Daniel Joseph Berrigan (May 9, 1921 – April 30, 2016) was an American

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

priest,

anti-war An anti-war movement (also ''antiwar'') is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term anti-war can also refer to pa ...

activist,

Christian pacifist Christian pacifism is the theological and ethical position according to which pacifism and non-violence have both a scriptural and rational basis for Christians, and affirms that any form of violence is incompatible with the Christian faith. Chri ...

, playwright, poet, and author. Berrigan's active protest against the Vietnam War earned him both scorn and admiration, especially regarding his association with the

Catonsville Nine The Catonsville Nine were nine Catholic activists who burned draft files to protest the Vietnam War. On May 17, 1968, they took 378 draft files from the draft board office in Catonsville, Maryland and burned them in the parking lot. List of the N ...

. It also landed him on the Federal Bureau of Investigation's "most wanted list" (the first-ever priest on the list), on the cover of ''Time'' magazine, and in prison. For the rest of his life, Berrigan remained one of the United States' leading anti-war activists. In 1980, he co-founded the Plowshares movement, an anti-nuclear protest group, that put him back into the national spotlight. Berrigan was an award-winning and prolific author of some 50 books, a teacher, and a university educator.

Early life

Berrigan was born in

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, the son of Thomas Berrigan, a second-generation Irish Catholic and active trade union member, and Frieda Berrigan (née Fromhart), who was of German ancestry. He was the fifth of six sons. His youngest brother was fellow peace activist Philip Berrigan. At age 5, Berrigan's family moved to

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...

. In 1946, Berrigan earned a bachelor's degree from

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, a Jesuit seminary in Hyde Park, New York. In 1952 he received a master's degree from Woodstock College in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was d ...

, Maryland. Berrigan was devoted to the Catholic Church throughout his youth. He joined the Jesuits directly out of high school in 1939 and was ordained to the priesthood on June 19, 1952.

Career

Berrigan taught at

St. Peter's Preparatory School Saint Peter's Preparatory School ("Saint Peter's Prep" or "Prep") is a private, all-male, Jesuit, college-preparatory school located in Jersey City, in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States, within the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark. T ...

Jersey City Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark. In 1954, Berrigan was assigned to teach French and theology at the Jesuit Brooklyn Preparatory School. In 1957 he was appointed professor of New Testament studies at Le Moyne College in

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

, New York. The same year, he won the Lamont Prize for his book of poems, ''Time Without Number''. He developed a reputation as a religious radical, working actively against poverty and on changing the relationship between priests and lay people. While at Le Moyne, he founded its International House. While on a sabbatical from Le Moyne in 1963, Berrigan traveled to Paris and met French Jesuits who criticized the social and political conditions in Indochina. Taking inspiration from this, he and his brother Philip founded the Catholic Peace Fellowship, a group that organized protests against the war in Vietnam. On October 28, 1965, Berrigan, along with the Rev. Richard John Neuhaus and Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, founded an organization known as Clergy and Laymen Concerned About Vietnam (CALCAV). The organization, founded at the

Church Center for the United Nations The Church Center for the United Nations is a private building founded, owned, and operated by the United Methodist Church as an interfaith space housing the offices of various religions as well as several non-governmental organizations. It is at ...

, was joined by the likes of Dr. Hans Morgenthau, the Rev. Reinhold Niebuhr, the Rev. William Sloane Coffin, and the Rev. Philip Berrigan, among many others. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who delivered his 1967 speech '' Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence'' under sponsorship from CALCAV, served as the national co-chairman of the organization. From 1966 to 1970, Berrigan was the assistant director of the Cornell University United Religious Work (CURW), the umbrella organization for all religious groups on campus, including the Cornell Newman Club (later the Cornell Catholic Community), eventually becoming the group's pastor. Berrigan was the first faculty advisor of Cornell University's first gay rights student group, the Student Homophile League, in 1968. Berrigan at one time or another held faculty positions or ran programs at Union Theological Seminary,

Loyola University New Orleans Loyola University New Orleans is a Private university, private Jesuit university in New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana. Originally established as Loyola College in 1904, the institution was chartered as a university in 1912. It bears the name o ...

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...

Cornell Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

, and Yale. His longest tenure was at Fordham (a Jesuit university located in the Bronx), where for a brief time he also served as poet-in-residence. Berrigan appeared briefly in the 1986 Warner Bros. film '' The Mission'', playing a Jesuit priest. He also served as a consultant on the film.

