THINK PROGRESS, August 10, 2012 -- The group of Catholic nuns who launched the Nuns On A Bus tour to shed light on the effects the House Republican budget would have on the poor turned its attention to the GOP’s presidential candidate this week, challenging Mitt Romney to join them for a day to learn about the plight of the poor. NETWORK, a Catholic social justice organization, issued the call on Wednesday and was joined yesterday by the Franciscan Action Network, an organization of friars and sisters.
The nuns have now sent a letter to the Romney campaign, asking the candidate to join them during his current swing through Ohio. The letter again challenges Romney’s misleading television ads about welfare reform, which the nuns say “demonize the families we serve and reflect a woeful lack of knowledge about the challenges faced by tens of millions of Americans”:
"We are deeply troubled by your campaign’s recent advertisements and statements about welfare, which we believe demonize the families we serve and reflect a woeful lack of knowledge about the challenges faced by tens of millions of Americans. By accepting our invitation, we hope that you will have the opportunity to see firsthand the struggles of those in need and have the compassion to desist your campaign’s harsh attacks."
"We are all God’s children and equal in God’s eyes. Efforts to divide us by class or score political points at the expense of the most vulnerable of our brothers and sisters reveal the worst side of our country’s politics. Please accept our invitation to witness and to serve."
The letter is signed by NETWORK’s executive director, Sister Simone Campbell, who told ThinkProgress this week that Romney “doesn’t have a clue” about the situation facing America’s poorest citizens or the effect his policies would have on them.
“He thinks they’re lazy,” Campbell said Wednesday. “It is hard work to keep things together when you’re poor. He doesn’t have a clue. Let him talk to them, and maybe they’ll touch his heart. And his mind too.”
Posted By: Richard Kigel
Friday, August 10th 2012 at 6:07PM
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