· June 26, 2012

Nuns on the bus: coming to a town near you

Nuns on The Bus continue their nine-state tour with stops in Cleveland today, preaching the gospel of faith, fairness and family and spotlighting the dangers of a proposal to slash the federal budget.

Today’s Toledo Blade said yesterday’s northwest Ohio stop inspired “enthusiastic applause, whistles and placards of support from a crowd of about 40 men and women.” The edgy tour comes in the wake of the Vatican’s criticism of Catholic nuns as spending too much time on anti-poverty issues and too little time decrying abortion and same-sex marriage. According to Sister Simone Campbell of NETWORK, spokeswoman and leader of the effort, a Catholic social justice group sponsoring the tour, it was organized in response to proposed cuts in the federal budget. Their tour includes visits to offices of some lawmakers who supported Congressman Paul Ryan’s budget that proposes tax cuts for the wealthy and deep cuts to Head Start, food stamps and other programs that help low-income families. While on the Colbert Report, Sister Simone Campbell said the Ryan budget “undermines the whole fabric of our society.” She insisted that the tour does not signal – as Colbert said – that the nuns have “gone rogue.” They are simply remaining faithful to the teachings of Jesus. The tour comes as state lawmakers in Ohio and many other states are slicing anti-poverty programs, passing extreme anti-abortion measures and letting pregnancy prevention bills stall in committee. To help voters better monitor the anti-women legislation, Innovation Ohio launched its Women’s Watch. The page tracks pending legislation and provides updates on developments of importance to women.