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

Over the decades my spirituality and prayer life have deepened to be a contemplative life of "walking willing."

"Walking willing" to all sorts of unusual places including lobbying on Capitol Hill - and even places like the Colbert Report!

It has been a challenging life of joy and struggle nurtured in community and alive in the Spirit!

Over the years I have learned from my community's history the intersection of faith and politics.

We were founded in 1923 in Budapest, Hungary, in response to Pope Leo XIII's call to work for just wages and safe working conditions in the midst of the industrial revolution there.

Our foundress, Sister Margaret Slachta, was the first woman in the Hungarian Parliament when she headed our community.

She spoke passionately about how the Holy Spirit led her to the quest for justice in the light of Jesus's message in the Gospel.

My community's orientation to both charity and justice shaped my young spirit from the day I entered and does so to this day.

All of my Sisters have encouraged me to open my heart to touch real people's lives, hear their stories, and share encouragement along the way.

Recently, I was talking with a television producer about my coming interview.

We talked a bit about the struggle to create community and to be grounded in this speeding world. She surprised herself by choking up and getting tears in her eyes.

It touched me deeply that she would let herself be vulnerable with me in that setting. Something I said mattered to her and let her know that she is not alone in this life. I hugged her and feel more connected to her for her wordless eloquence. Continue reading.

Simone Campbell SSC is a religious sister, executive director of NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby, and author of A Nun on the bus: How all of us can create hope, change, and community.

Source: Huffington Post

Image: Theological Horizons

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

Sister Simone Campbell, executive director of Network, a Catholic social justice lobby, insists the group would continue "caring for the least among us on the margins of society."

Campbell said that Network, which works with the LCWR and vocally supported President Barack Obama's healthcare reform legislation, would not shy away from its mission, calling the Vatican's report "painful," and also puzzling.

"It was a total shock for many reasons, no one talked to us" during the inquiry, Campbell said.

"We are a political, not doctrinal, organisation: we don't teach theology."

Lamenting the battle with the Vatican, Campbell is worried the dispute could needlessly re-focus the positive energy within the Network.

Campbell said it was "painfully obvious" the Vatican leadership was "not used to having educated women form thoughtful opinions and engage in dialogue."

"We will keep doing our mission," she insisted in a phone interview with AFP, Saturday, saying the group was founded to "lobby, organize and educate" in the name of social and economic justice.

The three-year inquiry by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which oversees Roman Catholic doctrine, criticised the LCWR for taking liberal stances on contraception, homosexuality and female priests.

The report accused members of the LCWR, which represents around 80 percent of the 45,000 nuns in the United States, of "corporate dissent" with the Church's teachings against homosexuality, and claimed it was pursuing "radical feminist themes."

"This is the same church that ignored people who were being pedophiles," said Sister Jo'Ann De Quattro, who, as a Los Angeles nun for more than 50 years, has worked as a teacher and advocate for peace and justice.

Cracking down on nuns was a convenient way of shifting the focus away from the church's ongoing abuse scandal, said De Quattro.

"We really know why they're focusing on the women. It's all about control. It's all about exercising authority."

"Some of this stuff leaves me speechless and cold," she said.

"The world is in such desperate need of leadership, and they're talking about all this stuff that's truly small when we need big leaders, big thinkers and big hearts."

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has appointed the Archbishop of Seattle, Peter Sartain, to oversee the LCWR and ensure it follows "the teachings and discipline of the Church."

Sources

• BBC
• The International News
• LA Times
• AFP
• Image: Add Onion