Pax Christi USA has joined with Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action to purchase five billboards that begin on August 19 for four weeks with a message from Pope Francis, declaring that the use and possession of nuclear weapons is immoral. The sign, designed by Pax Christi in the Pacific Northwest, also reminds us of the huge nuclear arsenal in the Puget Sound region and the imperative to abolish nuclear weapons.
Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor is homeport to the largest concentration of deployed nuclear warheads in the world. The nuclear warheads are deployed on Trident D-5 missiles on SSBN submarines and are stored in an underground nuclear weapons storage facility on the base.
There are eight Trident SSBN submarines deployed at Bangor. Six additional Trident SSBN submarines are deployed on the East Coast at Kings Bay, Georgia.
One Trident submarine carries the destructive force of over 1,000 Hiroshima bombs (the Hiroshima bomb was 15 kilotons).
Each Trident submarine was originally equipped for 24 Trident missiles. In 2015-2017 four missile tubes were deactivated on each submarine as a result of the New START Treaty. Currently, each Trident submarine deploys with 20 D-5 missiles and about 90 nuclear warheads (an average of 4-5 warheads per missile). The warheads are either the W76-1 90-kiloton warheads, W88 455-kiloton warheads, or W-76-2 8-kiloton warheads.
The Navy in early 2020 started deploying the new W76-2 low-yield warhead (approximately eight kilotons) on select ballistic submarine missiles at Bangor (following initial deployment in the Atlantic in December 2019). The warhead was deployed to deter Russian first use of tactical nuclear weapons, dangerously creating a lower threshold for the use of U.S. strategic nuclear weapons.
Vatican grants permission for the billboards quoting Pope Francis
The billboard company wanted assurance that the quotation from Pope Francis was accurate and that it had been approved for use. Pax Christi Pacific Northwest contacted and received written permission directly from the Vatican to run the billboard with the quotation from Pope Francis. The print at the bottom of the billboard contains the notation from the Vatican itself: © Dicastero per la Comunicazione-Libreria Editrice Vaticana.
Pax Christi is an international Catholic Peace & Justice body established after World War II, with national, regional, and local branches as well as individual members.
Archbishop Paul Etienne, the head of the Catholic Church in Western Washington, made a pilgrimage to Japan last year as part of a delegation of ten, including Archbishop John Wester, the leader of the Santa Fe Archdiocese, home to the Los Alamos site which designed the atomic bombs used to destroy Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II. Local Pax Christ leader Jim Thomas was also part of the delegation, as was also Helen McClenahan of the Archdiocesan Office of Communications. Archbishop Etienne recently sent a letter to the Archdiocese on Hiroshima Day, August 6th, about how the world seemed to be at a very dangerous point. He also offered a special Mass at St. James Cathedral on August 9th, Nagasaki Day, where he gave personal reflections on how the visit to Japan moved him a year ago to sign a pledge to work with Archbishop Wester and the bishops of Hiroshima and Nagasaki creating a Partnership for a World Without Nuclear Weapons
The billboard ads
The five billboard ads measure 10 ft. 6 in. tall by 22 ft. 9 in. in length and will be displayed for one month starting on August 19 for the billboards with Pax Christi USA and the statement by Pope Francis. They are located near the following locations.
The five billboards with Pax Christi USA and the statement by Pope Francis are near the following locations:
- Mukilteo Speedway (Highway 525) and north of Bernie Webber Dr
- Bothell Way and south of NE 149th St., Lake Forest Park, WA
- Denny Way between Taylor Ave. and Vine St., Seattle, WA
- Center St. and east of S. Madison St., Tacoma, WA
- 6th Ave. between S. Trafton St. and State St., Tacoma, WA
The photo of the submarine with the statement by Pope Francis is from a U.S. Navy DVIDS website, at https://www.dvidshub.net/image/1926528/uss-henry-m-jackson-returns-patrol.
Please reach out to the following representatives of Pax Christi Pacific NW & the Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action with any questions or comments:
Deacon Denny Duffell (206)-548-6292, Regional Coordinator, Pax Christi Pacific NW
Glen Milner (206) 365-7865, Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action
Rodney Brunelle (425) 485-7030, Ground Zero Center and Pax Christi Pacific NW
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