Activism

Vietnam War era

Berrigan, his brother and Josephite priest Philip Berrigan, and Trappist monk

Thomas Merton Thomas Merton (January 31, 1915 – December 10, 1968) was an American Trappist monk, writer, theologian, mystic, poet, social activist and scholar of comparative religion. On May 26, 1949, he was ordained to the Catholic priesthood and giv ...

founded an interfaith coalition against the Vietnam War and wrote letters to major newspapers arguing for an end to the war. In 1967, Berrigan witnessed the public outcry that followed from the arrest of his brother Philip, for pouring blood on draft records as part of the Baltimore Four.''Religion and War Resistance in the Plowshares Movement'' (2008) Sharon Erickson Nepstad, Cambridge University Press, p48 Philip was sentenced to six years in prison for defacing government property. The fallout he had to endure from these many interventions, including his support for

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold priso ...

and, in 1968, seeing firsthand the conditions on the ground in Vietnam, further radicalized Berrigan, or at least strengthened his determination to resist American military imperialism. Berrigan traveled to Hanoi with Howard Zinn during the Tet Offensive in January 1968 to "receive" three American airmen, the first American prisoners of war released by the North Vietnamese since the US bombing of that nation had begun. In 1968, he signed the Writers and Editors War Tax Protest pledge, vowing to refuse to make tax payments in protest of the Vietnam War. In the same year, he was interviewed in the anti-Vietnam War documentary film ''

In the Year of the Pig ''In the Year of the Pig'' is an American documentary film directed by Emile de Antonio about American involvement in the Vietnam War. It was released in 1968 while the U.S. was in the middle of its military engagement, and was politically contro ...

'', and later that year became involved in radical non-violent protest.

Catonsville Nine

Daniel Berrigan and his brother Philip, along with seven other Catholic protesters, used homemade napalm to destroy 378 draft files in the parking lot of the

Catonsville, Maryland Catonsville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 41,567 at the 2010 census. The community lies to the west of Baltimore along the city's border. Catonsville contains the majority of th ...

, draft board on May 17, 1968. This group, which came to be known as the

, issued a statement after the incident: Berrigan was arrested and sentenced to three years in prison, but went into hiding with the help of fellow radicals prior to imprisonment. While on the run, Berrigan was interviewed for

Lee Lockwood Lee Jonathan Lockwood (May 4, 1932 – July 31, 2010) was an American photojournalist best known for his coverage of Communist leaders behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War era. He interviewed Cuban leader Fidel Castro and spent nearly a m ...

's documentary ''The Holy Outlaw''. The

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...

apprehended him on August 11, 1970, at the home of

William Stringfellow Frank William Stringfellow (1928–1985) was an American lay theologian, lawyer and social activist. He was active mostly during the 1960s and 1970s. Life and career Early life and education Born in Johnston, Rhode Island, on April 26, 1928, he ...

and Anthony Towne on

Block Island Block Island is an island in the U.S. state of Rhode Island located in Block Island Sound approximately south of the mainland and east of Montauk Point, Long Island, New York, named after Dutch explorer Adriaen Block. It is part of Washingt ...

. Berrigan was then imprisoned at the Federal Correctional Institution in

Danbury, Connecticut Danbury is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, located approximately northeast of New York City. Danbury's population as of 2022 was 87,642. It is the seventh largest city in Connecticut. Danbury is nicknamed the "Hat City ...

until his release on February 24, 1972. In retrospect, the trial of the Catonsville Nine was significant, because it "altered resistance to the Vietnam War, moving activists from street protests to repeated acts of civil disobedience, including the burning of draft cards". As ''The New York Times'' noted in its obituary, Berrigan's actions helped "shape the tactics of opposition to the Vietnam War."

Plowshares movement

On September 9, 1980, Berrigan, his brother Philip, and six others (the "Plowshares Eight") began the Plowshares movement. They trespassed onto the General Electric nuclear missile facility in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, where they damaged nuclear warhead nose cones and poured blood onto documents and files. They were arrested and charged with over ten different felony and misdemeanor counts. On April 10, 1990, after ten years of appeals, Berrigan's group was re-sentenced and paroled for up to months in consideration of time already served in prison. Their legal battle was re-created in Emile de Antonio's 1982 film ''

In the King of Prussia ''In the King of Prussia'' is a 1983 film directed and written by Emile de Antonio. The film reconstructs the events of the 1980s " Plowshares Eight". The group of anti-war activists were charged with the September 1980 destruction of nose cones ...

