Return Of The Jedi Sisters

OK, we've come this far so we might as well go all in and make this The Holy Roman Empire Strikes Back week what with Darth Dolan apparently relying on the force to convince us there were no payments there. Those are not the payments you are looking for.

And this is after he finds the nuns lack of faith disturbing.

But wait, it looks like the rebel alliance is stronger than we thought.

In a spirited retort to the Vatican, a group of Roman Catholic nuns is planning a bus trip across nine states this month, stopping at homeless shelters, food pantries, schools and health care facilities run by nuns to highlight their work with the nation’s poor and disenfranchised. The bus tour is a response to a blistering critique of American nuns released in April by the Vatican’s doctrinal office, which included the accusation that the nuns are outspoken on issues of social justice, but silent on other issues the church considers crucial: abortion and gay marriage.

Thisa bad. Thisa very bad. Nuns going out to highlight the work they do with the poor, hungry and homeless (some of which are no doubt gay and have had abortions). What does Emperor Palpatine have to say about this?

The sisters were reprimanded for making public statements that “disagree with or challenge the bishops, who are the church’s authentic teachers of faith and morals.”

He's serious sisters. You saw what happened to Alderaan...um...we mean Gabriele.

“We’re doing this because these are life issues,” said Sister Simone Campbell, executive director of Network, a liberal social justice lobby in Washington. “And by lifting up the work of Catholic sisters, we will demonstrate the very programs and services that will be decimated by the House budget.”

Wait, the church and the US House of Representatives? The force is strong in this one.

The tour, “Nuns on the Bus: Nuns Drive for Faith, Family and Fairness,” includes stops in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The bus, with a sound system, signs and a podium, will seat only 12, and Sister Simone said she had had to turn away many would-be riders.

Twelve? Like the 12 apostles? Oh sister, brave and a sense of humor! Live long and prosper.