From the New York Times:

In a spirited retort to the Vatican, a group of Roman Catholic nuns is planning a bus trip across nine states this month, stopping at homeless shelters, food pantries, schools and health care facilities run by nuns to highlight their work with the nation’s poor and disenfranchised.

The bus tour is a response to a blistering critique of American nuns released in April by the Vatican’s doctrinal office, which included the accusation that the nuns are outspoken on issues of social justice, but silent on other issues the church considers crucial: abortion and gay marriage.

The sisters plan to use the tour also to protest cuts in programs for the poor and working families in the federal budget that was passed by the House of Representatives and proposed by Representative Paul D. Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican who cited his Catholic faith to justify the cuts.

“We’re doing this because these are life issues,” said Sister Simone Campbell, executive director of Network, a liberal social justice lobby in Washington. “And by lifting up the work of Catholic sisters, we will demonstrate the very programs and services that will be decimated by the House budget.”

It seems to me that this effort to highlight the sisters’ continued commitment to justice is a worthwhile and clever response. Other thoughts?

UPDATE 6/7: Here’s a preliminary schedule of the sisters’ ride:

June 18, 2012- July 2, 2012

SCHEDULE

Monday, June 18

Iowa: Ames, Cedar Rapids, Dubuque

Tuesday, June 19

Wisconsin: Janesville, Racine

Wednesday, June 20

Wisconsin and Illinois: Racine, Fox Lake, Moline

Thursday, June 21

Illinois and Indiana: Moline, Chicago, South Bend

Friday, June 22

Indiana and Michigan: South Bend, Elkhart, Jackson, Livonia

Saturday, June 23

Michigan and Ohio: Livonia, Toledo, Dayton

Sunday June 24

Ohio: Dayton, West Chester, Columbus

Monday, June 25

Ohio: Columbus, Cleveland

Tuesday, June 26

Ohio and Pennsylvania:  Marietta, Pittsburgh

Wednesday, June 27

Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh, Altoona

Thursday, June 28

Pennsylvania:  Atloona, Scranton

Friday, June 29

Pennsylvania: Scranton, Langhorne, Philadelphia

Saturday, June 30

Pennsylvania and Maryland: Philadelphia, Frederick

Sunday, July 1

Maryland and Virginia: Baltimore, Fredericksburg

Monday, July 2

Virginia: Fredericksburg, Richmond, Virginia Beach

Please remember that these dates are subject to change. We’ll let you know as soon as we have more information!

Kerry Weber

Kerry Weber joined the staff of America in October 2009. Her writing and multimedia work have since earned several awards from the Catholic Press Association, and in 2013 she reported from Rwanda as a recipient of Catholic Relief Services' Egan Journalism Fellowship. Kerry is the author of Mercy in the City: How to Feed the Hungry, Give Drink to the Thirsty, Visit the Imprisoned, and Keep Your Day Job (Loyola Press) and Keeping the Faith: Prayers for College Students (Twenty-Third Publications). A graduate of Providence College and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, she has previously worked as an editor for Catholic Digest, a local reporter, a diocesan television producer, and as a special-education teacher on the Navajo reservation in Arizona.