CNA Staff, May 29, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).
The Sisters of Bon Secours are launching a citywide campaign against gun violence with seven other Catholic congregations in Baltimore.
The advertisement campaign announced this week features ads inside and outside of city buses and in subway transit stations throughout the city that say “Put the Guns Down. Let Peace Begin With Us.”
The Bon Secours sisters are part of a coalition of religious sisters and others advocating for gun violence prevention called “Nuns Against Gun Violence.” Taking inspiration from a similar campaign by other sisters in Ohio, the Sisters of Bon Secours ultimately landed on an advertising campaign.
“The Sisters of Bon Secours have been involved in gun violence prevention advocacy efforts for many years and were looking for a way to bring more attention to the issue,” said Simone Blanchard, director of justice, peace, and integrity of creation for the Sisters of Bon Secours.
Bus advertisements will carry the message “all over the city instead of a few stationery billboards,” she said.
The advertisements feature a QR code that takes viewers to the sisters’ webpage, which has resources on combating gun violence, including a prayer for victims of gun violence and links to the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s gun buyback program.
“The ads on Baltimore city buses reflect the commitment of my community and other Catholic sisters in Baltimore to say: There is another way,” said Sister Patricia Dowling of the Congregation of the Sisters of Bon Secours.
“We all deserve safe streets, a sense of peace, and the freedom to live without fear,” she continued. “Peace begins with each of us, and anything we can do to raise awareness about alternatives to violence and the sacredness of life is essential today.”
Dowling said the campaign aligns with the congregation’s charism and is also “deeply personal.”
“As a Sister of Bon Secours living in West Baltimore, I hear gunshots regularly,” Dowling told CNA. “I’ve seen the faces of those who’ve been shot, and I’ve walked with neighbors carrying the pain and trauma that gun violence leaves behind.”
“Our charism — compassion, healing, and liberation — calls us to uphold the dignity of every person and to seek peace in every situation,” she continued.
“It’s not just about my neighborhood — it’s about all of us,” Dowling said.
Baltimore is among the top 10 cities in the U.S. with the highest rates of gun homicides. According to a recent review by Pew Research, the states with the highest gun murder rates in the U.S. include Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, and New Mexico as well as Washington, D.C.
Blanchard said the campaign has its roots in Catholic social teaching, “starting with the foundational principle of the sacredness of every human life from conception to natural death.”
“This teaching stems from the fact that we are all created in the image of God and have inherent dignity,” Blanchard told CNA.
“As Catholics we are called to work for the common good towards a just and peaceful society where everyone’s needs are met, especially those living in poverty and violence,” Blanchard said.
She noted that the campaign — and other efforts like it — is about having “solidarity with those who are suffering the most from the effects of gun violence.”
Other congregations that helped sponsor the new campaign include the Benedictine Sisters of Baltimore Emmanuel Monastery; the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, Province of St. Louise; the Mission Helpers of the Sacred Heart; the School Sisters of Notre Dame, Atlantic Midwest Province; Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, U.S. East-West Province; the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas; and the Oblate Sisters of Providence.
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As a native Baltimore boy, I hope somebody listens to them. The endless senseless murders are discouraging. There are too many cheap handguns available. Make cheap handguns tougher to get.
We don’t need “thoughts and prayers” as the NRA always says. We need action to make cheap handguns tougher to obtain.
I grew up with 20 or so guns in my bedroom. There were hundreds of guns on our property. (My father was/is a gunsmith and I grew up in Montana, so it’s not as wild as it might sound to some.)
I never saw a gun—no matter how cheap or expensive—kill anything on its own. Strange. In fact, in my 20 years of living in MT, I recall there being exactly two deaths by guns (which were very common; nearly everyone had one in their truck, etc.). And both of those were suicides.
I’m not against reasonable measures when it comes to buying and owning a gun. And I’m not an NRA member (and I own just three guns, which I use rarely, even though I live “in the country”). But we do need to recognize that all murder involves a willful choice to take a life.
I grew up in Baltimore, so I know the city pretty well. I served in the Marines and fired every weapon under the Sun, from the .45 pistol to the M60 machine gun. I am also familiar with the Sisters of Bon Secours, attending Mass at their center. So I feel compelled to comment on this article.
You and people in Montana are not the problem. They are familiar with guns, respect them and are law abiding people. Unfortunately, many people in Baltimore are not law abiding. They don’t respect anyone or anything, thus hundreds of homicides every year in a city of less than 600,000 people. Should people in Baltimore be able to purchase cheap handgun? Do Montana and Maryland need to have the same laws regarding the purchase of firearms?
Montana, Idaho, Wyoming do not have a murder problem. So, they should be allowed to have laws commensurate with their law abiding citizenry. Maryland has a homicide problem, thus they should be allowed “reasonable” gun control laws.
Years ago, I served on a grand jury in Baltimore. It was horrifying. The attitude of so many criminals, their reckless disregard for human life, was breathtaking.
The NRA says guns don’t kill people. People kill people. They are correct, but unfortunately, there are many people in Baltimore who should not have guns. Should people convicted of violent felonies possess guns? I think not.
By the way, I like the good sisters, who are trying to help. Are they naive? Yes, perhaps they might do some good.
Why do we spill in on these gals?
nuns on the bus? guns bad, abortion good uh huh
You want violence to stop you need to change the mindset that supports the killing of the most innocent at the beginning of life.
I doubt that these nuns said abortion was good.
Gun violence doesn’t exist.
People do violent things with guns, but guns themselves are not violent or malicious items, they are just a tool that has to be treated, and respected properly, just like a double edged sword.