In the history of the struggle for peace and justice in Baltimore, Philip Berrigan and the “Catonsville Nine” stand out. Thirty-five years ago, Berrigan and eight others set fire to draft files in Catonsville. Later known as the Catonsville Nine, they were arrested and convicted for this act of civil disobedience against the Vietnam War. Phil Berrigan’s long and active history of expressing his deep religious convictions had begun a year earlier in 1967 when as one of the “Baltimore Four” he committed a similar act of non-violent resistance for peace. His death in December 6, 2002, brought hundreds of mourners to a vigil and final peace march to his resting place at St. Peter Claver Church in Baltimore.



PANELISTS PRAISE BERRIGAN

On Sunday, May 18, a panel discussion at Huebeck Hall on Goucher College’s campus, discussed Phil Berrigan’s legacy, the Catonsville action and the “future of non-violent resistance.” The event was part of a weekend of commemorative activities that included a prayer service to celebrate Father Phil Berrigan’s life and a protest against war and militarism at Andrews Air Force Base on Saturday, May 17.

The panel of presenters at Goucher included Claire Shaefer-Duffy, a Francis and Therese Catholic Worker; Art Laffin, a Dorothy Day Catholic Worker (DC), and; Tom Lewis, one of the Catonsville 9.

Shaefer-Duffy, referring to Berrigan’s philosophy said, “I think Phil, like a few others before him realized that ultimately, our super-mega-maxi-big-style-living, disempowered as well as destroyed. We, the people, are dwarfed by our own excesses. An excess in consumption and an excess in our technology of destruction. This scrambled intelligence separates us from the truth and denies us the ability to appreciate the God given value of being human…It’s difficult to know whether to laugh, cry or despair in the face of such big, deadly feeling and it all makes you feel so small. And it’s here we do well to remember Phil Berrigan and his confidence in the tiny tiny resources of human beings living by their text. If enough Christians follow the Gospel, he once wrote, they can bring any state to its knees.”

Duffy addressed the question of the role of resistance today, by humbly deferring that she was not a “big thinker.” However, her inclination was clear when she said that Phil “had expressed a vote of confidence in our ability to undo big harm by small, faithful acts of good. Let us not squander that confidence.”

Art Laffin, a long-time colleague and self-described “co-conspirator” of Phil Berrigan’s, was dramatically influenced by his friend’s life and acts of non-violent resistance. According to Laffin, who participated along with Berrigan in Plowshare’s events, Berrigan put Christ’s law above human law. “He believed that law was the main obstacle to justice and that it was meant to serve the empire and not the people.”

Laffin stated that Berrigan’s belief and commitment to non-violence was “absolute.” He opposed war, as well as abortion. And illustrating this stance, he told a story of how Phil Berrigan had maintained that position by not hating the judges who convicted him or the captors that jailed him. As a result, Laffin told the audience, the warden of the Baltimore County jail, where Phil Berrigan had been temporarily imprisoned for the Catonsville demonstration, attended the priest's wake and funeral.

In concluding, Laffin said, “As we continue to resist the mortal scene of US war-making and killing around our planet, the US empire’s unrelenting use of violence to control earth and space, the ruthless restriction of civil liberties, the unrelenting war against the poor and the desecration of our earth, Phil beckons us to remain faithful and not to lose hope. He calls us to keep building community, keep opening scriptures together, keep resisting, keep praying and keep loving.”

TOM LEWIS - "HE TALKED WITH YOU LIKE YOU WOULD HAVE LIKED TO BE TALKED TO"

The last speaker, artist Tom Lewis, spoke intimately of Catonsville and other actions. Behind Lewis were a bank of framed photo collages he created that pay tribute to Berrigan’s life. Lewis described Catonsville as the product of many people’s large and small acts of courage. There were those who were arrested, but also a person who took photographs, and a person who called the press. “I think of a conspiracy of hope,” he said.

Lewis, also a spiritual person and Catholic, spent time with Berrigan in jail for the Catonsville 9 action. Both had violated their probation by burning the draft records less than a year since prior charges as the “Baltimore Four.” Lewis told those in the audience that he was drawn to Berrigan partly because, “he talked with you like you would want to be talked to.”

During the presentation, none of the panelists directly answered the question regarding “the future of non-violent resistance.” But the reflections on Berrigan’s life implied that non-violent resistance lives firmly in Christian faith and tradition and in the teachings of Jesus.

GRIEF AND HOPE MINGLE


Present at the talk were friends and students of Berrigan, his wife Elizabeth McAlister, and others who had been touched by his extraordinary courage and clear beliefs. Within the room was a palpable sense of loss. The panelists’ voices were tempered with grief. A fallen hero, friend, lover, and leader was gone and being spoken of in the past tense.

At the side of the room stood Max Obuszewski of the American Friends Service Committee in Baltimore. Obuszewski, who greatly admired Phil Berrigan’s dedication to peace and justice continues on in his friend’s tradition of non-violent resistance. During the demonstration at airshow at Andrew’s Air Base the previous day, he was one of two people arrested. This time, even he was surprised at the arrest. The small group of demonstrators were standing on a sidewalk with signs, far from the actual entrance to the Air Base when they were asked to leave. For asking an officer’s name, the activist was placed in handcuffs and arrested. Obuszewski has been arrested over 70 times for acts of civil resistance. Currently working with Baltimore’s Iraq Pledge of Resistance, he has been a leading force in shaping local opposition to the war in Afghanistan, the Iraq War and the occupation of Iraq.

See also "Philip Berrigan..." (12/7/02)
baltimore.indymedia.org/feature/display/2296/index.php