Catholic Charities meeting ends as ‘Nuns on Bus’ rolls in

Catholic Charities professionals and volunteers from around the country will be meeting in Charlotte through Tuesday. And they’ll be followed by “Nuns on the Bus,” a group of Catholic sisters devoted to social justice issues who want to mobilize people to register to vote and show up at the polls in November.

Led by Sister Simone Campbell, who spoke at the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, the “Nuns on the Bus” caravan will make two stops in the Queen City on Tuesday.

At 3 p.m., they’ll meet with social workers and families at YWCA Central Carolinas, 3420 Park Road.

Then, at 6 p.m., they’ll hold a town hall meeting at St. Peter’s Catholic Church, a Jesuit-run parish at 507 S. Tryon St. in uptown Charlotte.

This fall, the sisters are touring 10 states to call on voters to use their voice to counteract moneyed interests. Besides Charlotte, they have stopped in Greensboro, Raleigh, Durham and Greenville, N.C., and will be in Asheville Monday. At each stop, they are joined by local nuns, many Catholic parishioners and others.

Meanwhile, the annual national gathering of Catholic Charities USA began in Charlotte on Saturday and will end Tuesday.

The meeting draws Catholic Charities professionals, volunteers and partners from dioceses across the United States. Dedicated to developing strategies to reduce poverty, the group’s schedule this week includes workshops on immigration integration, emergency responses to homelessness, working with veterans and military families, and more.

The Catholic Charities agency for the Diocese of Charlotte will lead a refugee camp simulation to educate participants about the hardships faced by refugee families.

The closing keynote address for the gathering will be 12:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Westin Charlotte, 601 S. College St. The speaker is the Rev. Ragan Shriver, an assistant professor at the University of Tennessee’s College of Social Work.

This story was originally published October 5, 2014 at 4:20 PM with the headline "Catholic Charities meeting ends as ‘Nuns on Bus’ rolls in ."