Nuns on the Bus: Dispatches From a Papal Road Trip
It’s been reported that when Pope Francis first decided to visit the United States, he was “a little” nervous. He had, after all, never been here before, and was well aware that he had a lot to learn before embarking on his historic visit to New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. He’s said to have opened an atlas and asked the visiting Archbishop of New York for a primer on the different regions of the country.
Though he’ll be confined to the Northeast on this visit, Pope Francis will have the opportunity to learn about the Heartland and the struggles of those who live there by way of the so-called Nuns on the Bus. These intrepid — some would say radical — religious sisters tour the country, talking and listening to Americans living in the margins: families struggling to support themselves amid increasing economic inequality, while polarized political beliefs and structural racism and sexism make it seem impossible for working people to get ahead.
On September 10, the nuns kicked off their fourth national tour. The theme of this trip, “Bridge the Divides, Transform Politics,” was inspired by Pope Francis and the messages of inclusion, mercy and economic justice that have fueled his worldwide popularity and earned the pontiff descriptions such as “part rock star, part diplomat and part politician.”
The sisters have road-tripped across a considerable portion of the country, collecting videos of Americans speaking about the divisions they face in their lives and communities. The videos have all been loaded onto an iPad that the sisters hope to get into the pope’s hands.
“We still have trouble with middle management in the Church. We do have Pope Francis, but all is not perfect,” Sister Simone Campbell, the charismatic leader of the Nuns on the Bus, tells Rolling Stone. She says her mantra is to build “an economy of inclusion through a politics of inclusion.”
“It means that everyone can live in dignity, that work pays,” she says. “What a radical thought – that workers can care for their families on their wages, and that everyone can participate in building our society.”
Sister Simone is a member of the Sisters of Social Service, a group that helped pioneer the role of religious women in addressing social concerns around the world. The sister, 69, is a practical advocate, a longtime attorney who routinely lobbies on Capitol Hill. She is also the executive director of NETWORK, the Roman Catholic social justice group that strategically lobbies and organizes for progressive social change, and which sponsors Nuns on the Bus trips.
Over the past two weeks, the sisters have traveled some 2,000 miles, hosting more than 30 events in a dozen cities across seven states. They’ve now arrived in Washington, D.C., where Sister Simone was one of a group of individuals invited to welcome the pope at the White House Wednesday.
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