Protesting priest divides opinions
The conviction of a 76-year-old Catholic priest last week for trespassing and criminal mischief during a protest at a nuclear missile silo in Colorado has divided local opinions there.
According to media reports, the Rev. Carl Kabat cut a hole in the fence around a Minuteman III missile silo at F.E. Warren Air Force Base last August, hung antiwar banners, tried to open the missile’s lid and prayed. It was the 18th conviction for the veteran peace activist, who at one time served 10 years in federal prison for a similar protest.
Following a trial in which the Oblate priest represented himself, a tearful jury found him guilty in his latest protest and Weld County Court Judge Dana Nichols sentenced him to the 137 days he had already served.
In an editorial, the Greeley Tribune describes Kabat as ornery, funny and likable, but says the conviction was correct:
… we're glad the prosecution recommended the maximum of one year for each of the two misdemeanor criminal mischief and trespassing charges. The prosecution's determination to put a harmless, old priest behind bars sends a message that anyone who messes with those dangerous missiles, or even the silos that contain them, could face some pretty hard time.In fact, it's the Catholic Church's belief that nuclear weapons are a crime against humanity that makes it easy for us to side with the prosecution in this case. The church knows nuclear weapons are capable of wiping us out. Just imagine if someone who supports Kabat's beliefs, but not his morals, decides to push it even further to send that message.
We honestly wouldn't mind deterring anyone from having those thoughts, and we believe Kabat would support that thinking: He applauded the jury members for their service.
But you don't have to break the law to protest. In the future, we'd encourage Kabat to use his obvious charisma and organize a protest with signs and his strong beliefs and leave the bolt cutters at home.
But Denver Post columnist Bill Johnson writes admiringly of Kabat:
He has spent the better part of the past three decades in prison for staging similar protests here and across the United States against the missiles, whose very existence he calls "simply insane …"I don't have many heroes, but Carl Kabat is one of them. I deeply admire men of conviction, particularly those who buck the system and gnaw relentlessly at it in the pursuit of peace.
