The Catonsville Nine were nine Roman Catholics who burned draft files to protest the Vietnam War. The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... The Vietnam War or Second Indochina War was a conflict between the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRVN, or North Vietnam), allied with the National Liberation Front (NLF, or Viet Cong) against the Republic of Vietnam (RVN, or South Vietnam), and their allies—notably the United States military in support of...

On May 17, 1968 they went to the draft board in Catonsville, Maryland, took 378 draft files, brought them to the parking lot in wire baskets, dumped them out, poured homemade napalm over them, and set them on fire. Catonsville is a census-designated place located in Baltimore County, Maryland. ... A napalm airstrike during the Vietnam War Napalm is a flammable, gasoline-based weapon invented in 1942. ...

They were: Rev. Daniel Berrigan, a Jesuit priest; his brother Rev. Philip Berrigan, a Josephite priest; Bro. David Darst; John Hogan; Tom Lewis, an artist; Marjorie Bradford Melville; her husband, Thomas Melville, a former Maryknoll priest; George Mische; and Mary Moylan, a former nun. Daniel Berrigan (born May 9, 1921) is an internationally renowned peace activist and Roman Catholic priest. ... The Society of Jesus (Latin: Societas Iesu), commonly known as the Jesuits, is a Roman Catholic religious order. ... Philip Berrigan Philip Berrigan (October 5, 1923 - December 6, 2002) was an internationally renowned peace activist, Christian anarchist and Roman Catholic priest. ... The Josephite Fathers and Brothers or more properly, the Society of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart (abbreviated post-nominally as ) is an American Society of priests and brothers, founded in 1892, when priests who had been members of the English Foreign Mission Society of Saint Joseph (also known as... Maryknoll [1] or, the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America, is an American Catholic religious order which has, throughout its nearly hundred-year history, had a heavy emphasis on ministry and missionary work overseas, particularly East Asia, in China, Japan, Korea, as well as Latin America, Africa, and other places. ...

Philip Berrigan and Tom Lewis had previously poured blood on draft records as part of the "Baltimore Four", and were out on bail when they burned the records at Catonsville.

The Catonsville Nine were tried in federal court October 5-9, 1968. The lead defense attorney was William Kunstler. William Moses Kunstler (July 7, 1919 - September 4, 1995) was a U.S. lawyer and civil rights activist. ...

They were found guilty of destruction of U.S. property, destruction of Selective Service files, and interference with the Selective Service Act of 1967.

Daniel Berrigan wrote a play in free verse, The Trial of the Catonsville Nine, about the trial. The version performed is usually an adaptation into regular dialogue.

Daniel Berrigan wrote, of the Catonsville incident: "Our apologies, good friends, for the fracture of good order, the burning of paper instead of children. . . ."

References

• Berrigan, Daniel (1970). The Trial of the Catonsville Nine. Boston: Beacon Press. ISBN 0-8070-0549-5.

• Fire and Faith: The Catonsville Nine File

• Lynd, Straughton; & Lynd, Alice (Eds.) (1995). Nonviolence in America: A Documentary History. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books.