Earlier today, Pax Christi USA received the announcement that Sr. Simone Campbell, SSS, long-time Executive Director of our sister organization NETWORK, will be stepping down after 16 years in leadership. Pax Christi USA is immensely grateful for Sr. Simone’s leadership of NETWORK but also for the extraordinary impact she has had on the Catholic community throughout the United States. She has elevated the Catholic community’s work for peace, justice, equality and dignity on numerous fronts, bringing special attention to the work of women religious who have served on the front lines of every major social issue that our nation faces and in every community where the people of God are called to minister. She has brought their witness — and the witness of Catholics everywhere whose work is inspired by and reflects the Beatitudes — from the margins to the center of the national conversation about what and who we should prioritize as people of faith.
From Sr. Simone’s participation with us on the 2002 religious leaders’ delegation to Iraq through the work of this upcoming election, Pax Christi USA gives thanks for all she has done and all for which she stands. We have been blessed by her generous spirit, boundless passion & prophetic witness. And we look forward to working with her in new ways in the years ahead and pledge to continue the work to which she has given her voice and energy. Thank you Sr. Simone!
~From Bishop John Stowe, OFM Conv, Bishop-President of Pax Christi USA
and Isaac Chandler, Pax Christi USA National Council Chair
So sad to hear, but so grateful for all she has done. I am reading her latest book “Hunger for Hope” and I would recommend it to everyone. It has been a great pleasure to meet her and support NETWORK. God Bless you in whatever you chose to do.
Over many years of lobbying for the School of the Americas Watch and the Global Marshall Plan, it was common to find Network lobbyists in congressional offices. I had not known of Network and should have. I soon came to understand that what I was working for (educated by IHM Sisters and later Jesuit) as an unpaid lobbyist for SOAW was that my nonsectarian pitch was based on the same Catholic Social teaching that moved Network. Sister Simone Campbell and those at Network who preceded her are my heroes.
Thank you for your real service, a service for the common good.
Jack Gilroy
http://www.bensalmon.org
Sister Simone has been a gift to Barney and I through the years. Barney joyfully had invited her to speak at Saint peters Catholic and gifted many with her presence. We thank her for her courage and her voice .
Jan Valder
Dear sister Simone,
Thank you so much for courage witness and Nuns on the Bus virtual tour. The current political/ Catholic Church situation just about drove me away from the Church and to a deep personal faith crisis. Your powerful witness during these stressful times were a true give of God in my life. You restored my faith in God and in the goodness that still exists in humanity.
Thank you so much.
Janet kurisko