Philip Berrigan (1923 - 2002)

Fri Oct 05, 1923

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Philip Berrigan, born on this day in 1923, was a radical Christian peace activist who was ex-communicated by the Catholic Church and frequently arrested for his acts of civil disobedience during the Vietnam War.

Berrigan engaged in nonviolent civil disobedience for the cause of peace and nuclear disarmament, and was frequently arrested or on the run from police. He married a former nun who was also an activist, Elizabeth McAlister, in 1972. Both were both excommunicated by the Catholic church, and eleven years of their twenty-nine year marriage were separated by one or both serving time in prison.

Berrigan frequently engaged in civil disobedience to protest the Vietnam War. On May 17th, while out on bail from a similar act six months prior, Berrigan and eight other radical Christians walked into the offices of the local draft board in Catonsville, Maryland, removed 600 draft records, doused them in napalm, and burnt them in a lot outside of the building.

The group issued a statement, saying “We confront the Roman 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.” All nine were sentenced to three years in prison.

“The poor tell us who we are, the prophets tell us who we could be, so we hide the poor and kill the prophets.”

- Philip Berrigan