'', which starred Martin Sheen and featured appearances by the Plowshares Eight as themselves.

Consistent life ethic

Berrigan endorsed a consistent life ethic, a morality based on a holistic reverence for life. As a member of the Rochester, New York-area consistent life ethic advocacy group ''Faith and Resistance Community'', he protested via civil disobedience against abortion at a new

Planned Parenthood The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health care in the United States and globally. It is a tax-exempt corporation under Internal Reve ...

clinic in 1991.

AIDS activism

Berrigan said of pastoral care to AIDS patients: Berrigan published ''Sorrow Built a Bridge: Friendship and AIDS'' reflecting on his experiences ministering to AIDS patients through the Supportive Care Program at St. Vincent's Hospital and Medical Center in 1989. The ''Religious Studies Review'' wrote, "the strength of this volume lies in its capacity to portray sensitively the impact of AIDS on human lives." Speaking about AIDS patients, many of whom were gay, ''The Charlotte Observer'' quoted Berrigan saying in 1991, "Both the church and the state are finding ways to kill people with AIDS, and one of the ways is ostracism that pushes people between the cracks of respectability or acceptability and leaves them there to make of life what they will or what they cannot."

Other activism

Although much of his later work was devoted to assisting AIDS patients in New York City, Berrigan still held to his activist roots throughout his life. He maintained his opposition to American interventions abroad, from Central America in the 1980s, through the Gulf War in 1991, the Kosovo War, the

US invasion of Afghanistan In late 2001, the United States and its close allies invaded Afghanistan and toppled the Taliban government. The invasion's aims were to dismantle al-Qaeda, which had executed the September 11 attacks, and to deny it a safe base of operations ...

, and the

2003 invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...

. He was also an opponent of capital punishment, a contributing editor of '' Sojourners'', and a supporter of the Occupy movement. P. G. Coy, P. Berryman, D. L. Anderson, and others consider Berrigan to be a

Christian anarchist Christian anarchism is a Christian movement in political theology that claims anarchism is inherent in Christianity and the Gospels. It is grounded in the belief that there is only one source of authority to which Christians are ultimately an ...

In media

* January 25, 1971: Featured on the cover of '' Time'' along with his brother Philip. * Adrienne Rich's poem "The Burning of Paper Instead of Children" makes numerous references to the Catonsville Nine and includes an epigraph from Daniel Berrigan during the trial ("I was in danger of verbalizing my moral impulses out of existence"). * It is frequently claimed that "the radical priest" in

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actor whose career has spanned six decades. He is one of the most acclaimed songwriters in popular music, both as a solo artist and as half of folk roc ...

's song " Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard" refers to or was inspired by Berrigan * Lynne Sachs's documentary film ''

Investigation of a Flame ''Investigation of a Flame'' is a 2001 documentary by Lynne Sachs about the Catonsville Nine, nine Catholic activists who became known for their May 17, 1968 nonviolent act of civil disobedience in burning draft files to protest the Vietnam War. ...

'' is about the Berrigan brothers and the Catonsville Nine. * Berrigan appeared briefly in the 1986 Roland Joffé film '' The Mission'', which starred

Robert De Niro Robert Anthony De Niro Jr. ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor. Known for his collaborations with Martin Scorsese, he is considered to be one of the best actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of various accolades ...

and Jeremy Irons. * Berrigan's play ''The Trial of the Catonsville Nine'' (1970) premiered at the Lyceum Theatre in New York City on June 2, 1971. The original cast featured the talents of Biff McGuire,

Michael Moriarty Michael Moriarty (born April 5, 1941) is an American-Canadian actor and jazz musician. He received an Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award for his first acting role on American television as a Nazi SS officer in the 1978 mini-series ''Holocaust'' ...

, Josef Sommer, Sam Waterston, and James Woods, among others. Gordon Davidson received a 1972 Tony Award nomination for his direction of the play. * ''The Trial of the Catonsville Nine'' was adapted in a 1972 film of the same name, produced by

Gregory Peck Eldred Gregory Peck (April 5, 1916 – June 12, 2003) was an American actor and one of the most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1970s. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Peck the 12th-greatest male star of Classic Hollywood ...

and starring Ed Flanders as Berrigan. * Berrigan is interviewed in Emile de Antonio's 1968 Vietnam War documentary ''

''. * Berrigan is featured in Emile de Antonio's 1983 film ''

'', also starring fellow activist Martin Sheen. * Berrigan's oral history is included in the 2006 book '' Generation on Fire: Voices of Protest from the 1960s'' by Jeff Kisseloff. * Berrigan's involvement with the

is explored in the 2013 documentary ''

Hit & Stay ''Hit & Stay'' is a 2013 documentary directed by Joe Tropea and Skizz Cyzyk. It looks at the actions of The Catonsville Nine and The Baltimore Four taken in protest of The Vietnam War, and the influence of these actions and the activists behind t ...

