Most prospective voters would not expect to be greeted by a crowd of nuns urging them to register for the upcoming election. But a group of Catholic sisters—calling themselves Nuns on the Bus—rolled into Chicago on Thursday as a part of a national effort to get people to sign up.
The nuns, who have been touring the country to emphasize the importance of voting, stopped at Union Park for a rally along with Arise Chicago, an organization that fights workplace injustice. The sisters said they wanted to highlight the toll of the ongoing economic crisis on low-income families and hoped to address priorities of everyday people over big money and corporate power.
Before the rally, Arise Chicago and Nuns on the Bus held a news conference with Gov. Pat Quinn, who said he supported an increase in the minimum wage. Also at the rally was Sister Simone Campbell, executive director of NETWORK, a national Catholic social justice lobby, and Fight for 15, a campaign to raise the minimum wage.
[Photos by William Camargo]