Profile of Daniel Berrigan on Famous Like Me

Daniel Berrigan (born May 9, 1921) is an internationally renowned peace activist and Roman Catholic priest. Daniel and his brother Philip performed non-violent actions against war and were, for a time, on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list.

History

Daniel Berrigan was born in Virginia, Minnesota, a Midwestern working class town. His father, Tomas Berrigan, was second-generation Irish-Catholic and proud Union man. Tom left the Catholic Church, but Berrigan remained attracted to the Catholic church throughout his youth. He joined a strict Jesuit seminary directly out of high school, where he spent the next twenty years studying theology.

Protests against the War in Vietnam

Daniel Berrigan, his brother Philip Berrigan, and the famed Trappist monk Thomas Merton founded an interfaith coalition against the Vietnam War, and wrote letters to major newspapers arguing for an end to the war.

In 1969, Philip Berrigan was arrested for non-violent protest actions and sentenced to six years in prison. Afterwards, Daniel Berrigan seriously considered taking more direct action against the war. Howard Zinn, professor emeritus at Boston University, invited Berrigan to accompany him on a trip to Hanoi to negotiate the release of three [U.S.] pilots held prisoner by the North Vietnamese. Although the mission had a high chance of success, it was opposed by the FBI on the grounds that it violated their policy of non-negotiation with North Vietnam. J. Edgar Hoover went so far as to publicly call Zinn and Berrigan "traitors". U.S. planes even bombed locations where they were scheduled to be. Despite the opposition, three pilots were returned home. They were the first American POWs released unharmed by the North Vietnamese. The lack of acknowledgement and appreciation by the U.S. government helped to radicalize Berrigan.

In 1969, Berrigan decided to participate in a more radical non-violent protest. A local high-school physics teacher helped to concoct homemade napalm. Nine activists, who later became known as the Catonsville Nine, walked into the draft board of Catonsville, Maryland, and removed 378 draft files, which they brought outside and burned. The Catonsville Nine, who were all Catholic, issued a statement:

"We confront the Catholic Church, other Christian bodies, and the synagogues of America with their silence and cowardice in the face of our country's crimes. We are convinced that the religious bureaucracy in this country is racist, is an accomplice in this war, and is hostile to the poor."

Berrigan was arrested and was sentenced to three years in prison, but he refused to serve his time. Instead, he went underground, living discreetly among like-minded individuals. The FBI, to its great embarrassment, was not immediately able to apprehend Berrigan, although he frequently showed up briefly at public events, made impromptu speeches, and went back into hiding.

Eventually, the FBI managed to find and arrest Berrigan. He was released from prison in 1972.

The Plowshares Movement

On September 9, 1980, Berrigan, his brother Philip, and six others (the "Plowshares Eight") began the Plowshares Movement when they entered the General Electric Nuclear Missile Re-entry Division in King of Prussia, PA where nose cones for the Mark 12A warheads were made. They hammered on two nose cones, poured blood on documents and offered prayers for peace. They were arrested and initially charged with over ten different felony and misdemeanor counts. On April 10, 1990, after nearly ten years of trials and appeals, the Plowshares Eight were re-sentenced and paroled for up to 23 and 1/2 months in consideration of time already served in prison.

Since this action over seventy Ploughshares actions have taken place around the world against weapons of war, several involving Berrigan himself.

Other activism

Berrigan has spoken out on many issues since then, and has been involved in many protests. He has led protests against American destabilization of Central America, the 1991 Gulf War, the Kosovo War of 1999, the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He is also a prominent anti-abortion activist.

Further reading

Berrigan later wrote the play The Trial of the Catonsville Nine, which ran on Broadway for 29 performances in 1971 and was made into a movie in 1972.

Berrigan also wrote many books, including Words Our Savior Gave Us (1978, ISBN 0872430812); Prison Poems (1982, ISBN 0877750491); Hole in the Ground: A Parable for Peacemakers (1987, ISBN 0961900318); And the Risen Bread: Selected Poems (1997, ISBN 082321821X); Daniel: Under the Siege of the Divine(1998, ISBN 0874869528); and Uncommon Prayer: A Book of Psalms (1998, ISBN 1570751935). Absurd Convictions, Modest Hopes. Geography of Faith. Time Without Number (won the Lamant Prize). Night Flight to Hanoi. Trial Writings (with Tom Lewis).

Awards and recognition

• 1974 War Resisters League Peace Award
• 1988 Thomas Merton Award
• Pacem in Terris Award
• 1989 Pax Christi USA Pope Paul VI Teacher of Peace Award
• The song "I Had No Right" by Dar Williams is about Berrigan and his trial.

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