''. * Dar Williams' song "I Had No Right" from her album ''

The Green World ''The Green World'' is the fourth studio album by American folk music singer-songwriter Dar Williams, released in 2000. While writing songs for the album, Williams incorporated her ongoing interest in religion into the process. One particular ins ...

'' is about Berrigan and his trial. *In the

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

television adaptation An adaptation is a transfer of a work of art from one style, culture or medium to another. Some common examples are: * Film adaptation, a story from another work, adapted into a film (it may be a novel, non-fiction like journalism, autobiography, ...

of the podcast '' Slow Burn'', an anti-war protester brings up the Berrigan brothers.

Death

Berrigan died in the Bronx, New York City on April 30, 2016 at Murray-Weigel Infirmary, the Jesuit infirmary at

Fordham University Fordham University () is a Private university, private Jesuit universities, Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the The Bronx, Bronx in which its origina ...

. Since 1975, he had lived on the Upper West Side at the West Side Jesuit Community. Dan Berrigan 1

Awards and recognition

* 1956:

Lamont Poetry Selection The Academy of American Poets is a national, member-supported organization that promotes poets and the art of poetry. The nonprofit organization was incorporated in the state of New York in 1934. It fosters the readership of poetry through outreach ...

* 1974:

War Resisters League Peace Award Since 1958, the War Resisters League, the pacifist group founded in 1923, has awarded almost annually its War Resisters League Peace Awardhttps://www.warresisters.org/wrl-peace-awards to a person or organization whose work represents the League's c ...

* 1974:

Gandhi Peace Award The Gandhi Peace Award is an award and cash prize presented annually since 1960 by Promoting Enduring Peace to individuals for "contributions made in the promotion of international peace and good will." It is named in honor of Mohandas Karamch ...

(accepted then resigned) * 1988:

Thomas Merton Award The Thomas Merton Award has been awarded since 1972 by the Thomas Merton Center for Peace and Social Justice in Pittsburgh, United States. It is named after Thomas Merton and is given annually to "national and international individuals struggling ...

* 1989:

Pax Christi USA Pope Paul VI Teacher of Peace Award The Teacher of Peace Award (previously called the Pope Paul VI Teacher of Peace Award) is a peacemaker award given out annually by Pax Christi USA, a Catholic peace organization, to an individual who has exemplified Pope Paul VI's World Day of Pea ...

* 1991: The Peace Abbey Foundation Courage of Conscience Award * 1993: Pacem in Terris Award * 2008: Honorary Degree from the College of Wooster * 2017: Daniel Berrigan Center at Benincasa Community, 133 W. 70th Street, New York, NY 10023

Notes

References

External links

*

*
Berrigan Brothers And The Harrisburg Seven Trial, 1970–1989
at the Internet Archive
Daniel and Philip Berrigan Collection, 1880–1995
at Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections,

Cornell University Library The Cornell University Library is the library system of Cornell University. As of 2014, it holds over 8 million printed volumes and over a million ebooks. More than 90 percent of its current 120,000 Periodical literature, periodical titles are ...

Daniel Berrigan Papers
at Special Collections and Archives, DePaul University * {{DEFAULTSORT:Berrigan, Daniel 1921 births 2016 deaths 20th-century American Jesuits 21st-century American Jesuits Activists from Syracuse, New York American anti-abortion activists American anti–death penalty activists American anti–nuclear weapons activists American anti–Vietnam War activists American anti-war activists American Christian pacifists American male poets American people of German descent American people of Irish descent American Roman Catholic priests American tax resisters Catholic Workers Catholics from Minnesota DePaul University Special Collections and Archives holdings FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives Fordham University faculty HIV/AIDS activists Le Moyne College faculty Non-interventionism Nonviolence advocates People from the Upper West Side People from Virginia, Minnesota Religious leaders from Syracuse, New York Roman Catholic activists American consistent life ethics activists