Martha Hennessy

A jury unanimously found seven Catholic activists guilty Oct. 24 of conspiracy, destruction of government property, depredation and trespassing for a 2018 anti-nuclear weapons protest at Kings Bay Naval Base in Georgia.

"It was simply a religiously motivated, sacramental action," says Martha Hennessy, one of the seven who were arrested and charged for their anti-nuclear protest at a naval base last year.

A federal magistrate judge denied motions from seven longtime Catholic peacemakers to have charges dismissed on religious freedom grounds in connection with their April 2018 protest at an East Coast submarine base.

When activists get arrested, many consider the experience part of their ministry. Protests become political actions when activists have the chance to ask a court "to support and uphold the laws of the land which makes it criminal to threaten to use these weapons of mass destruction on God's people."

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The Midwest Catholic Worker Faith and Resistance Retreat culminated in a protest at a pipeline storage facility April 9 in Carlton County, Minnesota. Participants risked arrest for trespassing when they occupied the yard with banners, signs, jars of blessed water and sacred objects in an effort to transform the space.

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