The Trial of the Catonsville Nine

by Daniel Berrigan

Book Overview

On May 17, 1968, at the height of the Vietnam War, nine men and women entered a Selective Service office outside Baltimore. They removed military draft records, took them outside, and set them afire... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0807005495
• ISBN13: 9780807005491
• Release Date: January 1970
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co
• Length: 139 Pages
• Weight: 0.38 lbs.

Customer Reviews

ON THIS FORTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THIS COURAGEOUS CATHOLIC ACT FOR PEACE, LET US ACT AS WELL FOR OUR F

We hear this year of war all but forgotten the death of those martyrs of forty years ago, all slain violently, all who spoke strongly for peace and against our imperialist warfaring: King, Kennedy, Merton and the rest. In May of 1968, after King and Bobby were killed with clear government complicity for opposing the war and proposing peace and justice and equality, some courageous Catholic priests arose to live our faith no matter what the consequences, to speak out for morality in the face of brutal inhumane total war which as we always do left little children burning in their beds, and starving in their streets, as we directly and diametrically opposed the direct instructions of our Christian Faith. Here in this sacred text published by Beacon in 1970 we have a reading from the courtroom transcripts of their trial. This is also available a VHS tape at Trial of Catonsville Nine but no DVD, unfortunately. We may distract ourselves noting how very poorly they were represented in court, particularly in the defense attorney's closing statement. We may in fact notice how the prosecution's closing was more eloquent in their defense, calling their actions reasonable and just. But mainly let us learn the theology of these actions and these true witnesses for our Faith, who upon the last day will be called forth with the words: Well Done, Good and Faithful Servant! The prosecution concludes: "The government quite candidly admits that the position these defendants took is reasonable - as to the fact that the war is illegal, that it is immoral, that it is against religious principles (p. 100)." Not all those who cry Lord, Lord will enter the Reign of God, but those who have kept the Word alive, to Love, not to burn babies in their beds. In fact Father Daniel Berrigan, SJ, makes this specific point concerning our Living Faith in God's Love and Peace: "I believe that no tradition can remain a mere dead inheritance. It is a living inheritance which we must consider to offer to the living (p. 115)." Upon that page we find the judge's own words which alone must move us to act now today: "If the President has not obeyed the law, there is very little that can be done." This presently appointed president has consistently disobeyed the law, from before his disputed elections through his entire eight year regime, and alters the law to submit us to his will, defying international treaties, covenants and conventions, including the Geneva and the International Court of Justice, and Kyoto, and he signs bills into law with accompanying statements saying he will not obey them. There is much we must now do, for peace, for justice, for morality, for decency, for our Faith. Very hard it is to share with you here from this deep and sweet well of Catholic prophetic witness the living water which strengthens and calls us to Catholic action, especially now in this darkened day of illegal and endless and profitable war. Read this book, entirely, repeatedly. Rea

Kid Jonas, the Last Laugh, and Other Latenite Thoughts

It is 36 years, 11 months, and 1 day since the end of the 1960s. But look out mama, this little book is starting to have the look of a classic. The act-up Berrigans, Fr. Dan and Fr. Phil, were irritating as hell, really. The eventually p.o'd about everybody, especially their own radical allies. A sometimes interesting poet, Dan was the aesthete and the brooder, Phil the charismatic doer, pushing the edge. Dan's many books almost always lie in the DMZ between propaganda and art, as does this short play for performance. Such DMZs were trademark of the era: non-fiction "novels", street theatre, etc. Most long gone with the wind -- justifiably. Including likely 90% of the Berrigans' antics, ludicrous politics and bogus theology by the dumpster full. But guess what? Take a look. Dan ran the race, so to speak. His life ethic was consistent -- denouncing abortion, ministering to dying AIDs patients, giving Israel no comfort for its war machine, either. Indeed of left wing Catholic activists and troublemakers, he is about alone in this consistency as to the so-called "seamless garment" theology. So what, then, about certain perishable opinions relating mostly to the secular sphere, personality issues, and the aesthetics of the Berrigans' essential message about man's new monstrous potential for worldwide destruction. Does God have good taste, like Charley Tuna? Or does He even taste good? John of the Apocalypse didn't find Him so . . . something about bitter in the belly, if you may recall. And they didn't like Jonas either. This document, taken from the trial transcripts about why 9 Catholic anti-Vietnam war activists burned draft documents and went to jail, is as close to art as Dan ever got. It will do. The 9 speak for themselves, like them or not. It retains freshness, with all odds heavily stacked against it. It doesn't take much to last, John Berryman observed 50 years after Stephen Crane's death. The Red Badge was enough. So I suspect is this.