Fr. Daniel Berrigan dies at 94, First Catholic Priest to be on the FBI’s Most Wanted list

Thursday evening, for the wake of Fr. Daniel Berrigan, who died among family on April 30, hung this banner outside St Xavier Church in memory of a life well lived in the name of Peace, Love and Justice. He was called the Peaceful Criminal. The world needs more people like Fr. Daniel Berrigan. Rest In Peace

Inside the church of St Xavier large photos of Fr. Berrigan; on the right is a pic of him giving peace sign while in handcuffs arrested for burning draft papers for the American War in Vietnam. The photo on the left shows him and another priest burning the draft papers. May 17th, 1968 Fr. Berrigan his brother Phil and 7 others took 378 draft files from the draft board in Catonsville, MD. and in the parking lot of the draft board office they lit the draft files on fire using homemade Napalm to protest the Vietnam War. They were known as the Catonsville Nine, a documentary called Hit & Stay, A History of Faith and Resistance. Fr. Daniel Berrigan wrote, of the Catonsville incident: “Our apologies, good friends, for the fracture of good order, the burning of paper instead of children…” The whole of his statement is in The Trial of the Catonsville Nine. The Catonsville Nine were tried in federal court October 5–9, 1968. The lead defense attorney was counterculture legal icon William Kunstler. They were found guilty of destruction of U.S. property, destruction of Selective Service files, and interference with the Selective Service Act of 1967.[4] They were also sentenced to a total of 18 years’ jail time and a fine of $22,000. Several of the nine—Mary Moylan, Phil Berrigan, Dan Berrigan and George Mische—went “underground” when it came time to show up for prison—in other words, the FBI had to try to find them. Father Dan Berrigan caused considerable embarrassment to FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover by popping up and giving sermons and then fading back into the “underground”.-Wikipedia Fr. Berrigan was the first Catholic priest to make to the FBI’s most wanted list. With his brother Phil, he inspired the Anti War and Anti Draft movement of the late 1960’s. Dan Berrigan said he’s “been arrested more times than he can remember but fewer times than he should have.”

Fr. Daniel Berrigan, his brother Phil, and 6 others broke into the GE Missile plant in King of Prussia, PA. which launched their Plowshares movement. A film titled IN THE KING OF PRUSSIA: THE TRIAL OF THE PLOWSHARES 8 takes us back to 1982 with Emile de Antonio’s portrayal of the Plowshares 8 civic disobedience at General Electric’s nuclear weapons plant in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. The group included Molly Rush, co-founder of the Merton Center. Can be seen on youtube, https://youtu.be/kUph8GWFupE Berrigan was a poet, pacifist, educator, social activist, playwright and lifelong resister to what he called “American military imperialism.”

The sign in book for guests and Mass cards of Fr. Daniel Berrigan on the table just inside St. Xavier Church at 46 W 16th Street in NYC on Thursday night for the wake of Dan Berrigan.

A crowd of family, friends, and prison cell mates of Fr. Daniel Berrigan inside the church of St Xavier in NYC for his wake. People exchanged stories of their memories of Fr Berrigan and times they were arrested with him. But, mostly they shared the beauty of his soul and his commitment to peace.

On a very rainy morning on Friday over a hundred supporters and friends of Fr. Daniel Berrigan gathered at 0730 at the Catholic Worker Mary House on East 3rd street to participate in a march in memory of a man honored by so many. The march would go to Washington Sq Park where Fr Berrigan would sit and watch people pass by calling them, “Beads on a Rosary”, then to Union Square park and onto St Xavier where the mass for Fr. Berrigan would begin at 10 am.

Friends holding up signs of what Fr. Berrigan stood for before heading out into the pouring rain on a march to St Xavier church.

People getting ready to leave the Mary House for the march to St Xavier in NYC holding signs and enlarged photos of Fr Berrigan burning draft papers for the Vietnam war in 1968 which made national headlines. Fr Berrigan traveled to North Vietnam with historian Howard Zinn to bring home 3 U.S. prisoners of war depicted in a documentary Holy Outlaw where they were in Vietnamese shelters while being bombed by U. S. jets. He told the story saying there were 3 children in the shelter, one older child was feeding rice to a younger child which inspired Daniel Berrigan to write a poem called Children in the Shelter. Imagine; three of them. As though survival were a rat’s word, and a rat’s death waited there at the end and I must have in the century’s boneyard heft of flesh and bone in my arms I picked up the littlest a boy, his face breaded with rice (his sister calmly feeding him as we climbed down) In my arms fathered in a moment’s grace, the messiah of all my tears. I bore, reborn a Hiroshima child from hell.

One of the banners being held up during the march in memory of Fr. Daniel Berrigan on the morning before his funeral mass at St Xavier church on Friday.

The Mary House of the Catholic Worker at 55 East 3rd Street.

Family and friends of Fr. Daniel Berrigan holding umbrellas and photos of the man they admired.

Peace activists holding signs expressing the ideals of the life lead by Fr Daniel Berrigan outside the Mary House of the Catholic worker.

The march gets underway

Performance artists and people of all faiths and ages came out on a very rainy Friday morning to pay tribute to a rare person, Fr Daniel Berrigan.

It takes action and walking the walk like Fr. Daniel Berrigan lived his life through non violent civil disobedience.

Simple

Coming along Houston Street towards Washington Square park in the pouring rain in honor of Fr. Daniel Berrigan.

Arriving at the church of St Xavier for the Funeral of a man who was not afraid to put action into his beliefs in peace and challenging illegitimate forces in positions of power.

A sad farewell for many of Fr. Daniel Berrigan’s friends and family but, also, grateful for having known such a powerful force against the war machine. In a message from Fr. Berrigan’s friend, actor Martin Sheen who said of Dan Berrigan that if people truly wanted to end the Vietnam war they would risk arrest because that’s what the Government was doing with men’s lives. Which replied a protestor, It’s fine for you to go to prison father, you don’t have any children but, what about us, we have children. What’s going to happen to our children if we go to prison?” To which Fr. Berrigan replied, “WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN TO THEM IF YOU DON’T?” A reply to which Martin Sheen felt profoundly affected.

The niece of Fr. Daniel Berrigan, Freda Berrigan, 2nd from right, and family walking behind the hurst carrying the body of her Uncle until the car pulled away. Fr Daniel Berrigan “Dying is the only thing Death is going to get from me”

Fr. Daniel Berrigan dies at 94, First Catholic Priest to be on the FBI’s Most Wanted list

Author: Cat April Watters

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