FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 15, 2015
Joe Ward | jward@networklobby.org| 202.601.7871

Following a seven-state, 13-day national bus tour Catholic sisters will discuss Pope Francis’s historic U.S. visit and issues impacting communities in Washington, D.C.

WASHINGTON – On Tuesday, Sept. 22, from 2-3:00 p.m. the “Nuns on the Bus” will hold a rally on the national mall, on Fourth Street (between Madison and Jefferson) to welcome Pope Francis to the United States. The rally will be the culminating event of the fourth national Nuns on the Bus tour, this year’s themed, “Bridge the Divides: Transform Politics.” The tour was launched on Sept. 10 in response to Pope Francis’s historic U.S. visit, and urgent call in his recent encyclical (Laudato Si’) to build an economy of inclusion.

“Throughout our journey we’ve heard the stories and anguish of so many communities. The issues that have consistently been elevated by the people during our meetings, conversations, and town halls have largely focused on racial and economic divisions,” said Sister Simone Campbell, SSS, Executive Director, NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby.

Sister Simone Campbell and the Catholic sisters will lead a speaking program alongside Washingtonians impacted by racial justice and economic justice issues.

The more than 2,000-mile bus trip includes 33 events such as town hall meetings, visits to shelters, transitional housing facilities, schools, food pantries, parishes, congregations, and social justice ministries, in Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Indiana, Ohio, and West Virginia.

On Sept. 23, the sisters will also attend the White House Papal Arrival Ceremony. On Sept. 24, Sister Simone will attend Pope Francis’s address to the joint session of Congress as U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer’s guest, and the sisters will witness the historic speech from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol.

For more information, see www.nunsonthebus.org/presskit and www.nunsonthebus.org

Watch “Messages From And To Pope Francis” by Sister Simone Campbell:http://www.kansascity.com/incoming/article34949649.html

Read the daily blog here: http://networklobby.tumblr.com/

NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby, which educates, organizes, and lobbies for economic and social transformation, has a more than 40-year track record of lobbying for critical federal programs that support those at the margins and prioritize the common good.

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