You go girls!!!

DES MOINES, Iowa - A group of Roman Catholic nuns are embarking on a two-week bus tour to advocate against Republican federal budget proposals that they say hurts low income and vulnerable populations.

The Nuns of the Bus tour is headed towards Ames, its first stop. The tour will directly target the current House Republican budget, authored by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. They will stop by nine states — Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland and Wisconsin — before they are scheduled to finish in Washington July 2.

The nuns will visit Catholic-sponsored social service agencies and the offices of Republican members of Congress, including Rep. Steve King’s office in Ames, House Speaker John Boehner’s office in Chester, Ohio, and Rep. Eric Cantor’s office in Richmond, Va.

The tour was organized by Network, a Washington-based Catholic social justice group criticized in a recent Vatican report that said some organizations led by nuns have focused too much on economic injustice while failing to promote the church’s teachings on abortion and same-sex marriage. The Vatican asked U.S. bishops to look at Network’s ties to another group of nuns it is reorganizing because of what the church calls “serious doctrinal problems.”