Phil Berrigan is overleden
Susan van der Hijden - 07.12.2002 16:30
Donderdag 6 december is Phil Berrigan overleden. Berrigan was een van de oprichters van de ploegschaar beweging. Hier volgt het bericht over zijn overlijden verstuurd door zijn gemeenschap, Jonah house, in Baltimore, USA
Hello Everyone,
Phil died tonight at Jonah House. The family is grieving, but also
thankful
that his last painful days are over and he can now rejoice. There are
many
who have helped and supported the family with prayers and food and kind
words; all of your support is greatly appreciated. All the letters and
calls Phil got in his final days showed the strength and compassion of
this,
the beloved community. Please keep checking your email for a following
message about housing possibilities in Baltimore if you choose to come
for
the wake and/or the funeral mass. Folks from Viva House Catholic
Worker
(410-233-0488) here in Baltimore have volunteered to coordinate
housing;
Jonah House is filled to the brim with family, so please contact Viva
House
if you need to find a place to stay. See below for specific
information
about the funeral arrangements (see the last paragraph for pertinent
information). This is the press release the family sent out, as well
as a
chronology of Phil's life and works, and a statement he and Liz write
shortly before his death.
Thanks to you all, and peace be with you.
Love,
Becky
Philip Berrigan, Anti-War Activist, Dies at Home in Baltimore, MD
Baltimore, MD - Phil Berrigan died December 6, 2002 at about 9:30 PM,
at
Jonah House, a community he co-founded in 1973, surrounded by family
and
friends. He died two months after being diagnosed with liver and
kidney
cancer, and one month after deciding to discontinue chemotherapy.
Approximately thirty close friends and fellow peace activists gathered
for
the ceremony of last rites on November 30, to celebrate his life and
anoint
him for the next part of his journey. Berrigan's brother and co-felon,
Jesuit priest Daniel Berrigan officiated.
During his nearly 40 years of resistance to war and violence, Berrigan
focused on living and working in community as a way to model the
nonviolent,
sustainable world he was working to create. Jonah House members live
simply, pray together, share duties, and attempt to expose the violence
of
militarism and consumerism. The community was born out of resistance to
the
Vietnam War, including high-profile draft card burning actions; later
the
focus became ongoing resistance to U.S. nuclear policy, including
Plowshares
actions that aim to enact Isaiah's biblical prophecy of a disarmed
world.
Because of these efforts Berrigan spent about 11 years in prison. He
wrote,
lectured, and taught extensively, publishing six books, including an
autobiography, Fighting the Lamb's War.
In his last weeks, Berrigan was surrounded by his family, including his
wife
Elizabeth McAlister, with whom he founded Jonah House; his children
Frida,
28, Jerry, 27, and Kate, 21; community members Susan Crane, Gary
Ashbeck,
and David Arthur; and extended family and community. Community members
Ardeth Platte and Carol Gilbert, Dominican sisters, were unable to be
physically present at Jonah House; they are currently in jail in
Colorado
awaiting trial for a disarmament action at a missile silo, the 79th
international Plowshares action. One of Berrigan's last actions was to
bless the upcoming marriage of Frida to Ian Marvy.
Berrigan wrote a final statement in the days before his death. His
final
comments included this: "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."
The wake and funeral will be held at St. Peter Claver Church in West
Baltimore, (1546 North Fremont Avenue, Baltimore MD 21217); calling
hours:
4-8 PM Sunday December 8 with a circle of sharing about Phil's life at
6 PM;
funeral: Monday, December 9, 12 PM. All are invited to process with the
coffin from the intersection of Bentalou and Laurens streets to St.
Peter
Claver Church at 10 AM (please drop off marchers and park at the
church). A
public reception at the St. Peter Claver hall will follow the funeral
mass;
internment is private. In place of flowers and gifts for the offertory,
attendees may bring pictures or other keepsakes. Mourners may make
donations
in Berrigan's name to Citizens for Peace in Space, Global Network
Against
Nuclear Weapons, Nukewatch, Voices in the Wilderness, the Nuclear
Resister,
or any Catholic Worker house.
Philip Berrigan, 1923-2002
Born: October 5, 1923, Minnesota Iron Range, near Bemidji to Frieda
Fromhart
and Thomas Berrigan
1943-1945: Served in WWII, artillery officer, Europe.
1949: Graduated from Holy Cross College.
1955: Ordained a Catholic Priest in the Josephite Order, specializing
in
inner city ministry.
1956-1963: Taught at St. Augustine's high school, New Orleans, a
segregated
all black school.
1962 (or 3?): First priest to ride in a Civil Rights movement Freedom
Ride.
1963-1965: Taught at a Josephite seminary, Newburgh, NY.
1966: Published first book, No More Strangers.
1966: Served at St. Peter Claver parish, Baltimore, MD.
October 27, 1967: Poured blood on draft files in Baltimore with 3
others.
Known as the "Baltimore Four."
May 17, 1968: Burned draft files in Catonsville, MD with 8 others,
including
his brother, Fr. Daniel Berrigan. Action known as the "Catonsville
Nine."
Convicted of destruction of US property, destruction of Selective
Service
records, and interference with the Selective Service Act of 1967.
Sentenced
to prison.
