Love is the Most Powerful: The Life and Legacy of Father Bix (May 26, 1928-Feb 28, 2015)
Loving witness. Guiding Light. Promoter of peace.
Father Bill Bichsel, SJ — most knew him as "Father Bix" — was a strong voice for Love in Tacoma and across the world. He was born and raised in Tacoma, and throughout his life, he traveled to Germany to train as a Jesuit priest and became active in the peace movement soon after. He came back to Tacoma and co-founded the Tacoma Catholic Worker with some of his dear friends. Father Bix was an advocate for justice for all people, especially those on the streets of Tacoma and those suffering with extreme mental illness. Most remember Father Bix as a renowned peace activist and a voice against the military industrial complex and nuclear weapons. He was arrested over 40 times for nonviolent protests, including those down at the School of the Americas at Fort Benning, Georgia and Kitsap Naval Base, located not far from our humble abode although holds the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons west of the Mississippi River. In 2009, Father Bix along with four other activists participated in a Plowshares Action and broke into a naval base. For more information about their brave action, look at their website.
For those of us at Tacoma Catholic Worker, Bix was our dear friend and beloved brother. He represented to us what it means to faithfully live out the Gospel and how to represent the message of Micah 6:8, "To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God." On his last night with us, he left with a wise message, "That Love is the most powerful force. More powerful than all the nuclear weapons combined." So with that, we continue to carry on our work of sharing that message with one another of love and hope.