Presentencing declaration of Fr. Steve Kelly, S.J., Kings Bay Plowshares nuclear disarmament action
Presentencing Declaration of Pro Se Defendant’s Conscientious Objection To and Non-compliance With Any and All Post-incarceration Conditions [This statement was filed with the court before Fr. Steve Kelly’s October 15, 2020 sentencing.] While still in chains, I, pro se defendant Stephen Michael Kelly, S.J., file this declaration in an attempt to remove any ambiguity and […]
11 years in prison: A Catholic priest serves time for crimes of conscience
from Religion News Service by Patrick O’Neill September 24, 2020 (RNS) — For more than 850 days, the Rev. Stephen Kelly, a Jesuit priest, has hunkered down in a south Georgia jail in relative obscurity. On April 4, 2018, the 50th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King’s assassination, Kelly and I cut a padlock […]
Ardeth Platte, Dominican nun dedicated to no-nukes cause, dies at 84
Sr. Ardeth Platte, O.P., Presente! April 10, 1936 – September 30, 2020 Nuclear resister, Plowshares activist, Dominican sister With Sr. Carol Gilbert, O.P., long time member of the Jonah House community in Baltimore, and then of the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker in Washington, D.C. We had been in touch with Ardeth and Carol in recent […]
A tribute to a jailhouse monk
from Radical Discipleship by Dean Hammer One of the amazing gifts of the Holy Spirit amongst believers is that we are afforded the capacity to be present to fellow travelers from a distance. Each day since the Kings Bay Plowshares (KBP) disarmament action (April 4, 2018), Steve Kelly and the other six of the KBP […]
A 40th anniversary Plowshares Eight reflection from John Schuchardt
My Letter of Love and Gratitude by John Schuchardt Dear Jack, dear Felice…. Your Chronicle of Hope has been a lifeline of Spirit for all the years since your first mimeographed edition, mailed at personal expense, to announce the Good News of September 9, 1980, “good news to the poor, liberty to the captives, freedom […]
A 40th anniversary Plowshares Eight reflection from Molly Rush
We’re vulnerable, but so are the warheads by Molly Rush I have admired Dan and Phil Berrigan since they burned draft records. I did visit Jonah House and met Liz McAlister and their young children. I learned about a planned protest at General Electric (G.E.) from John Schuchardt and I expressed interest, so he drove […]
A 40th anniversary Plowshares Eight reflection from Dean Hammer
Filled with Gratitude for the Plowshares Conspiracy of Hope by Dean Hammer “It will take a long time before we really understand what we did at GE King of Prussia.” Phil Berrigan shared this reflection with me during a jail yard walk shortly after the Plowshares 8 action. This is one of the many gems […]
After 4 decades of Plowshares actions, it’s nuclear warfare that should be on trial — not activists
from Waging Nonviolence by Frida Berrigan Forty years ago, the Plowshares Eight sparked a movement of nuclear disarmers that continues to take responsibility for weapons of mass destruction. “Nuclear warfare is not on trial here, you are!” said Judge Samuel Salus, in exasperation. Before him were eight activists, including two priests and a nun. As […]
Nuclear Resister coordinators among 2020 Nuclear Free Future Award recipients
We are pleased to announce that we have received the 2020 Nuclear Free Future Award, in the Education category! Congratulations to the other 2020 winners: Canadian Ray Acheson, director of Reaching Critical Will (in the Solution category); journalist Fedor Maryasov and lawyer Andrey Talevlin from Russia (in the Resistance category); and Native American activist and New Mexico Democrat, U.S. Rep. Deb […]
British military refuser arrested
An active duty British soldier in uniform was arrested outside the Ministry of Defence in London while engaged in a solo public protest. Yemeni-born Lance Corporal Ahmed Al-Babati recorded himself making this statement for social media that he posted on the morning of August 24: Yemen is facing the worst humanitarian crisis… due to years […]