At the Republican convention in Tampa, the vice-presidential candidate, Ryan, a practicing Catholic, had announced that if they were victorious, they would introduce drastic cuts to social security spending. A tough response to this ultra-liberal line came from one of the most renowned Catholic voices in the U.S. A slap on the wrist to the Republicans and more importantly, a strenuous defence of “ObamaCare”.
The woman behind the harsh response sent out from the Democratic convention in Charlotte, is Sister Simone Campbell, who is famous for leading this summer’s National tour for social justice. The nun scolded Ryan for his claim that “this budget reflects the principles of our shared faith.”
“The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops stated that the Ryan budget failed a basic moral test, because it would harm families living in poverty,” the nun said.
“We agree with our bishops, and that's why we went on the road: to stand with struggling families and to lift up our Catholic sisters who serve them. Their work to alleviate suffering would be seriously harmed by the Romney-Ryan budget,” she declared publicly.
It was the first time Sister Simone Campbell got up onto such an important stage to pronounce her long-awaited speech at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, in North Carolina.
Sister Campbell is a member of the Sisters of Social Service (a religious congregation founded in the 20’s by the first Hungarian MP) and also a lawyer and executive director for Network, a body that is active in the field of economic and social justice.
Religious news agency Adista reported that Campbell had received numerous invitations by the Democrats to attend their convention.
Her presence was important when the offensive of the Catholic Church hierarchy against the Obama administration was sharper, particularly after the approval of the mandate obliging employers (including religious ones) to offer their employees health insurance policies that included cover for contraceptives and abortion care.
With this measure, the Democrats risk alienating a section of the Catholic electorate. Sister Campbell’s presence at the Convention was a symbol of feminist resistance against an alleged war on women, declared by the Great Old Party.
And by the Vatican, if we look at the attack it launched about a month ago against the LCWR, the largest organization representing Catholic nuns in the United States, which was accused of promoting radical feminism. Last June, the organisation wrote that its aim was to look after the needs of women and respond to these and if that meant that they were radical, then they were.
The Democrats are trying to win over the Catholic vote, squaring the circle with their anti-abortion stance which does not clash with their support for Obama: The nun considers the President’s healthcare reform to be “part of my pro-life stance and the right thing to do.”
Her controversial target: the Catholic Paul Ryan, Republican vice-presidential candidate, House Budget Committee Chairman, promoter of drastic cuts to state spending and staunch enemy of the Obama healthcare reform (ObamaCare has 'no place in a free country' he boomed out at the GOP convention in Tampa at the end of August, defining the extension of healthcare to 30 million citizens a form of socialism).
Ryan developed his party’s budget proposals, bringing about significant changes to Medicare. In response to President Obama’s budget, Ryan is now proposing significant cuts to healthcare which he would like to privatise completely.
“Paul Ryan claims this budget reflects the principles of our shared faith. But the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops stated that the Ryan budget failed a basic moral test, because it would harm families living in poverty,” Sister Campbell said.
The nun agrees with bishops on this. She even organised the “Nuns on the bus tour” passing through nine American States: 2,700 miles to meet the needy and vulnerable, people who would be definitively crushed by privatised healthcare: This is what we nuns on the bus are all about: We care for the 100 percent, and that will secure the blessings of liberty for our nation.”