CV NEWS FEED // The controversial organization NETWORK Advocates for Catholic Social Justice, and its extended team of partners, recently announced the 2024 “Vote Our Future” tour, also known as the “Nuns on the Bus & Friends,” to mobilize voters this election season.
According to a July 23 news release from NETWORK, those on the tour “will call on Catholics and all people of goodwill to be multi-issue voters for a future where ‘everyone thrives–no exceptions!’” The news release describes the tour as a “nonpartisan voter education tour.”
The voter education campaign that NETWORK is promoting uses a “guiding document” titled “the Equally Sacred Checklist,” which states:
Pope Francis makes it clear: Catholics and all people of good will are called to be multi-issue voters, not single-issue voters, in the 2024 elections and in our continued participation in public life. This resource can support you in educating yourself as a faithful voter on the issues and concerns that are “equally sacred.”
The Checklist highlights the importance of voting for candidates who will support the freedom to: “be healthy,” “live on a healthy planet,” “participate in a vibrant democracy,” “care for ourselves and our families,” “live in a welcoming country that values dignity and human rights,” as well as “freedom from harm.” Under each of these bullet points are several expansions on what supporting each of these freedoms entails, according to NETWORK.
The Checklist does not mention the word “abortion” or the term “pro-life.”
NETWORK, founded in 1972 by a group of Catholic Sisters, has had “Nuns on the Bus” tours since 2012. Sister Simone Campbell, who was the executive director of NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice from 2004-2021, helped organize the first tour and has led six tours since. She belongs to the religious community of the Sisters of Social Service.
NETWORK Lobby drew criticism in the previous presidential election cycle for failing to address the issue of abortion.
According to a 2020 National Catholic Register article by journalist Ann Carey, Sister Campbell and NETWORK launched a project called “Pope Francis Voter” for the 2020 presidential election.
“Network’s rationale for this shameless politicization of the Holy Father is that Catholics must vote for the candidate who is strongest on all the life issues, not just a ‘single issue’ — which is not named, but of course is abortion,” Carey wrote.
Carey also highlighted that Sister Campbell also expressed her opposition to then-President Donald Trump’s intention to nominate Amy Coney Barrett as a Supreme Court justice in September 2020.
In NETWORK Lobby’s news release responding to reports of Trump’s intention to nominate Barrett, Sister Campbell stated, “President Trump appears to be courting the Catholic vote with this nomination. Judge Barrett was chosen for one reason: she firmly and clearly opposes abortion and the settled ruling of Roe v. Wade.”
“As a Catholic Sister, let me be clear: Catholics will not be bought off by a predetermined vote against Roe v. Wade,” Sister Campbell continued:
It is insulting to act as if my faith boils down to one issue. Catholics cannot support judges or politicians who blatantly ignore the breadth of Catholic Social Teaching on women’s rights, voting rights, immigrant’s rights, health care, environmental protections, and so much more.
Carey also cited an interview Sister Campbell held with Catholic News Agency (CNA) in August 2020, in which she did comment on the issue of abortion.
According to CNA, Sister Campbell was asked “whether her organization [Network Lobby] opposes the legal protection of abortion.”
“That is not our issue. That is not it. It is above my pay grade,” Sister Campbell told CNA. “It’s not the issue that we work on. I’m a lawyer. I would have to study it more intensely than I have.”
“Our agenda is the economic justice issues,” said Sister Campbell, elaborating, “As the issues of economic justice mean, as Pope Francis talks about so often, the capacity for families to be able to support themselves, to be able to have a roof on their head.”
CNA later reported:
Campbell rejected any suggestion her approach might undermine efforts to secure legal protections for the unborn.
“We work for the Pregnant Women Support Act, funding for prenatal care, women’s infants and children funding, making sure pregnant women get the care that they need,” she said. She said there is crossover in ensuring health care for pregnant women, adequate nutrition, and adequate housing capacity “to carry the fetus to term.”
According to NETWORK Advocate’s July 23 news release, the 2024 bus tour will begin in Philadelphia on Sept. 30 and will include stops in 11 states. The tour will conclude in San Francisco on Oct. 18. There will be 15 Catholic Sisters and 15 multi-faith and secular partners traveling on the bus tour. They will attend rallies, visit local social service agencies, and go to town hall events, among other activities.
