Nuns’ Bus Tour Makes Stop at SJU

“I have a real problem with mortgaging the futures of our children — even though I don’t have any.” The remark, delivered by Sr. Betsy Van Deusen, CSJ, brought a roomful of chuckles to the Chapel of St. Joseph on Wednesday evening.

That mix of social critique and good humor is a hallmark of Nuns on the Bus, the partnering of Catholic sisters for social justice who are back on a nationwide campaign, “The Tax Justice Truth Tour,” ahead of this year’s midterm elections. Their aim: to reverse inequalities they see in the tax changes passed last year.

A crowd of about 200 — split between students, older adults and area religious — came for the program, sponsored by the University’s Office of Mission and Campus Ministry.

The nuns’ presentation illustrated how the nation’s most vulnerable people were at even greater risk as a result of last year’s tax cuts. Even when those people saw a modest cut in taxes, the nuns’ presentation argued, the cut in services ultimately required to pay for the tax cut would gut support for working families and other vulnerable populations.

When the audience was asked how it might help to create a more equitable system, voting received the biggest applause.

Both Sophia Feijoo ’22, of Bayonne, N.J., and Michael Williams ’20, of Mount Laurel, N.J., said they had filed for an absentee ballot in New Jersey and would be voting in the upcoming election.

“It’s in my backpack,” said Williams, “and going in the mail tomorrow."

The nuns are 17 days into a 27-day, 54-stop tour, that will take them from its start in Los Angeles to Palm Beach, Florida, ostensibly to present the bus, as a sort of petition-on-wheels, to President Trump at his “winter White House” Mar-a-Lago resort property.

Sr. Richelle Friedman, PBVM, of Dubuque, Iowa, joined the tour in Cleveland and will stay on through its stop in Washington, D.C. She said the schedule is aggressive, with three stops a day, but that the stories heard along the way were inspiring.

At every stop, they’ve asked people to sign the bus, with the goal, said Nuns on the Bus leader Sister Simone Campbell, that it’s “not just nuns on the bus, but everyone on the bus, and we can create the community we all want.

“We need you, I need you, and we all need each other.”