the mysterious convent, then the question could be answered as to which of Collins’ different versions of her dismissal is accurate."
"The 2001 version says that her mother superior decided she should not take vows. Collins goes on to say that she felt God’s protection led to her leaving the convent as a regular health check up (not provided by the convent) discovered precancerous polyps in her colon. A few years later, a doctor found lumps in her breasts during a routine physical exam. Collins stated, "If I had stayed in the convent, I would have died of colon cancer and breast cancer." Her current biography has been edited to rephrase the reason she left. In this version, the mother superior’s questions about Collins' calling led to the final decision being made by both the mother superior and the convent leadership. Strikingly, the compelling testimony about this being proof of God’s protection has been removed. Additionally, the date at the top of the current version indicates it was written in 2002, when it is a revision of the 2001 version."
"There is nothing to say conclusively that Mary Ann Collins is either a real person or a pseudonym. If she is real, she is highly focused and does not deviate from her mission to distribute her writings on the internet. However, after reviewing the evidence, it seems more than likely that there is a "Mary Ann Collins Mission" with one or more people who write and manage contacts in her name, whether she’s a real person or not."
Now some nuns have unquestionably forsaken Catholicism for Protestantism as have numerous lay people. The internet carries many of their stories. Whether Mary Ann Collins is one of them, however, is still open to question, I believe.
Does “Mary Ann Collins” even in fact exist?