Crane is behind bars, again

A longtime Baltimore peace activist who has already served five years in prison for anti-nuclear peace protests across the country is now spending even more time behind bars.

Susan Crane, a 67-year-old resident of Jonah House in West Baltimore, was sentenced to 15 months in prison March 28 for breaking into a U.S. Navy nuclear weapons depot in Washington state as part of a “peace action” with the “Disarm Now Ploughshares” group.

Four others also received jail time for assisting in the action, but only one – a Catholic priest – was sentenced to a term as long as Crane’s.

On All Souls Day in 2009, Crane worked with two Jesuit priests, a Sacred Heart Sister and another lay woman, to break into the naval facility. They sprinkled blood on the property and symbolically hammered on roadways and fences. The Catholic peace activists unfurled a banner that declared Trident missiles to be “illegal” and “immoral.” They also scattered sunflower seeds – the international symbol of nonviolence.

Late last year, I spoke with Crane about her actions and possible prison sentence. She expressed no remorse for what she did, but hoped it would raise awareness about the devastation that can be caused by nuclear weaponry. (You can read the story here and a related blog here).

During the trial, Ramsey Clark, U.S. Attorney General under President Lyndon B. Johnson, described the protest as a form of “civil disobedience.” According to a report from protest supporters, Clark said: “Their consciences tell them they have to do it. God will bless them for it and the courts of the United States should too.”

Prior to her sentencing, Crane appeared on a radio program with Jesuit Father Bill “Bix” Bichsel, who was sentenced to three months in prison and six months of electronic home monitoring for assisting in the action.  Check it out below.

What do you think? Is Crane a naive idealist who is getting what she deserves for breaking the law? Or is she a peace prophet for our times? Share your thoughts below.

A special Polish Christmas carol



If I’m counting correctly, tonight’s Midnight Mass at Our Lady of Hope in Dundalk will mark the 20th time I’ve had the honor of serving as organist for the joyful Christmas liturgy. People of all ages will crowd into the contemporary-styled church, which is usually dimmed slightly and illuminated with flickering candles and glowing Christmas lights. The effect is warm and almost otherworldly.

In front of the ambo, figures of Joseph and Mary will stand next to a hay-strewn manger bearing the newborn Christ child. The Magi statues will be placed on the other side of the church, symbolically traveling toward the holy scene before arriving on the Epiphany. 

Tonight, there will be a certain formula we dare not break in the singing of the carols. Expect to hear ”O Come All Ye Faithful,” ”Away in a Manger,” “Silent Night,” and “Joy to the World” – in that order.

But there’s another, less familiar song I’ve added to the repertoire.

As a postlude, I always pull out the stops and fill the massive worship space with a lilting Polish carol, “Dzisiaj w Betlejem” – “Today in Bethlehem.”  Nearly every year I’ve played the charmingly simple song, a gentleman approaches me after Mass and thanks me for highlighting his favorite Polish carol. He presses a $20 bill into my hand despite my protests.

“Dzisiaj w Betlejem” holds a special place in my heart, too.

Growing up in a Polish and Czech family, it was one of the kolendy – carols – we heard every Christmas season. It became an even more important song more than a decade ago when my mother was battling the last stages of cancer.

On the Christmas of 1998, my mom only had a few weeks left to live. She slept almost constantly in the hospital bed we set up in her bedroom, relying on morphine to manage the pain. Drifting in and out of consciousness, she would speak of seeing long-gone relatives and would sometimes talk in the Polish tongue she remembered from her youth.

On that Christmas Day, I set up a speaker in her room to let her hear an album of kolendy that included “Dzisiaj w Betlejem.” I don’t know if she was aware of the music, but I like to think it may have lifted her spirits in some way and brought her some sense of peace.

When I play that tune tonight, I will be thinking of my mom and all those who have lost loved ones this year. My prayer is that no matter what you are going through in life, the Prince of Peace will bring you comfort.

In the words of Dzisiaj w Betlejem’s refrain:

Angels are singing, Kings gifts are bringing, Shepherds are praying, Cattle are kneeling; To the little Jesus, To the Son of Mary who this day is born to us!

Have a blessed Christmas, everyone!  Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia!

Baltimore peace activist has no regrets

Susan Crane is no stranger to prisons.

The longtime anti-nuclear peace activist, a resident of the Jonah House community in West Baltimore, has already served five years for various peace actions – including a 1999 protest at the Warfield Air National Guard base in Middle River, where she and three others hammered and poured blood on two A-10 Warthog aircraft. The demonstrators tried to raise awareness that the planes had the capacity to fire depleted uranium.

Crane is at it again. One year ago on All Souls’ Day, she used a bolt cutter to rip open chain-link fences at a U.S. Navy nuclear weapons storage depot in Bangor, Wash.

Working with two Jesuit priests, a Sacred Heart Sister and another lay woman, Crane helped sprinkle blood on the property and symbolically hammered on roadways and fences. The Catholic peace activists unfurled a banner that declared Trident missiles to be “illegal” and “immoral.” They also scattered sunflower seeds – the international symbol of nonviolence.

Charged with conspiracy, trespass, destruction of property on a naval installation and depradation of government property, Crane and the others await the start of a Dec. 7 federal trial in Tacoma.

I had a chance to talk with Crane for a story in this week’s Catholic Review. She was as passionate as ever and not in the least bit remorseful for what she did. She knows she’s facing the possibility of a long prison sentence.

No matter what you think of her tactics or position on the issue, I’d encourage you to check out the story and consider her reasoning. She is convinced that her Catholic faith compels her to oppose nuclear weapons.

Here are some questions and answers that didn’t make it into the story:

Matysek: Have you given any thought to what you will do if you have to spend time in prison?

Crane: I’m a special education teacher, so I would probably teach GED classes. The women are very interested in learning. There’s no lack of work to do. I’d try to get a Bible study group going. The conditions in federal prisons aren’t made to encourage people. They are made to degregate people who are considered throw-aways in society.

Matysek: How can you raise awareness about nuclear weapons if you are in prison?

Crane: Certainly, inside the prison, there’s a lot of work that can be done and a lot of listening that can happen. A lot of people have written to me and I’ll be able to write to some of them.

Matysek: Do you have any regrets for the actions you have taken?

Crane: I don’t have regret for going in and saying no to these weapons. I wonder if I can do enough. I do hope other people will think about these weapons and realize how devastating they are. Every president except Johnson has threatened to use weapons against another nation. That’s staggering. We have to stop threatening to use them to get our way.

Matysek: If you had not been stopped and arrested after you entered the naval property, what would you have done?

Crane: Probably put up our banner and symbolically hammer on the bunker. It’s a symbolic action, yet it’s real. We are saying as clearly as we can we need to disarm these weapons.