Philip Berrigan in 1967
Photo by A. Aubrey Bodine
Philip Berrigan, peace activist and former Roman Catholic priest, was born 99 years ago today.
Berrigan graduated from high school in Syracuse, New York, and was then employed cleaning trains for the New York Central Railroad. He played with a semi-professional baseball team.
In 1943, after a semester of schooling at St. Michael's College, Toronto, 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 Southern United States.
Berrigan graduated with an English degree from the College of the Holy Cross, a Jesuit university in Worcester, Massachusetts. In 1950, he joined the Society of St. Joseph, better known as the Josephite Fathers, a religious society of priests and lay brothers dedicated to serving those of African descent, who were still dealing with the repercussions of slavery and daily segregation in the United States.
After studying at the theological school of the Society, St. Joseph's Seminary in Washington, D.C., he was ordained a priest in 1955. He went on to gain a degree in Secondary Education at Loyola University of the South (1957) and then a Master of Arts degree at Xavier University in 1960, during which time he began to teach.
In addition to his academic responsibilities, Berrigan became active in the Civil Rights movement. He marched for desegregation and participated in sit-ins and bus boycotts.
Berrigan was first imprisoned in 1962 and 1963. During his many prison sentences, he would often hold bible study class and offer legal educational support to other inmates.
As a priest, his activism and arrests met with deep disapproval from the leadership of the Catholic Church. Berrigan was moved to Epiphany Apostolic College, the Josephite seminary college in Newburgh, New York, but he continued his protests.
Berrigan attracted the notice of federal authorities when he and six other anti-war activists were caught trading letters alluding to kidnapping Henry Kissinger and bombing steam tunnels. They were charged with 23 counts of conspiracy, including plans for kidnap and blowing up heating tunnels in Washington.
Although the government spent $2 million on the Harrisburg Seven trial in 1972, they did not win a conviction. This was one of the first reversals suffered by the U.S. government in such cases. Another was The Camden 28 in 1973.
After a life of protest, Berrigan died of liver and kidney cancer at the age of 79 on Dec. 6, 2002.
In a last statement, he said I die with the conviction, held since 1968 and Catonsville, that nuclear weapons are the scourge of the earth. “To mine for them, manufacture them, deploy them, use them, is a curse against God, the human family and the earth itself,” he wrote.
Howard Zinn, professor emeritus at Boston University, paid this tribute to Berrigan saying "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."