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Martha Hennessy is a grandmother of eight, a retired occupational therapist, and a federal prisoner. The 65-year-old resident of Weathersfield is in jail, along with six other pacifists, for breaking into a Georgia submarine base in 2018, spilling blood and spray-painting anti-war slogans to protest against the threat of nuclear weapons. The group is known as the Kings Bay Plowshares 7. The name refers to the prophet Isaiah, who said that swords shall be beaten into plowshares.
“I have no criminal intent; I want to help prevent another nuclear holocaust,” Hennessy said in her statement.
Hennessy is the granddaughter of Dorothy Day, the legendary co-founder of the Catholic Worker movement, which is committed to nonviolence and working for the poor. Pope Francis has cited Day as a “great American” and the Vatican has given her the title “Servant of God,” the first step toward sainthood.
I asked Hennessy if she felt a responsibility, or even a burden, being Day’s granddaughter. “Yes, sure. I spent 25 years not engaging at all,” she conceded. But in addition to her peace activism, she continues to travel to New York City to work with the poor at the Catholic Worker Maryhouse, Day’s former residence.
“There’s this being hounded by God, having seeds planted in childhood,” Hennessy said.
Hennessy is completing a 10-month jail sentence. She is currently at a facility in Manchester, New Hampshire, run by the federal Bureau of Prisons. She said that by speaking to the media for this interview, she accepted the risk that her sentence might be extended. Our conversation took place as she did her daily permitted walk.
