Nuns on the Bus
The Nuns on the Bus were at one time criticized by the Vatican under Benedict XVI's leadership for having "serious doctrinal problems" and "radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith."
[3] Simone Campbell was one of the American nuns targeted by then Pope Benedict XVI in 2012 through his controversial investigation of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious.
[4] The bus tour was created as a response to "a blistering critique of American nuns" initiated by the Vatican under Pope Benedict XVI.
The first bus carried only 12 nuns to make room for a sound system, signs and a podium, and many would-be riders had to be turned away for lack of space.
[6] The tour planned to stop at homeless shelters, food pantries, schools and health care facilities run by nuns to highlight their work with the nation's poor and disenfranchised"[5] and "to protest cuts in programs for the poor and working families in the federal budget that was passed by the House of Representatives and proposed by Representative Paul D. Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican who cited his Catholic faith to justify the cuts".
[7] It coincided with the vice-presidential debate, a United States election tradition, between Ryan and the then-serving Vice President Joe Biden on October 11.
[8] The "Nuns on the Bus" advocacy against proposed budget cuts including "food stamps, social services block grants, the child tax credit and other vital programs" aligns with the policy of US Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The first stop on this tour was Liberty State Park, with views of Ellis Island, an important place in the American history of immigration.
"[15] Campbell was interviewed during the stop in Des Moines, Iowa, where she clarified that the 2014 bus tour centers on the nuns' belief that "the growth and influence of outside money in our political system threatens to undermine the nation's democratic foundations by silencing the voices of everyday Americans."
The sisters called on government officials and candidates to mend the perceived gaps in income and wealth inequality in the United States.
The tour began on October 8, 2018 in Los Angeles, California and conclude on November 2 at the Mar-a-Lago resort owned by President Donald Trump in Palm Beach, Florida.
[22] The purpose of the tour was to hold members of Congress accountable for their votes on the 2017 Tax Bill and their attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
[25] Although at first disappointed that the physical bus would be unable to travel, Meg Olson blogged her opinion that there were benefits to holding the event online because it allowed the team to "...do things that would have never happened on the road in real life".
In an effort to reach out to other communities, the nuns will be joined this time by 15 multifaith and secular partners, including the Friends Committee on National Legislation and the Children's Defense Fund.
