CREEDE HINSHAW: Father Berrigan was a courageous man

He was protesting Wall Street’s excesses and the war in Iraq when he was over 80 years old, unswervingly faithful to his understanding of the gospel throughout his life.

Daniel Berrigan, 94, died April 30.

If you remember the ’60s you remember Father Berrigan, a Jesuit priest for 70 years. You may associate his name, and that of his brother and fellow priest, Philip, with controversy.

Like all true prophets Berrigan was annoying and inspiring, controversial and single-minded in his obedience to the truth of God.

His obituary in The Economist (May 21) is titled “Blessed Are the Peacemakers,” a reference to Jesus’ words and Berrigan’s lifelong protest against war and violence. What you probably remember about him is his 1968 act of prophetic lawlessness when he and a group of fellow peacemakers broke into a Maryland U.S. government Selective Service office, dragged the draft files into the parking lot and torched them with homemade napalm. Napalm was the fiery liquid our military dropped from helicopters to burn the Vietnamese jungle, often killing and maiming innocent Vietnamese civilians and destroying villages in the process.

Father Berrigan was arrested, tried, convicted and sentenced to prison for three years. But unlike the civil rights activists who willingly went to jail Berrigan concluded, according to the Economist, that it was “morally inconsistent to bow to an illegitimate system.” He fled, becoming the first priest ever on the FBI’s most wanted list.

I was in college in 1968, faithfully carrying my draft card in my wallet. It never occurred to me to burn my card, though many did. Later, I would be drafted and spend two years at Fort Benning during the Vietnam War. Though my path was very different from that chosen by Daniel Berrigan, I never resented him. The Vietnam War was highly unpopular.

Prison time never changed Berrigan’s devotion to the gospel of peacemaking. He broke into an armaments plant in 1980 with friends to take hammers to the outer shells of nuclear missiles.

By then, I was a young Methodist preacher fresh out of seminary trying to figure out how to minister to faithful, devoted Methodists in three small congregations who loved the Lord and their country but who didn’t want to be reminded about racial justice and pretty much loathed Berrigan’s brand of faithfulness.

I found myself fascinated with this courageous man, even though I knew I did not have that kind of call in my bones. Breaking and entering is usually not a desirable trait on a preacher’s resume.

Luke Hansen described Berrigan in America (May 16, p 8-9) as one of the most influential Jesuits of the last century: a priest, poet, retreat master, teacher and peace activist who wrote 50 books. The Economist noted that Berrigan strove “to do the right thing as he saw it and Christ taught it, no matter how disruptive and no matter what the cost.” He said that if you were serious about Jesus you’d better start considering whether you’d look good on wood.

Email Creede Hinshaw, a retired Methodist minsuter, at [email protected].