Sister Megan Rice of the Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity was reportedly found guilty of two felonies related to her breaking into a nuclear weapons production facility in Tennessee.
Sentencing for the Villanova and Boston College graduate is expected to take place later this week. Sister Megan could face up to thirty year in the joint. In the past, she’s spent 6 months in jail for her “protests.
It seems that Sister, along with two other “activists” cut through the chain link fence, illegally entered the property, caused damage to the tune of over $1,000. And reportedly splashed human blood on the walls.Some little bit of good news is that she painted biblical messages on the walls of the building which holds 400 tons of highly enriched uranium.
In the pre-dawn hours of July 28, 2012, the three defendants hiked over a wooded ridge and were able to enter the site unimpeded because of a series of deficient security measures, including inoperable security cameras and an alarm system inundated by routine false alarms. The intrusion triggered a two-week shutdown of operations at Y-12 — a Department of Energy site that is overseen by the National Nuclear Security Administration and operated and managed by private contractors — and prompted four congressional hearings on nuclear security and a shake up in the U.S. nuclear security enterprise.
Hilariously, the Washington Post wrote a piece on Sister Megan and her two co-defendants called “The Prophets of Oak Ridge.” The New York Times called their story “A Nun’s Bold Fervor.”
Now, I’m just wondering here but do you think she’d receive similar adulation if she’d broke into an abortion clinic and painted the walls with blood?
Exit question: Why is the Vatican picking on the nuns?
May 9, 2013 at 1:11 pm
LOL I love the pre-dawn rhetoric. It is so superior to night time.
As for Sisters and political action – that is So 1960s.
Hey, Sis, you are married to Jesus ,not the Berrigans
May 9, 2013 at 1:47 pm
Abortion clinics have killed more people than this nuclear weapons plant, so these silly nuns need to get in focus.
May 9, 2013 at 3:37 pm
Oak Ridge is such a fun place.
I think we should “quarantine” the good sister for her own safety and the safety of others. When you’re driving us the long road to the Oak Ridge facility you can see random places in the fields and woods marked off with colored rope – these are "hot spots".
When they have too many workers killed by deer jumping out in front of cars they invite local hunter to come in and hunt. Every deer killed is gone-over with a Geiger counter before the hunter can take it home.
Me thinks there is a good reason for the fences and Sister pulled a stupid on several levels.
May 9, 2013 at 5:18 pm
Remember Joan Andrews? She entered an abortion clinic as part of an Operation Rescue sit-in and tried to damage a suction machine. Because she refused to plead, she was sentenced to 5 years solitary confinement in a Florida prison. The Bishop at the time refused to send a priest for her spiritual needs. Iknow which one is my hero!
May 9, 2013 at 5:23 pm
War as America knows it, sending in troops to a country half way around the world so we get their oil. Wars like this are just another part of the culture of death. Death by abortion. Death by warfare. It's all the same when it is so optional and unnecessary. Pray for the nun. She is doing something besides typing in a combox.
May 11, 2013 at 7:15 am
US gets 0 oil from Iraq and has not since the 70s
May 9, 2013 at 5:29 pm
"Now, I'm just wondering here but do you think she'd receive similar adulation if she'd broke into an abortion clinic and painted the walls with blood?"
My question: if you painted with blood on the walls of an abortion clinic would it blend in? From all we've heard about the little house of horrors, a little blood on the wall wouldn't make much of a difference.
May 9, 2013 at 6:20 pm
Your final comment is so true on the ridicule anti-abortion activists face from corporate media for their pro-life commitment vs the adulation anti nuclear, pollution, and death penalty activists receive from that same media for their pro-life commitment. Overall it sems best to appreciate any person's commitment to life and opposition to violent death no matter the particular issue emphasis. As to the Vatican picking on nuns, it seems, in part, to be an effective diversion from the appalling priest sex abuse scandal. Deep reflection and discernment is needed for changing that system. Women religious might be among those who could offer it. Do priests have a history of listening and learning from them?
May 10, 2013 at 4:07 am
Inaccurate headline. Rice is a sister not a nun. Nuns live in cloister, sisters do not. While all nuns are sisters, not all sisters are nuns.
May 10, 2013 at 4:09 am
….so where are her vows of first obedience to the "rule" of her order and to her superior?
….to not draw untoward attention, through scandal, to herself, her vocation and the Church!
….please don't me, she used her "religious" vocation to hide behind (as a facade) for this criminal idiocy?
….I'll be generous and give her a pass on account of her advanced senile dementia, in which her companions took advantage of.
May 10, 2013 at 7:26 am
Donna – if your excessive use of ……. periods in writing isn't advanced senile dementia, well………………
May 10, 2013 at 4:23 pm
….hey A,
….Thank You, for keeping me humble!
….and, continuing to take my personal inventory!
….God bless and protect you!
…..continuing to pray for you, I'm going to start my daily rosary now….;)
May 10, 2013 at 6:04 pm
….you do that…and pray for discernment….to stop being such an obsessive….user….of needless punctuation….
…it doesn't make what you say sound any more intelligent….just annoying
May 11, 2013 at 4:19 am
Sister, for whatever reason or reasons you did this, I will be praying for your peace of mind the same unselfish way you have been praying for all of us sinners all your life. May God bless you with His Peace and Love.
May 11, 2013 at 2:10 pm
One to the back of the head with this liberal NUN…
May 11, 2013 at 10:34 pm
Anonymous @2:15am – not sure where you got your info, but you are completely wrong, and I despise misinformation. The US trades/has traded with Iraq (pre and post-Saddam) throughout the 70's and 80's with only small periods of embargo. The latest period was due to the civil unrest in 2003 which in fact was the catalyst behind the "surge" (i.e. to keep the oil flowing). http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=pet&s=mttimiz1&f=m