Phillip Berrigan was born on October 5, 1923, and lived until he was 79 years old. He died December 6, 2002 due to cancer, but his work managed to live on for more than his life. He was a Roman Catholic priest who advocated for peace and non-violence. Although he managed to serve as a troop in World War II, he later on realized that violence is not the answer. In fact, violence didn’t serve any role in progress. He though that violence was the only reason we fought wars, and the people who were dying in the wars were dying because of greed. More importantly, the greedy people of the war were the ones who weren’t seeing battle. They were sitting in the barracks giving our orders. Phillip Berrigan became a priest in 1955, and showed major remorse for everyone that served, but his end goal was to stop the violence of wars. He went on to become a major civil rights activist and to came to be one of the 20th century’s most militant pacifists. Pacifist are defined as people who believe that war and violence are completely unjustifiable, and Berrigan is one of the biggest names within that category. I think what inspired Berrigan to become such an active member in non-violence was his time being served in the military. For one, he saw many of his own people die at war, and could never forget those horrific images of battle. Not only did many people around him die at war, but he also saw the enemy die. The enemy were fighting for their country, just like he was, and even if they didn’t want to shoot each other, those were their orders. Many people who served in the wars, on all sides were extremely young.
Some troops were as young as 15-16 years old, and the only reason they were fighting was because their families forced it upon them, or they were drafted for numbers. Not everyone wanted to kill, and Berrigan soon realized the horrendous effects of war. Not only was Berrigan a priest, but he was also a leader in the anti-Vietnam war movements. He advocated for peaceful confrontations, rather than violent ones. Although Berrigan was doing right in his own eyes, he would take extreme measures to commit anti-war acts. “By the fall of 1967 Father Berrigan and three friends were ready to try a new tactic. On Oct. 17, they walked into the Baltimore Customs House, distracted the draft board clerks and methodically spattered Selective Service records with a red liquid made partly from their own blood.” (The New York Times). Almost 30 years later, he was sentenced to six years in jail for his efforts, and after his release, he was in and out of jail for the same reasons. He tried heavily to interfere with government operations and ultimately defacing military hardware. His acts were not harmful in a violent way at all, and the only real reason he was being tried was because he was trying to expose government for the unfair exploitation of blacks, and how little they got in return for their efforts in the war. “We confront the Catholic Church, and other Christian bodies, and the synagogues of America with their silence and cowardice in the face of our country’s crimes.” (Phillip Berrigan)
Works Cited
Lewis, D. (2002) Phillip Berrigan, Former Priest and Peace Advocate in the Vietnam War Era Dies at 79. The New York Times. (The New York Times Publishing Company.)