Just got a media release from the Partnership for Global Justice, a New York-based network of religious congregations and social justice groups and a U.N. recognized non-governmental organization:
NEW YORK, NY -- April 12, 2010 - Fr. Daniel Berrigan and his brother Philip Berrigan will receive the Seventh Annual Partnership for Global Justice Award on Friday, April 30th. Philip Berrigan’s daughter Frida Berrigan will accept the award posthumously on behalf of her father. The luncheon event, which is open to the public, will be held at the Church of St. Paul the Apostle at 60th Street and Columbus Avenue in New York City from 1:00 – 3:00 pm. Both Fr. Berrigan and Ms. Berrigan are expected to speak.
The Berrigan brothers were among the first Roman Catholic priests to speak out against the Viet Nam War in 1964 through non-violent civil disobedience. Arrested for burning draft records in 1968 as part of the Catonsville Nine, they later founded an interfaith coalition against the war with the famed Trappist monk Thomas Merton. In 1980, they again made headlines for entering a General Electric Nuclear Missile facility, damaging nose cones of nuclear warheads and pouring blood on documents and files. This action triggered the Plowshares Movement that continues today in opposition to the production of nuclear and other weapons.
Continued activism and nonviolent resistance made the Berrigan brothers the focus of numerous movies, documentaries, play, books, and articles. Each has provided leadership in the peace movement, written prolifically and served time in jail. In 2002, Philip Berrigan died at his beloved Jonah House, a faith-based nonviolent resistance community he founded in Baltimore, MD with his wife, Elizabeth McAlister. Today, Fr. Daniel Berrigan lives in a Jesuit community in New York and continues his lifelong work on behalf of peace and justice.
“In light of recent developments to reduce nuclear arms, we are reminded that Daniel and Philip Berrigan put their lives on the line for peace and the elimination of all weapons of war,” said Sr. Lucianne Siers, OP. “They represent the legacy and spirit of our annual Justice Award, given at a propitious moment in history, on the eve of the first International Disarmament Conference.
See the Web site www.partnershipforglobaljustice.com for more details and registration information.
