Simone Campbell, SSS, will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

That civilian honour is awarded to individuals "who have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values or security of the United States, world peace or other significant societal, public or private endeavours."

Campbell was the head of the Catholic social justice lobbying organisation Network until her retirement last year, having spent the past two decades lobbying for social justice in Washington DC.

She advocated for racial and economic justice, immigration reform and other causes.

She's also often credited for her role in gathering signatures from Catholic nuns in support of the Affordable Care Act — the signature legislative achievement of former President Barack Obama - to help secure its passage.

Campbell spoke at two Democratic National Conventions in 2012 and 2020.

She organised the "Nuns on the Bus," a tour that took her and other sisters to hundreds of events throughout the United States to call attention to the need for an expanded social safety net.

In addition, she was an ardent supporter of the Affordable Care Act when it was enacted in 2010. More recently, she was active in the 2020 election, urging Catholics not to vote for President Trump.

Although Biden is praising her contribution, The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is less happy.

It has appointed the Archbishop of Seattle, Peter Sartain, to oversee the The Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) to ensure it follows "the teachings and discipline of the Church".

Campbell has other views.

"When so many are struggling economically and still do not have access to meet their basic needs, the work of groups like @NETWORK and UnderstandingUS is being acknowledged for living out faith seeking justice," she said.

"I trust that our work for economic justice and political healing might receive a renewed focus in these challenging times!"

The group will continue "caring for the least among us on the margins of society," she says.

Source

• Press Telegram
• America Magazine

Campbell, one of the so-called Nuns on the Bus who have toured the country this summer, declared that nuns agreed with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Continue reading

Her platform is simple: unlike Romney and his running mate, nuns know what real-life Americans go through because they actually work with low-income people on a regular basis and run programs that need federal funding to succeed. She told The Daily Beast that it's the economy that's hurting Americans, not a so-called "dependence" on social programs. "The problem is not enough jobs and low wages," she said. "Catholic teaching is based on solidarity. Ryan doesn't understand that all decisions need to be made with the common good in mind." Sister Simone for president in 2016, anyone?

The "Nuns on the Bus" tour, which covered nine states in two weeks, further convinced Sister Simone that Ryan must be stopped. "The more we were on the road, the more impassioned we became," she said. "We saw all these low-income communities, all the people who would be affected. By the end, we were fairly nuts about it."

Sister Simone even invited Ryan and Romney to spend a day with her and the poor; unfortunately, neither man has gotten back to her yet. Continue reading

The giant banner on their bus proclaimed, "Sisters driving for faith, family and fairness," and a gushing media noted that the sisters' fans along the way greeted them like rock stars.

However, it turns out that the sisters who organized the June 18-July 2 tour — from the sisters' lobbying group Network — also were driving for their own agenda.

As a Washington Post headline put it: "The Nuns on the Bus tour promotes social justice and turns a deaf ear to the Vatican."

The Nuns on the Bus tour did treat issues of poverty. But the tour also was designed to respond to the doctrinal assessment by the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) that found numerous doctrinal errors in the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR). The LCWR is a superiors' organization of about 1,500 sisters who lead orders that include 80% of the sisters in the country. Read more

Sources

• Ann Carey in National Catholic Register
• Image: PR Watch

Ann Carey is the author of Sisters in Crisis: The Tragic Unraveling of Women's Religious Communities.

The "Nuns on the Bus" are focusing on budget cuts proposed by House of Representatives budget committee chair Paul Ryan, a Catholic who has in the past expressed enthusiasm for the views of libertarian author Ayn Rand.

The nuns, a rotating crew of 14 sisters sponsored by the Catholic social justice lobby group Network, say Ryan's plans to cut spending on Medicaid and the Childrens Health Insurance Program would harm "people who are already suffering".

In their big, colourful bus, the nuns are attracting rock-band attention, with video crews from CNN, PBS, CBS and documentary makers following their path.

Since the bus tour dates overlap the US Conference of Catholic Bishops' "Fortnight of Freedom", some observers suggest the nuns aim to divert attention from the bishops' campaign.

This campaign, targeted mainly at President Obama's decision requiring most employers to provide health insurance that includes birth control, has been organised around liturgical feasts for martyred defenders of the faith.

It includes prayer vigils, rallies and other events to draw attention to what the bishops see as government attacks on religious freedom.

Independent advocacy groups such as CatholicVote.org and Women Speak For Themselves, have joined the effort with TV ads, videos, Facebook appeals and petition drives.

Sources

• CNS
• Deseret News
• Washington Post
• Nuns on the Bus
• Image: Nuns on the Bus