FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 8, 2015
Joe Ward | jward@networklobby.org | 202.601.7871

More than a dozen Catholic Sisters will experience, absorb, and respond to the lived reality of families and communities living at the margins in response to Pope Francis’s call to transform our economy

WASHINGTON- On Thursday, Sept. 10, NETWORK, a National Catholic Social Justice Lobby, which educates, organizes, and lobbies for economic and social transformation, will launch its fourth national “Nuns on the Bus” tour themed, “Bridge the Divides: Transform Politics.” The tour is a response to Pope Francis’s historic U.S. visit, and urgent call in his recent encyclical (Laudato Si’) to build an economy of inclusion. The 13-day, seven-state tour will kick off in St. Louis on Sept. 10 and end in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 22, where NETWORK will host a rally to welcome Pope Francis.

“Pope Francis calls for an economy of inclusion,” said Sister Simone Campbell, SSS, NETWORK Executive Director. “In order to do that, we must have a politics of inclusion that fosters economic justice, prioritizes the common good, and builds community where everyone’s voice is heard. By listening to the people, especially those on the margins, and responding by eliminating factors that perpetuate poverty and injustice, we will create change.”

“When we return to Washington, we will lobby Congress as they continue to negotiate the 2016 federal budget. We will call on them to raise spending caps so human needs programs can be fully funded, and to expand and make permanent key improvements to the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit.”

The more than 2,000-mile bus trip will include 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.

While in West Virginia, Sister Simone and the other nuns on the bus will visit Grow Ohio Valley (Farm 18) in Wheeling on Sept. 21, 2:30 p.m. at the intersection of 18th Street and Wood; followed by a town hall meeting at Wheeling Jesuit University (Recital Hall, Center for Educational Technologies) at 6:00 p.m. The Catholic sisters will meet with members of the community throughout the day.

“We look forward to meeting and learning alongside people in these communities and returning to Washington to advocate for a faithful budget that responds to their needs,” said Sister Simone.

When the bus returns to Washington on Sept. 22, the sisters will host a rally at 2:00 p.m. (location TBA) to welcome Pope Francis to the U.S. On Sept. 23, the sisters will 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.

For a full schedule of the tour, visit: www.nunsonthebus.org. The Catholic sisters will also be available throughout the trip to meet with press. Please contact jward@networklobby.org to schedule an interview.

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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