On the Life and Witness of Father Daniel Berrigan
Aloha & Mahalo Dan. You are a great inspiration. Your spirit will be with us always.
Jim Albertini
Links to news articles, videos, etc. on the life and witness of Father Daniel Berrigan 2021- 2016
http://wagingnonviolence.org/feature/how-the-catonsville-nine-survived-on-film/
I highly recommend watching the full Democracy Now program of about 1hr. You can watch it in parts. It’s excellent.
Daniel Berrigan, Presente! Dan wrote this poem for the Plowshares Eight (click on link below for Dan’s reflections on the first Plowshares action in 1980). Nuclear Resister co-coordinator Felice Cohen-Joppa read the poem at the Pacific Life Community gathering in March 2016, when the group sat down together to discuss and plan a nonviolent action at Vandenberg Air Force Base the following day. Dan’s words will always be with us, reminding us why we must continue to work for a peaceful and nuclear-free future. (Photo of the Plowshares 8 – Dan is second on the right in the back row) http://www.nukeresister.org/…/swords-into-plowshares-fr-da…/
http://youtu.be/cLdRvkMnULk
A good one minute News clip on Dan from NBC
From a variety of sources on the death of Daniel Berrigan: We are bereft. We are so sad. We are aching and wrung out. Our bodies are tired as Dan’s was—after a hip fracture, repeated infections, prolonged frailty. And we are so grateful: for the excellent and conscientious care Dan received at Murray Weigel, for his long life and considerable gifts, for his grace in each of our lives, for his courage and witness and prodigious vocabulary. Dan taught us that every person is a miracle, every person has a story, every person is worthy of respect. -more-Some
(to the Plowshares 8, with love)
by Daniel BerriganSome stood up once, and sat down.
Some walked a mile, and walked away.Some stood up twice, then sat down.
“It’s too much,” they cried.
Some walked two miles, then walked away.
“I’ve had it,” they cried,Some stood and stood and stood.
They were taken for fools,
they were taken for being taken in.Some walked and walked and walked –
they walked the earth,
they walked the waters,
they walked the air.“Why do you stand?” they were asked, and
“Why do you walk?”“Because of the children,” they said, and
“Because of the heart, and
“Because of the bread,”“Because the cause is
the heart’s beat, and
the children born, and
the risen bread.”An album of Dan-related photos:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jimforest/albums/72157631924014477/with/8153349484/
.how fitting that Dan passes on the anniversary (April 30) of the end of the Viet Nam war that Dan fought so long and so powerfully against…Daniel Berrigan has passed away, friends. He was a giant of nonviolence, and we all stand on his shoulders. Rest in peace and power, Daniel Berrigan!
The great Daniel Berrigan, SJ, the Jesuit priest, activist, poet and peacemaker, died today at the Jesuit infirmary at Fordham University in the Bronx. Dan was one of the great Catholics of our time, a champion of social justice and a tireless promoter of peace. His influence on the peace movement, particularly during the Vietnam era, cannot be overstated; but his aim was not simply peace in Indochina, but peace everywhere. A friend of everyone from Thomas Merton to Dorothy Day to Martin Sheen, and an inspiration to generations of peacemakers, Dan was also willing to be jailed for his beliefs, which were often unpopular in church circles, and sometimes even among his brother Jesuits. (Though Pedro Arrupe, SJ, then superior general of the Society of Jesus, made a point to visit Dan when he was imprisoned in Danbury Prison in the 1970s.) I greatly admired his particular brand of spiritual courage.
Here is an interview with Dan from 2009, in which he looks back on his long life with gratitude: http://americamagazine.org/…/702/art…/looking-back-gratitude
An overview of his life from the “Jesuits East” magazine: http://www.jesuitseast.org/story-section…
And his “Ten Commandments”: http://americamagazine.org/…/daniel-berrigans-ten-commandme…
Dan was also an immense support to me as a brother Jesuit. I relied on his advice regarding the careful balance between the demands of justice and fidelity, particularly when it came to speaking out on controversial topics. At one point, many years ago, when I was thinking about speaking out on a controversial issue without asking formal permission from my superiors (that is, presuming permission rather than requesting it), he wrote to me and said, “Remember you’re in this for the long haul.” Dan took his commitment to his Jesuit vows as seriously as he did his commitment to peace and justice.
“Blessed are the peacemakers,” said Jesus. So blessed was Dan, and blessed were we to have lived with him.
May he rest in the peace.
