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When the bus pulled up in front of the St. Francis Center in Redwood City on Thursday, it wasn’t displaying the typical advertisements for a company or brand. Instead, it carried a message urging people to vote for their rights.
“A vote is our prayer for our country,” said Sister Eilis McCulloh, an advocate for Catholic social justice with NETWORK.
NETWORK, a Catholic advocacy organization, launched its first in-person Nuns on the Bus tour in six years. The 2-and-a-half-week national tour encouraged Catholics and people of goodwill to become multi-issue voters, protecting freedoms that ensure a future of flourishing for all.
One of the final stops before San Francisco was the St. Francis Center, a nonprofit organization in Redwood City.
“We are all better off when everyone has equal access to basic rights like food, affordable housing, good-paying jobs, and healthcare,” said Kate Young, Executive Director of the St. Francis Center.
Nuns on the Bus & Friends, a project of NETWORK Advocates, focuses on social justice issues. Each tour centers on a different theme. This year, the emphasis was on promoting multi-issue voting for the common good ahead of the November election.
The 2024 tour spanned 20 cities in 11 states, from Sep. 30 to Oct. 18, kicking off in Philadelphia and passing through Chicago, Milwaukee, Phoenix, and Las Vegas.
Joining the nuns on this journey was the Friends Committee on National Legislation, a national nonprofit and nonpartisan Quaker organization.
“We know we can be so much more as a country—a place where everyone can thrive, free from food insecurity and housing instability, with access to healthcare. And all of these things are on the ballot in this election,” said Amelia Kegan, a member of the Friends Committee. “We are trying to encourage people to vote for our future and vote for those things.”
According to McCulloh, the tour featured different types of public outreach in each city, including site visits, press conferences, and rallies.
The tour focused on raising awareness about six core freedoms: the freedom to be healthy, the freedom to live on a healthy planet, the freedom to participate in a vibrant democracy, the freedom to care for ourselves and our family, the freedom from harm, and the freedom to live in a welcoming country that values dignity and human rights.
At St. Francis, the riders began with a tour of the center, followed by a press conference that featured multiple speakers who collectively emphasized the power of community, compassion, and advocacy in addressing both personal and structural challenges facing marginalized families. They further highlighted the power of voting in addressing those challenges.
At the conclusion of the event, attendees signed the bus to show their support for the campaign—a tradition carried out in every city along the tour.
“This is our way of carrying people with us across the country,” added McCulloh.
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