Philip Berrigan

Philip Berrigan (October 5, 1923 – December 6, 2002) was an internationally renowned American peace activist, Christian anarchist and former Roman Catholic priest. Along with his brother Daniel Berrigan, he was for a time on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list for actions against war. Philip Berrigan This work is copyrighted. ... Philip Berrigan This work is copyrighted. ... October 5 is the 278th day of the year (279th in Leap years). ... 1923 (MCMXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... December 6 is the 340th day (341st on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ... A peace activist is a political activist who strives for peace, and against war. ... Christian anarchism (also known as Christian libertarianism) is the belief that the only source of authority to which Christians are ultimately answerable is God, embodied in the teachings of Jesus. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Roman Catholic Church. ... Daniel Berrigan at College of the Holy Cross, September 28, 2005. ... The FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list arose from a conversation held in late 1949, during a game of Hearts between FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover and William Kinsey Hutchinson, International News Service (the predecessor of the United Press International) Editor-in-Chief, who were discussing ways to promote capture...

History

Philip Berrigan was born in Two Harbors, Minnesota, a Midwestern working class town, the younger brother of Daniel Berrigan. Their father, Tom Berrigan, was second-generation Irish-Catholic and proud union man. Two Harbors is a city located in Lake County, Minnesota. ... Daniel Berrigan at College of the Holy Cross, September 28, 2005. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ...

In 1943, after a single semester of college, Berrigan was drafted into combat duty in World War II. He served in the artillery during the Battle of the Bulge (1945) and later became a Second Lieutenant in the infantry. He was deeply affected by his exposure to the violence of war and the racism of boot camp in the deep South. Combatants Allies: Poland, British Commonwealth, France/Free France, Soviet Union, United States, China, and others Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, Japan, and others Casualties Military dead: 17 million Civilian dead: 33 million Total dead: 50 million Military dead: 8 million Civilian dead: 4 million Total dead: 12 million World War II... Historically, artillery refers to any engine used for the discharge of projectiles during war. ... Combatants United States United Kingdom Germany Commanders Dwight D. Eisenhower Gerd von Rundstedt Strength Dec 16 - start of the Battle: about 83,000 men; 242 Sherman tanks, 182 tank destroyers, and 394 pieces of corps and divisional artillery. ... Second Lieutenant is the lowest commissioned rank in many armed forces. ... Infantry of the Royal Irish Rifles during the Battle of the Somme in World War I. An infantry is a body of soldiers who fight primarily on foot with small arms in organized military units, though they may be transported to the battlefield by horses, ships, automobiles, skis, or other... Boot Camp, tentatively named, is a collection of technologies made available by Apple Computer that assists users in installing Microsoft Windows XP (Service Pack 2 only, both Home or Professional Edition) on Intel-based Macintosh computers. ... The U.S. Southern states or the South, also known colloquially as Dixie, constitute a distinctive region covering a large portion of the United States, with its own unique heritage, historical perspective, customs, musical styles, and cuisine. ...

Philip soon entered a Josephite seminary and became active in the Civil Rights movement. He marched for desegregation and participated in sit-ins and bus boycotts. He was ordained in 1955, but left the priesthood 18 years later, in 1973. He would marry late in life to Liz McAllister of Jonah House. The civil rights movement in the United States has been a long, primarily nonviolent struggle to bring full civil rights and equality under the law to all citizens of United States. ... Desegregation is the process of ending racial segregation, most commonly used in reference to the United States. ... A sit-in or sit-down is a form of direct action that involves one or more persons nonviolently occupying an area for protest, often political, social, or economic change. ... Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white man. ...

Protests against the War in Vietnam

Philip Berrigan, his brother Daniel Berrigan, and the famed theologian Thomas Merton founded an interfaith coalition against the Vietnam War, and wrote letters to major newspapers arguing for an end to the war. Daniel Berrigan at College of the Holy Cross, September 28, 2005. ... Theology is reasoned discourse concerning God (Greek θεος, theos, God, + λογος, logos, word or reason). It can also refer to the study of other religious topics. ... Thomas Merton (January 31, 1915 – December 10, 1968) was an American Trappist monk and author, born in Prades in the Pyrénées-Orientales département of France. ... Combatants Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) United States of America South Korea Thailand Australia New Zealand the Philippines Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) National Liberation Front (Viet Cong) Strength ~1,200,000 (1968) ~420,000 (1968) Casualties South Vietnamese dead: 230,000 South Vietnamese wounded: 300,000 US dead...

