The Nuns, The Priests, and The Bombs

“A film of fundamental courage—a jolt to one’s conscience and a call to practical civic action, for both the planet and posterity.” --Ralph Nader’s response to the movie The Nuns, The Priests, and The Bombs

Helen Young’s film, The Nuns, The Priests, and The Bombs, highlights the work of KABF’s beloved friend, the late Father William “Bix” Bichsel, and confirms the need to eliminate nuclear weapons. Helen told KABF: “Since the film was premiered at the United Nations last year, it has screened at high schools, universities, churches and community centers from Maine to California. Former U.S. Presidential candidate Ralph Nader invited us to show the film twice—first at the Carnegie Institution in D.C. and then at the Rowe Center in Massachusetts. Ralph Nader invited me onto his radio show to discuss the film.”

Helen Young and Ralph Nader

The five activists who undertook a Plowshares action at the Kitsap Bangor Naval Base in 2009. The documentary tells their story. From left to right: Susan Crane, Lynne Greenwald, Sr. Anne Montgomery RSCJ, Fr. Stephen Kelly SJ, and Fr. William Bichsel SJ.

Universities around the country continue to request screenings, including Fordham, Loyola, American, Brown, Georgetown, Franklin, and Marshall. The film has been selected for the Global Peace Film Festival in Orlando, Florida, this fall, and is a finalist for the International Peace Film Festival in Jakarta, Indonesia. Helen hopes to screen the movie in Japan soon. KABF’s 2018 grant will be used to pay for the Japanese translations and subtitles. As Helen explained: “Bix visited Japan in 2009 and he told me that going to Hiroshima had a profound effect on his life and was the catalyst for his doing the action at the Bangor base. When Bix was in Hiroshima he met with Steve Leeper who was head of the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation at the time. Steve is a peace activist and professional translator. Steve thinks the film will be well received in Japan.”

Read more about The Nuns, The Priests, and The Bombs.

A panel discussion followed the screening at Notre Dame. From left to right: Helen Young, the film's director; Sr. Megan Rice, one of the film's main characters; and Bridget Rickard, a student at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at Notre Dame University.