Sisters support 2024 election season in prayer and in person
By Sister Barbara Pfarr
My recent experience of being a “Nun on the Bus” was a terrific opportunity for me to live out my deepest values of faith, community and social justice. Nuns on the Bus & Friends is a project of NETWORK Advocates for Catholic Social Justice. This year, Catholic Sisters — and coalition partners — embarked on their eighth national bus tour to promote multi-issue voting for the common good, in the 2024 election and beyond.
I rode for a week in October on a colorfully wrapped tourist bus that proclaimed, “Vote Our Future!” My team started in Philadelphia, replacing a similar team that started a week earlier in Washington, D.C. Another team took over for us in Chicago to take the message out to the west coast – all across the country.
The events everywhere brought out hundreds of people, and emotions ran high because of a shared sense of the seriousness of the moment. But there was joyous determination too, a commitment to defend and advance the freedoms that we bus riders spoke about.
The six freedoms are the same that NETWORK has championed for 52 years: to be healthy and keep the planet healthy, to care for our families and build their ability to thrive, to be a welcoming country that values dignity and human rights and that keeps people from harm.
We presented three kinds of events:
- Town Hall Conversations where we presented NETWORK's six Freedoms and gave ample time for conversation and to build visions of the communities we want our public officials to promote;
- Rallies outside the Bus where local activists spoke of their work for societal transformation and Bus riders shared our reflections based on what we’ve seen and heard, and
- Site Visits where we heard from organizational leaders who are making real progress in focus areas such as more affordable housing, more help to connect people with services, more work to rid their communities of lead poisoning, more efforts to connect people to vital services, or to provide food to those going without.
At the end of each event, all were invited to sign the Bus, as a way of participating in the work all across the country. Some people attended the events just to be able to sign the bus!
Sometimes we did three events a day. One day we visited four states - Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Illinois! Each event energized us with the large crowds and their demonstrated commitment to work tirelessly to assure that everyone takes part in the November election as a multi-issue voter.
I rode with the most faith-driven people - people completely committed to use their faith to work for a safe, healthy, welcoming community for all! Our group included five nuns, five “Friends” (representatives of organizations that partner with NETWORK), and five NETWORK staff members, including a trip director, a bus coordinator, a communications specialist who helped us frame our written and spoken responsibilities, a government relations advocate who briefed us on the local social conditions and political situation before every stop, and a video-photographer. We also had two advance teams that delivered meals to the bus, set up podiums and microphones ahead of time, handed us our room keys as we arrived at the hotel each evening, and more. We even had a security detail. Every eventuality was anticipated, and the trip went off without incident, with a lot of fun and faith-sharing.
Nuns on the Bus & Friends have driven thousands of miles across the United States to prophetically speak for justice and advocate for adequate federal policies. It was an honor to be part of these journeys that encounter thousands of activists as we called for federal policies that serve the common good.
Nuns on the Bus & Friends, like School Sisters of Notre Dame (SSND), is a strictly non-partisan organization. Also, like SSND, Nuns on the Bus has the right and is compelled by faith and religious tradition to educate for transformation, as we SSND proclaim from our General Chapter, “to address the cries of God’s people and Earth.” As an SSND educator, I must speak to the issues that promote human dignity – a healthy planet, safe housing, nutritious food, access to health care, family-supporting jobs, and just immigration policies. I’m so grateful to have done so as a Nun on the Bus.
“Justice work is not just political work. It’s primarily moral, spiritual, even theological work.” Rev. Joseph Ellwanger, quoting Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Photos courtesy of Nuns on the Bus & Friends/ Jacob Schatz, CCR Studios