Wonderful article in the May 2, 2016 New Yorker magazine by James Carroll in tribute to Dan Berrigan
http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/daniel-berrigan-my-dangerous-friend
May 3, 2016 Democracy Now http://www.democracynow.org/2016/5/3/jeremy_scahill_remembers_his_longtime_friend?utm_source=Democracy+Now!&utm_campaign=d86998cc21-Daily_Digest&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_fa2346a853-d86998cc21-191310153
THE GENERAL WHO WOULD HAVE MADE DANIEL BERRIGAN A MARTYR – Vic Hummert
Jesuit Father Daniel Berrigan (1921-2016) died a few days before his 95th birthday. Daniel Berrigan and his brother Philip(1923-2002) ,a Josephite priest and Dorothy Day were the most prominent peacemakers of the 20th century.
When Daniel was asked how much time he spent in prison for his courageous efforts on behalf of peace he responded,” I cannot recall how often I have been in jail, but it was not enough.” Biographies certain to follow will tally how frequently the prominent Jesuit was incarcerated. Philip Berrigan spent 11 years in prison.
The pastor of St. Francis Catholic church in Abilene, Texas invited a priest from the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America(legal title for Maryknoll) to speak at all masses one Mission Sunday in October 1990. Maryknoll is based in Ossining, NY, a thousand miles away. I was living I Dallas, a short Southwest flight to Abilene. The ticket was sent to me. I would be met at the Abilene airport by a nun .
Upon arrival I was met instead by a middle aged man who introduced himself as a general from Dyess AFB, eleven miles from Abilene. After introducing himself the general explained he flew B -1 bombers based at Dyess. He apologized for the nun who did not appear. “Sister had some matters to look after at the parish and sent me to pick you up.”
When he explained his role as a pilot for the B-1, recalling some rocky occurrences, I calmly said, “Heard that plane has a few technical problems.” The general quickly took umbrage with my remark and snapped, “It is a great plane.”
After finishing the Saturday PM mass, the general appeared in St. Francis church with a tall Texas who was introduced as “Bill, the owner of a private plane and Abilene radio station.” They told me to throw away my low fare Southwest plane ticket. They would fly me back to Dallas after the masses on Sunday in Bill’s private plane. Both wives standing nearby said they would not be on the flight to Dallas.
Within minutes after leaving Abilene, the Dallas skyline was in view. The Love Field tower instruction was “Take Runway A-14.” The general expressed with bravado: “I will take her in!” We hit the Love Field runway going well over 100mph, causing the small plane to bounce like a kangaroo forcing Bill, the owner to grab control of his endangered plane and save us all. Bill chastised the general: “This is not a *** B-1 bomber, you must come in gently!”
The tower voice came with levity: “All right guys, try that again.” Bill at the controls, we landed smoothly.
The general walked me to the hangar and admitted his embarrassment over the botched landing attempt. “Glad we survived,” I mumbled. The humiliated officer wanted to switch attention from his near fatal crash for the three of us.” Ever hear of Fr. Berrigan?” I replied he was one of my heroes. The general did not hide any feelings. “If I was the officer in charge of Hancock AFB near Syracuse when Berrigan led a protest there, I would have shot him on the spot!” Once inside the hangar I rudely replied:
Good Catholic boy like you would have killed a priest because someone was acting for peace?”
When Father Daniel Berrigan went underground in ‘The Holy Outlaw’
http://wagingnonviolence.org/2016/05/when-father-daniel-berrigan-went-underground-as-the-holy-outlaw/
Wonderful impromptu talk by Jeremy Scahill on his friendship with, and the influence of, Dan Berrigan
http://www.democracynow.org/2016/5/3/jeremy_scahill_remembers_his_longtime_friend
Three minute good video tribute to Dan Berrigan by Chris Hayes on MSNBC
.@chrislhayes offers a tribute to Rev. Daniel Berrigan #inners https://t.co/MuI1euMITJ
— All In w/Chris Hayes (@allinwithchris) May 3, 2016
Dan Berrigan: “How can people who are supposedly so wise, respond to realities in such a base or baseless manner?”
By Kevin Anthony Stoda
Have you ever tried to debate with or simply lobby the powers that be? What was the response? Learn what always dumbfounded Daniel Berrigan–and me.
Read More >>Dan Berrigan: “How can people who are supposedly so wise, respond to realities in such a base or baseless manner?”
By Kevin Anthony Stoda
Have you ever tried to debate with or simply lobby the powers that be? What was the response? Learn what always dumbfounded Daniel Berrigan–and me.
Read More >>
Dan Berrigan: “How can people who are supposedly so wise, respond to realities in such a base or baseless manner?”
By Kevin Anthony Stoda
Have you ever tried to debate with or simply lobby the powers that be? What was the response? Learn what always dumbfounded Daniel Berrigan–and me.
Read More >>
Bearing the Cross by Chris Hedges on the life of Dan Berrigan
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