The Amazing Sister Simone Campbell - If you are a fan, like I am -
This is taken from
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/08/16/catholic-nuns-gun-for-paul-ryan.html
“Ryan thinks churches can pick up the tab,” Sister Simone says. “That’s ridiculous. The magnitude of the need is so great.”
Ryan, who is a Catholic himself, argues that his budget plan is in line with church teachings. He says the poor should not be kept poor and overly dependent on the government. He says some people take advantage of welfare programs, ultimately hurting those most in need, and that the budget deficit has ballooned out of control, so spending needs to be curtailed and refocused.
Sister Simone says it’s not the social programs that are keeping people poor, but rather the economy. “The problem is not enough jobs and low wages,” she says, adding: “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 Campbell speaks to a crowd of supporters after stopping at Paul Ryan's office in Wisconsin.
Asked if she anticipated that Ryan would be Romney’s pick for vice president, she says: “Heavens, no. He’s not from a state that’s an important swing state. I don’t see what he brings to the ticket. He thinks seniors are getting too big of a free ride. I don’t understand it.”
The nuns aren’t the only Catholics making noise. A pair of high-profile bishops—Bishop Stephen E. Blaire and Bishop Richard E. Pates—have been sending letters to Congress about the importance of protections for the poor, speaking on behalf of the Conference of Catholic Bishops. “The bishops have said Ryan’s budget doesn’t pass the moral test,” Sister Simone says, “and we stand with the bishops on that one.”
Catholic sisters have had a busy year. Recently the Vatican cracked down on the church’s main umbrella group of U.S. nuns, called the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, or the LCWR, saying the nuns were showing signs of “radical feminism” for not vigorously promoting church teachings on issues such as homosexuality and abortion. The nuns fought back, calling the Vatican move polarizing. Last week, the sisters met with a bishop who has been appointed to oversee them, expressing their concerns.
Sister Simone describes her group, Network, as a “friend” of the LCWR, noting that her group has no formal connection to the Vatican. She notes, however, that the Vatican called Network a “problem” in its recent assessment of American sisters. She believes that’s because her group supports the Affordable Care Act. During the 2010 congressional debate over health-care reform, Sister Simone galvanized nuns to sign a letter to Congress in support of the act. Vatican officials “think federal funding is going to abortion” under the act, she says. “It isn’t. Community clinics cannot use federal funds for abortion.”
A California native, Sister Simone was born in 1945, entered the convent in 1964, and took her vows in 1967. She has been the executive director of Network since 2004. Before that, she was the executive director of Jericho, a California public-policy organization that works to protect people living in poverty. Prior to that, she founded and served as the lead attorney for the Community Law Center in Oakland, Calif., where she also worked with the poor.
As for her invitation to Ryan and Romney to come spend a day with the poor, she says, she’s waiting for a reply.
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I can't say enough good about her. She's a dynamo!
