By Dan Gilgoff, CNN.com Religion Editor
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/09/05/catholic-nun-brings-her-star-power-to-dnc/
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/09/05/catholic-nun-brings-her-star-power-to-dnc/
(CNN) – "Sister Simone Campbell got what may have been the biggest media platform of her life on Wednesday night, when she addressed the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. But the Catholic nun had plenty of star power before that.
Walking around Charlotte this week, Campbell was repeatedly stopped by fans who wanted to pose for pictures.
They had seen her on "The Colbert Report," pushing back on the Vatican's crackdown on American nuns, or read about the "nuns on the bus" tour that Simone organized to decry Rep. Paul Ryan's federal budget proposal.
"One woman came up to me and said 'my husband loves you; I'd be jealous if you weren't a nun,' " Campbell, 66, said Tuesday night.
By asking her to speak at their convention, the Democrats appear keen to capitalize on Campbell's budding celebrity at a moment when the official Roman Catholic Church has been critical of the Obama administration, claiming that it is infringing on religious liberty.
And at a convention that is revolving largely around an alleged GOP-led "war on women," Campbell is a poignant feminist symbol. She has stood up to the Vatican's criticisms of American nuns for what the church says is their fixation on progressive advocacy at the expense of promoting socially conservative positions.
"We're certainly oriented toward the needs of women and responding to their needs," she told Colbert in June, defending the nuns against the Vatican. "If that's radical, I guess we are."
But Campbell isn't taking marching orders from the Democratic Party, either.
But Campbell isn't taking marching orders from the Democratic Party, either.
When party officials asked her to speak in Charlotte, she made it plain she'd do it only if she could give voice to her anti-abortion views.
And when Democratic handlers revised a draft of her speech in a way that sounded too political to her, she told them she was happy to give her speaking slot to someone else.
The handlers were more than happy to work with her to revise the revisions.
On Wednesday night, Campbell said that Obama's health care law and expanding Medicaid coverage "is part of my pro-life stance and the right thing to do." It was the biggest applause lines in her speech, which was filled with big applause lines.
"Paul Ryan claims his budget reflects the principles of our shared Catholic faith," Campbell said later in her speech. "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...."
"We agree with our bishops," Campbell said. "I am my sister's keeper. I am my brother's keeper..."
Campbell, who has a law degree from the University of California, Davis, has always been political.
Campbell, who has a law degree from the University of California, Davis, has always been political.
The Ryan plan, in Campbell's view, "set up this total undermining of government services as a way for there to be additional tax cuts for the wealthy."
Bridget Mary's Reflection:
Sister Simone Campbell spoke with passion about Jesus' agenda of Gospel justice and compassion for the poor and marginalized, the people who are not represented by expensive lobbyists in Washington DC. Brava, Sister! May we all join the nuns on the bus to advocate for justice and fairness for the poor, and keep on challenging those who promote more tax cuts for billionaires! Bridget Mary Meehan, arcwp, www.arcwp.org |
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