An Interfaith Remembrance of the Trinity Test: 80 Years and Still Waiting

To commemorate the 80th anniversary of the first detonation of an atomic weapon on July 16, 1945 at the Trinity Test Site in southern New Mexico, the complete elimination of nuclear weapons must be prioritized. "80 Years and Still Waiting: An Interfaith Remembrance of the Trinity Test" will be held at St. Pius X School, located at 5301 St. Joseph's Dr. NW in Albuquerque, and will feature music, speakers, exhibitions, and moments of reflection and prayer. This free public event will be held Sunday, July 13, from 2:30 to 5 pm. Doors open at 2 pm. Preregistration is encouraged. The event will also be livestreamed. To preregister, past this link into your browser and go to: jotform/build/251126626669053 Eighty years ago, the government did not warn or evacuate the estimated tens of thousands living within a 50-mile radius of the Trinity Test blast. The detonation produced more heat and light than the sun, generating radioactive ash that fell for days. The communities downwind of the blast saw a spike in infant deaths in the months after the explosion, and generations later continue to suffer its harmful effects. “We don’t ask IF we’ll get cancer; we ask WHEN it will be our turn,” said Tina Cordova, event co organizer and co-founder of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium. “The government basically walked away from the people of New Mexico and has taken no responsibility for all the sacrifice, suffering, and dying.” Melissa Parke, Executive Director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), will be a featured speaker. ICAN was the 2017 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. Most Reverend John C. Wester, Archbishop of Santa Fe, said, “We can no longer deny or ignore the extremely dangerous predicament of our human family. We are in a new nuclear arms race, and I believe we need to rejuvenate a sustained, serious conversation about universal, verifiable nuclear disarmament.” Each year, the Department of Energy (DOE) spends around $10 billion in the Land of Enchantment, roughly equal to New Mexico’s entire state operating budget. Seventy-five percent of that DOE money is for nuclear weapons research, production programs and dumping radioactive wastes. In particular, this involves expanded production at Los Alamos National Laboratory of plutonium “pit” bomb cores for new nuclear weapons. Topics at the event will include the status of nuclear weapons programs in New Mexico, the harmful effects of uranium mining, the human and environmental impacts of nuclear testing, the growing national Back from the Brink movement, how young people are engaging with these issues, the role of hope and faith as we face growing nuclear threats, and what we can do now. The event is organized by the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, Interfaith Power and Light (NM-EP), Nuclear Watch New Mexico, Soka Gakkai International-USA, the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium, and the Back from the Brink New Mexico Hub. For more information, call the Archdiocese of Santa Fe’s Office of Social Justice and Respect Life at 505.831.8205. Pre-register at jotform.com/build/251126623369053, where you will also find the live stream link.

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