1970: Married Elizabeth McAlister, an activist nun, Religious of the
Sacred
Heart of Mary.
1970: Became a fugitive when appeals failed. Captured and returned to
prison.
1971: Named co-conspirator by J. Edgar Hoover and Harrisburg grand jury
while in prison. Charged with plotting to kidnap Henry Kissinger and
blow
up the utility tunnels of US Capitol buildings. Convicted only of
violating
prison rules for smuggling out letters.
1973: Co-founded Jonah House community of war resisters in Baltimore,
MD.
April 1, 1974: Birth of Frida Berrigan at Jonah House.
April 17, 1975: Birth of Jerry Berrigan at Jonah House.
1975: End of Vietnam War and beginning of focus on weapons of mass
destruction and changing U.S. nuclear policy. Actions included pouring
of
blood and digging of graves at the White House and Pentagon resulted in
several jail terms ranging up to six months.
1975: Atlantic Life Community conceptualized as East Coast counterpart
to
Pacific Life Community.
1976: First of summer community building sessions; led to triannual
Faith &
Resistance Retreats in DC.
September 9, 1980: Poured blood and hammered with 7 others on Mark 12A
warheads at a GE nuclear missile plant, King of Prussia, PA. Charged
with
conspiracy, burglary, and criminal mischief; convicted and imprisoned.
Action known as the "Plowshares Eight;" began the international
Plowshares
movement.
1980-1999: Participated in 5 more Plowshares actions, resulting in ~7
years
of imprisonment.
November 5, 1981: Birth of Kate Berrigan at Jonah House.
1989: Published The Times' Discipline, on the Jonah House experience,
with
Liz McAlister.
1996: Published autobiography, Fighting the Lamb's War.
December 14, 2001: Released from Elkton, OH prison after nearly a year
of
imprisonment for his final Plowshares action.
July 12, 2002: Underwent hip replacement surgery at Good Samaritan
Hospital,
Baltimore, MD.
October 8, 2002: Diagnosed with adenocarcinoma, cancer in the liver and
kidney.
December 6, 2002: Died at home in Baltimore, surrounded by family and
community.
PHIL'S STATEMENT 12/05/02 (via Liz McAlister)
Philip began dictating this statement the weekend before Thanksgiving.
It
was all clear - he had it written in his head. Word for word I wrote...
WHEN I LAY DYING...of cancer
Philip Berrigan
I die in a community including my family, my beloved wife Elizabeth,
three
great Dominican nuns - Ardeth Platte, Carol Gilbert, and Jackie Hudson
(emeritus) jailed in Western Colorado - Susan Crane, friends local,
national
and even international. They have always been a life-line to me. 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. We
have already exploded such weapons in Japan in 1945 and the equivalent
of
them in Iraq in 1991, in Yugoslavia in 1999, and in Afghanistan in
2001. We
left a legacy for other people of deadly radioactive isotopes - a prime
counterinsurgency measure. For example, the people of Iraq, Yugoslavia,
Afghanistan and Pakistan will be battling cancer, mostly from depleted
uranium, for decades. In addition, our nuclear adventurism over 57
years has
saturated the planet with nuclear garbage from testing, from explosions
in
high altitudes (four of these), from 103 nuclear power plants, from
nuclear
weapons factories that can't be cleaned up - and so on. Because of
myopic
leadership, of greed for possessions, a public chained to corporate
media,
there has been virtually no response to these realities...
At this point in dictation, Phil's lungs filled; he began to cough
uncontrollably; he was tired. We had to stop - with promises to finish
later. But later never came - another moment in an illness that
depleted
Phil so rapidly it was all we could do to keep pace with it... And then
he
couldn't talk at all. And then - gradually - he left us.
What did Phil intend to say? What is the message of his life? What
message
was he leaving us in his dying? Is it different for each of us, now
that we
are left to imagine how he would frame it?
During one of our prayers in Phil's room, Brendan Walsh remembered a
banner
Phil had asked Willa Bickham to make years ago for St. Peter Claver. It
read: "The sting of death is all around us. O Christ, where is your
victory?"
The sting of death is all around us. The death Phil was asking us to
attend
to is not his death (though the sting of that is on us and will not be
denied). The sting Phil would have us know is the sting of
institutionalized
death and killing. He never wearied of articulating it. He never ceased
being astonished by the length and breadth and depth of it. And he
never
accepted it.
O Christ, where is your victory? It was back in the mid 1960's that
Phil was
asking that question of God and her Christ. He kept asking it. And,
over the
years, he learned
· that it is right and good to question our God, to plead for justice
for
all that inhabit the earth
· that it is urgent to feel this; injustice done to any is injustice
done to
all
· that we must never weary of exposing and resisting such injustice
· that what victories we see are smaller than the mustard seeds Jesus
praised, and they need such tender nurture
· that it is vital to celebrate each victory - especially the victory
of
sisterhood and brotherhood embodied in loving, nonviolent community.
Over the months of Phil's illness we have been blessed a hundred-fold
by
small and large victories over an anti-human, anti-life, anti-love
culture,
by friendships - in and out of prison - and by the love that has
permeated
Phil's life. Living these years and months with Phil free us to revert
to
the original liturgical question: "O death, where is your sting?"
 E-Mail: ploegscharen@yahoo.com
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