The Baltimore Four

Soon, Philip Berrigan began taking more radical steps to bring attention to the anti-war movement. On October 27, 1967, the "Baltimore Four" (Berrigan, artist Tom Lewis; and poet, teacher and writer David Eberhardt and United Church of Christ missionary and pastor The Reverend James L. Mengel) poured blood (including Berrigan's) on Selective Service records in the Baltimore Customs House. Mengel agreed to the action and donated blood, but decided not to actually pour blood; instead he distributed paperback "Good News for Modern Man" to draft board workers, newsmen, and police. As they waited for the police to arrive and arrest them, the group passed out Bibles and calmly explained to draft board employees the reasons for their actions. Berrigan stated, "This sacrificial and constructive act is meant to protest the pitiful waste of American and Vietnamese blood in Indochina". He became the first priest in America to be arrested for an act of civil disobedience. He was sentenced to six years in prison. Anti war protest in Melbourne, Australia, 2003 Anti_war is a name that is widely adopted by any social movement or person that seeks to end or oppose a future or current war. ... October 27 is the 300th day of the year (301st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 65 days remaining. ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... SSS redirects to here, you may also want the Social Security System The Selective Service System, in the United States, is a system to register all males over the age of 18 for the purpose of having information available about potential soldiers in case of war. ... Flag Seal Nickname: Monument City (by John Quincy Adams on a visit in 1827), Charm City, Mob Town, B-more Motto: The Greatest City in America (formerly The City That Reads; BELIEVE is not the official motto but rather a specific campaign) Location Location of Baltimore in Maryland Government Country... The Gutenberg Bible owned by the United States Library of Congress The Bible (Hebrew: תנ״ך tanakh, Greek: η Βίβλος hē biblos) (sometimes The Holy Bible, The Book, Work of God, The Word, The Good Book or Scripture), from Greek (τα) βίβλια, (ta) biblia, (the) books, is the name used by Jews and Christians for their... It has been suggested that Civil and social disobedience be merged into this article or section. ...

The Catonsville Nine

In 1969, after his release on bail, Berrigan decided to repeat the protest in a somewhat modified form. 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 burned 378 draft files. The Catonsville Nine, who were all Catholic, issued a statement: Secondary education - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Physics (from the Greek, φυσικός (physikos), natural, and φύσις (physis), nature) is the science of the natural world, which deals with the fundamental constituents of the universe, the forces they exert on one another, and the results of these forces. ... A teachers room in a Japanese middle school, 2005. ... A napalm airstrike in Vietnam. ... The Catonsville Nine were nine Roman Catholics who burned draft files to protest the Vietnam War. ... Catonsville is a census-designated place located in Baltimore County, Maryland. ...

"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 again arrested and was sentenced to three and a half years in prison. The name Catholic Church can mean a visible organization that refers to itself as Catholic, or the invisible Christian Church, viz. ... An African-American man drinks out of the colored only water cooler at a racially segregated street car terminal in the United States in 1939. ...

The Plowshares Movement

On September 9, 1980, Berrigan, his brother Daniel, 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, Pennsylvania 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. September 9 is the 252nd day of the year (253rd in leap years). ... 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... Daniel Berrigan at College of the Holy Cross, September 28, 2005. ... GE redirects here; for other uses, see GE (disambiguation). ... King of Prussia is an unincorporated community located in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. ... April 10 is the 100th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (101st in leap years). ... This article is about the year. ... Parole can have different meanings depending on the context. ...

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

Berrigan's final Plowshares action was in December of 1999, when he and others banged on A-10 Warthog warplanes in an anti-war protest at the Middle River Air National Guard base. He was convicted of malicious destruction of property and sentenced to 30 months. He was released December 14, 2001. Primary user United States Air Force Number built 715 Unit cost US$9. ... December 14 is the 348th day of the year (349th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ...

Howard Zinn, professor emeritus at Boston University, has said, "Mr. Berrigan was one of the great Americans of our time. He believed war didn't solve anything. He went to prison again and again and again for his beliefs. I admired him for the sacrifices he made. He was an inspiration to a large number of people." Howard Zinn Howard Zinn (born August 24, 1922) is an American historian and political scientist. ... For the unrelated Jesuit university in Chestnut Hill, see Boston College. ...

In one of his last public statements, Berrigan said,

The American people are, more and more, making their voices heard against Bush and his warrior clones. Bush and his minions slip out of control, determined to go to war, determined to go it alone, determined to endanger the Palestinians further, determined to control Iraqi oil, determined to ravage further a suffering people and their shattered society. The American people can stop Bush, can yank his feet closer to the fire, can banish the war makers from Washington D.C., can turn this society around and restore it to faith and sanity. George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States and a former governor of Texas. ... The term Palestinian has other usages, for which see definitions of Palestinian. ... Aerial photo (looking NW) of the Washington Monument and the White House in Washington, DC. Washington, D.C., officially the District of Columbia (also known as D.C.; Washington; the Nations Capital; the District; and, historically, the Federal City) is the capital city and administrative district of the United...

Death

Philip Berrigan died of cancer at the age of 79.

Further reading

Berrigan was the author of several books, including No More Strangers, Punishment for Peace (ISBN 0345224302), Prison Journals of a Priest Revolutionary (ISBN 0030845130), and Widen the Prison Gates (ISBN 0671216384). In 1996, he wrote his autobiography, Fighting the Lamb's War (ISBN 1567511015), and with his wife wrote The Times' Discipline. 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ...

Murray Polner and Jim O'Grady, "Disarmed and Dangerous: The Radical Lives & Times of Daniel & Philip Berrigan (Basic Books, 1997; Westvew Press, 1998) He also contributed to Disciples and Dissidents, published in 2000 by Haley's. Fred Wilcox edited the book.

See: Ploughshares Movement Chronology

See also

• Christian anarchism

Christian anarchism (also known as Christian libertarianism) is the belief that the only source of authority to which Christians are ultimately answerable is God, embodied in the teachings of Jesus. ...

External links

• Archive of Philip Berrigan on Democracy Now!
• Jonah House Website