I hope everybody understands the magnitude of the scandal caused by our local Republican party when they protested the Catholic nuns in Marietta last month. This unfortunate incident has "gone viral" and portrays Marietta as a hateful community. Over half a million people have watched the video of Marietta citizens harassing six elderly Catholic nuns with nasty disgusting signs. Regrettably, the Marietta "Attack on Nuns" story has been featured by several national religious news services including the National Catholic Reporter and ReligionNews.com. It has also been covered by NPR, Huffington Post, Columbus Dispatch, Prospect.org, Cleveland Plain Dealer, CNN, and many other news web-sites and newspapers. What a terrible representation of our wonderful community!
One religious web-site has collected over 20,000 signatures from across the country for a petition to condemn the Marietta protest. The petition signers include thousands of Catholics and numerous nuns and priests. Many have left loving messages for the Catholic Sisters and words of shame for the people of Marietta.
This has to stop. There are no politics important enough to excuse what happened in Marietta on Oct. 15. Please tell our local Republican leaders to simply admit they made a mistake and issue an apology to the six Catholic Nuns. We also call on Congressman Bill Johnson to apologize for allowing his congressional office and staff to help facilitate the protest against the nuns.
The Nuns on the Bus is a national network of Catholic Sisters who provide a voice for the poor in these troubled economic times. They have visited hundreds of towns across America and have encountered only one protest - in Marietta.
Jim Rapp
