|
Fr. Dan Berrigan pays
a timely visit to Dublin
On the evening of Wednesday
August 14th the curiosity
of passers-by on Denmark
Street and on Dublin's
Parnell square was aroused
by the site of hundreds
of people queuing outside
the O'Reilly Theatre at
Belvedere College. These
people had gathered for
the return visit of a
man who had not appeared
at a public meeting in
Dublin for 20 years.
AfrI, along with our
co-organisers, the Dublin
Catholic Worker Movement,
was not prepared for the
incredible interest from
people of all ages who
gathered for the public
meeting. Fr. Daniel Berrigan
addressed a public meeting
in Dublin over 20 years
ago. It transpired that
many of the hundreds of
people, who were turned
away from the overcrowded
meeting on that occasion,
were prepared to travel
from all over the country
again to attend the O'Reilly
Theatre in Dublin. The
Theatre seats approximately
700 people and unfortunately
we had to turn away many
hundreds more who were
anxious to hear Fr. Berrigan
speak.
Given the political climate
it was not surprising
that people would wish
to hear the writer and
speaker who has campaigned
for the sanctity of life
and the criminality of
modern warfare. Fr. Berrigan
expressed grave concern
at Ireland's compliance
with the Bush administration's
use of Shannon airport
as a pit stop en route
to the war in Afghanistan.
For almost half a century
Philip and Daniel Berrigan
have been a prophetic
thorn in the side of political,
military and church elites
in the United States.
Their non-violent militant
insistence on the sanctity
of human life and the
criminality of modern
warfare has been non-negotiable.
From their 1968 burning
of draft cards through
to their numerous court
scenes and prison sentences
the Berrigans have spoken
truth to power. In the
early 1970's, FBI Godfather
J.Edgar Hoover, who was
obsessed with these troublesome
priests, and their opposition
to the Vietnam War, conjured
a charge of "conspiracy
to kidnap Henry Kissinger".
A plan to perform a citizen's
arrest on Henry Kissinger
had been distorted and
spun by the FBI into a
criminal indictment. Today,
Henry Kissinger dodges
police warrants in South
America and Europe related
to his role in massacres
in Indo-China and Chile.
As always, the Berrigan's
only crime has been to
be ahead of their time.
In the 1980's, the Berrigans
and friends entered a
General Electric factory
in Pennsylvania and took
household hammers to nuclear
weapons' components. They
had embodied the Old Testament
prophecy of Isaiah to
"beat swords into
ploughshares" initiating
a direct disarmament movement
that continues to decommission
all sorts of hi tech killing
machines - B52 Bombers,
Trident Submarines, Hawk
Fighters et. al. In some
cases juries have celebrated
and acquitted the "ploughshares
communities", in
others the Berrigans and
friends have been sent
to jail for long sentences.
The Berrigans have pioneered
a style of assertive non-violence
that engages the hi-tech
overkill/low intensity
conflict manner of waging
America's wars post-Vietnam.
Sadly following Dan Berrigan's
visit to Ireland his brother
Phillip died of kidney
and liver cancer in early
December 2002 aged 79.
Daniel Berrigan is a
New Yorker. The events
of September 11th shocked
him into an initial silence
- refusing interviews
or comment. He was roused
once again by the failure
of church leaders to offer
any moral counter to the
Bush Administration's
exploitation of the event
to unleash more death
and fire, this time on
some of the world's poorest
people in Afghanistan.
He addressed a hostile
student audience at Fordham
University following the
U.S. Catholic bishops
voting 140 - 4 to support
U.S. military action in
Afghanistan - a vote that
had abandoned both pacifist
and just war church traditions.
Fr. Daniel Berrigan responded
".....the Bishops
have abandoned us....maybe
we should burn our copies
of the gospels, process
into our church sanctuaries
holding aloft the Air
Force Rule Book, with
its command to kill our
enemies and incense that
instead. At least that
would be more honest.
It would express our fidelity
to the gods of war, since
we do not worship the
God of Peace."
As part of the Irish
Diaspora, Berrigan shares
a concern with the rapid
erosion of Irish neutrality,
the transformation of
Shannon Airport into a
pit stop for the U.S.
military en route to Afghanistan
and Iraq and the arrival
of weapons manufacturer
Raytheon in Derry as part
of the peace/decommissioning
process.
Sharing the platform
on the night were Ciaron
O'Reilly of the Dublin
Catholic Worker and Jesuit
Fr. John Dear. Ciaron
O'Reilly of the Dublin
Catholic Worker shared
his experiences as a member
of the Ploughshares movement
and his involvement in
a number of non-violent
direct actions. Fr. John
Dear and Fr. Dan Berrigan
spoke of New York following
September 11th 2001 and
the calls for revenge
and war.
Fr. Berrigan gave a small
press conference prior
to the event and the meeting
was covered by the RTE
series "Would You
Believe" who dedicated
a programme to focus on
the Catholic Worker movement
and Ciaron O'Reilly's
establishment of a Dublin
Catholic Worker. The programme
was aired on Thursday
Oct. 24th featuring interviews
with Dorothy Day, Daniel
Berrigan, Ciaron O'Reilly
and giving reflections
on non-violent resistance
to the Vietnam War, Gulf
War and the use of Shannon
Airport by the U.S. military.
Maria Fleming (Afri)
We acknowledge Afri
for the right to reproduce
this and other articles,
which are relevant to
the current situation.
Afri has a long standing
association with county
Kildare through the Féile
Bríde Conference
which it holds in Kildare
Town and it's Hedge School/
Scoil Chois Claí
held in The Old Mill,
Victoria Bridge, Naas
every Year.
|
