Nuns on the Bus to stop in Fayetteville, Little Rock

Published: September 8, 2015

The fourth “Nuns on the Bus” tour will begin Sept. 10 in St. Louis and will make two stops in Arkansas.

The seven-state tour is a response to Pope Francis’ recent encyclical Laudato Si’ and his message to transform politics and the economy by caring for those on the margins and prioritizing the common good.

“During this bus journey, we will connect with people in our nation’s heartland and let their stories break open our hearts. Together, we will take those stories to Congress to further strengthen the people’s bold call for change,” according to Network, the nonprofit Catholic social justice lobby hosting the tour.

On Sunday, Sept. 13, the bus will stop in Fayetteville at 1 p.m. for town hall meeting at St. Paul Episcopal Church.

It will continue to Little Rock that evening, Sept. 13 for another town hall meeting at 7 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church on Center Street downtown. At 9:30 a.m. Monday, Sept. 14 the bus will make a site visit to the 12th Street Empowerment Center in Little Rock.

The tour will make more stops in Tennessee, Indiana, Ohio and West Virginia before hosting a rally in Washington, D.C., Sept. 22, which coincides with Pope Francis’ first visit to the United States.

The tour is organized by Sister Simone Campbell, executive director of Network. Sister Simone and the other sisters will travel more than 2,000 miles and make 33 visits for town hall meetings and stops at shelters, schools, food pantries and parishes.

“The route is not to our base,” she told Religion News Service. “We’re going to places where there are differences of opinion, to nourish conversations about the serious work of governance.”

The first "Nuns on the Bus" tour was held in 2012 to lobby against U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget proposal and for economic and social justice. In 2013 the tour focused on immigration reform and in 2014 the theme was voter registration.