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Nancy Pelosi, Progressive Nuns Team Up To Convince Catholics To Vote For Pro-Abortion Biden

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Mary Margaret Olohan Social Issues Reporter
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  • Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi will join progressive nuns on a virtual tour to persuade Catholics not to vote for President Donald Trump.
  • Pelosi will speak at the opening rally where she will discuss “how her Catholic faith guides her political vision” and encourage “fellow Catholics to mobilize and vote in this election.”
  • Executive Director of NETWORK Lobby Sister Simone Campbell leads the initiative, a progressive nun who spoke at the DNC and has said that she does not think it’s “a good policy to outlaw abortion.”

Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi will join progressive nuns on a virtual tour to persuade Catholic voters to vote for 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden.

The Nuns On The Bus: Who We Elect Matters tour begins September 23 and is led by NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, according to a press release about the event. Pelosi will speak at the opening rally where she will discuss “how her Catholic faith guides her political vision” and encourage “fellow Catholics to mobilize and vote in this election.”

Executive Director of NETWORK Lobby Sister Simone Campbell will lead the initiative, joined by more than 50 nuns from across the country, according to the press release.  (RELATED: Media Calls Biden A ‘Devout Catholic.’ Where Does He Actually Stand With The Catholic Church?)

“Earlier this year, NETWORK broke with its 48 year tradition and, for the first time ever, told its members not to vote for President Trump,” the press release said. “In August, they released an ‘equally sacred’ scorecard designed to remind Catholics that issues like income inequality, homelessness, and healthcare access are equally important — its not just about Roe v Wade.”

The campaign comes as both Biden and Trump court the Catholic vote. Pollsters have predicted an 11 percentage point swing to Biden among evangelicals and Catholics who backed Trump in 2016, according to Politico, using demographics from the major 2020 battleground states of Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

Pelosi praised Campbell in the press release provided to the Daily Caller News Foundation, calling the nun a “true champion for justice, whose decades of service are a testament to the power of faith to deliver progress for all Americans.” (RELATED: Catholic Nun Who Led DNC Prayer Said She Doesn’t Think Banning Abortion ‘Is A Good Policy’)

“With this year’s Nuns on the Bus tour, Sister Simone is showing our nation the real-life impact of the Trump administration’s failed leadership, making it clear that ‘Who We Elect Matters,'” Pelosi added. “At this time of crisis, we are deeply grateful for Sister Simone and the Nuns on the Bus for turning their faith into action to build a brighter, more just and equal future for all.”

The Democratic speaker of the house, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the DCNF, has been criticized for highlighting her Catholic faith while advocating for abortion.

Official Catholic teaching states that abortion “is a crime against human life,” “constitutes a grave offense” and that a person who obtains an abortion is automatically excommunicated from the Catholic Church.


Campbell spoke at the Democratic National Convention in August and is part of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), a group of nuns formerly criticized by the Vatican for silence “on the right to life from conception to natural death, a question that is part of the lively public debate about abortion,” according to NBC News.

Campbell has said that she does not think it’s “a good policy to outlaw abortion” in a 2016 interview with Democracy Now, Catholic News Agency reported.

“That is not our issue,” she told CNA on Aug. 19, responding to a question about whether her organization opposes legal protections for abortion. “That is not it. It is above my pay grade.”

“It’s not the issue that we work on. I’m a lawyer. I would have to study it more intensely than I have,” Campbell told CNA.

“Our agenda is the economic justice issues,” Campbell told CNA. “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.”

“A radical thought is that they ought to be able to earn enough from one job to both have time for leisure for a family together as well [as] the capacity to save for the future,” she added.

Campbell did not respond to multiple interview requests from the DCNF. (RELATED: Abortion Should Remain Catholic Bishops’ ‘Preeminent Priority’ Ahead Of 2020 Elections, US Bishops Decide)

“Four years of the Trump administration has torn our country apart, divided our neighborhoods, and ravaged our economy,” Campbell said in a statement provided to the DCNF. “Catholics cannot support policies that ignore the growing income and wealth gap, turn a blind eye to racial discrimination, fail to protect women and families, or rip children from the arms of their parents.”

“Our nation is in a spiritual crisis, and needs moral leadership and just policies,” she continued. “President Trump must be held accountable for his failures.”

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