Berrigan, Daniel and Philip, were American Roman Catholic priests who became known for their social and political activism. Daniel (1921-2016) and Philip (1923-2002) dedicated much of their lives to the causes of social justice and pacifism , especially opposition to the Vietnam War (1957-1975) and nuclear arms . Pacifism is an opposition to war or violence. The brothers’ acts of protest and civil disobedience resulted in numerous arrests and years spent in prison. They also sparked a wave of protests by others.
The Berrigans may be most famous as members of the “Catonsville Nine.” On May 17, 1968, Daniel, Philip, and seven other Vietnam War protesters took hundreds of draft records from a local draft board office in Catonsville, Maryland, and burned them publicly. The Berrigans were convicted of conspiracy and destroying government property and sentenced to prison. They went into hiding before they were due to report to prison. However, they eventually were caught and served part of their sentences before being released. Throughout their lives, the Berrigans carried out many similar attacks on government property and defense-related sites. For example, in 1980, they raided a General Electric plant in King of Prussia, a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where they used hammers to damage missile warheads. The brothers also founded a number of pacifist groups, including the Catholic Peace Fellowship.
Daniel Joseph Berrigan was born on May 9, 1921, in Virginia, Minnesota. Philip Francis Berrigan was born on Oct. 5, 1923, in Two Harbors, Minnesota. Their father, a political radical and labor organizer, may have influenced his sons to become activists. The boys grew up on a farm in Syracuse, New York.
Daniel attended St. Andrew-on-Hudson, a Jesuit seminary in Hyde Park, New York, where he received a bachelor’s degree in 1946. In 1952, he received a master’s degree from Woodstock College in Baltimore, Maryland. That same year, he was ordained as a priest. In 1953, he traveled to France, where he was influenced by the Worker Priest movement, in which priests took jobs as laborers to better understand the working class. Later travels to Europe, Latin America, South Africa, and Vietnam further shaped Daniel’s social and political views.
Beginning in the 1940’s, Daniel pursued a career of teaching and writing. He taught at Catholic preparatory schools in New Jersey and New York. He also held positions at a number of colleges and universities, including Le Moyne College in Syracuse, New York; Loyola University New Orleans in Louisiana; Columbia and Fordham universities in New York City, New York; Cornell University in Ithaca, New York; and Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Daniel wrote more than 50 books, including works of poetry, social and religious criticism, and Biblical commentary. For many years, he traveled throughout the United States speaking on social and political issues. In the 1980’s, he worked as a hospital chaplain in New York City, ministering to cancer and AIDS patients. In 1997, he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize . Daniel died on April 30, 2016, in New York City.
Philip was drafted into the United States Army in 1943 and served in Europe during World War II (1939-1945). During his military service, he was strongly influenced by the discrimination he witnessed against African Americans . Philip received a bachelor’s degree in literature from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1950. He received a second bachelor’s degree, in secondary education, from Loyola University New Orleans in 1957, and a master’s degree in education from Xavier University of Louisiana in 1960. In 1955, he was ordained as a member of the Josephite Fathers, an order dedicated to helping African Americans. Philip then served as a priest and teacher in New Orleans; Newburgh, New York; and Baltimore, often working with poor African Americans.
In 1969, Philip and Elizabeth McAlister, a nun in the antiwar movement, secretly declared themselves married. The couple legalized their marriage in 1973 and were excommunicated from the Catholic Church. Individuals who are excommunicated from the Catholic Church are forbidden from participating in any of the religion’s ceremonies. They settled in Baltimore, where they established Jonah House, a communal home for pacifists. In 1980, Philip helped establish the anti-nuclear Plowshares movement. Philip also wrote a number of books about pacifism and social justice. He died on Dec. 6, 2002, in Baltimore.
