Daniel Berrigan died in New York City this week. I never met Berrigan, but have been influenced by him in the way that I have lived my life as a Christian. Berrigan was a Jesuit priest, who lived a life of non-violence because that is how he understood what Jesus talked about in the Gospels (the biographies that we have in the New Testament). Some people did not like the way that he lived his way of pacifism. He, along with his brother Phil, were confrontational in their living out of their ideas about how to bring about peace to our world. He burned draft cards, and poured napalm onto other military files. At another time, he entered a nuclear weapon facility and smacked the nose cone of the weapon with a hammer. He cared for AIDS patients when his church, the Catholic Church, was at war with gays.
I learned of Berrigan in the 1980’s at the seminary where I attended. There were Christian magazines who talked about his outrageous acts that he carried out on behalf of his peacemaking ideals. He wrote some of his thoughts concerning the Bible, and the actions that he carried out in the name of his Saviour, Jesus Christ. As a Jesuit (a group of Catholic priests interested in justice and peace in the world), he was called to live a different life. I would see his picture in the papers, and would read about him all the time in faith communities. Other Catholics appreciated him, but thought, at times, he went too far. Thomas Merton, a priest concerned about devotion to Christ, and Dorothy Day, a Catholic activist in New York City, thought he was too radical in his techniques. Although they disagreed with him, they all remained good friends. I think that that was a form of peacemaking.
So, what attracted me to Berrigan. He was different from me. He was Catholic, and I was Mennonite. I saw him as very brave, and I understood the Bible the same way as he did, but I could not do what he did for peace in the world. I went to the Pentagon (where the U.S. Department of Defence is located) in 1982, and I thought about doing something that would get me arrested, but I am too much a Mennonite. I was, and am too passive. I did not do what I knew I should do, as a faithful follower of Jesus.
Berrigan did not use these public pacifist events to trumpet himself. It was about being called to be a peacemaker in all aspects of his life. So, he did not become a celebrity to the world, and he became a mentor to me. He remained a priest, a representative of and to God. His opposition to war was never political. He challenged both Democrats and Republicans, and the war industry. His opposition was not just an idea for him, but was rooted in the person of Jesus Christ.
That is what I have always wanted to be “rooted in the person of Jesus Christ.“ Recently, I wrote to the Prime Minister, saying that Canada should not sell those war vehicles to the Saudi Arabian government. I said it would not help in bringing about peace. We can use our money for better purposes. I am not taking a political side, but I believe we must be about life-giving practices and attitudes in the world. Selling weapons to the Saudis, or anyone else, is not the right thing to do. I write to politicians once in awhile. We give money to organizations that work for peace in the world.
But, I am not Daniel Berrigan. I wish, I really wish I could have been more radical in my actions, but it was not my calling. That might be a cop-out in my following of my Saviour. I am thankful to God for Berrigan. Daniel, well done good and faithful servant. AMEN.
Fred Redekop
May 4, 2016