Pickup Carries Peace Activist, Fr. Berrigan's Coffin

Yahoo News ^ | December 9, 2002 | Foster Pflug

[NYer]

BALTIMORE (AP) _ Carrying puppets, signs and roses, hundreds accompanied a pickup truck carrying the coffin of peace activist Philip Berrigan as it wound its way Monday through the rough neighborhood where he once served as a priest.

Family members stood in the back of the truck along with the plain wooden coffin, hand-painted with red roses, as bagpipers played ``Amazing Grace'' while the procession marched to the funeral at St. Peter Claver Catholic Church in west Baltimore. ``He was bigger than life _ extremely human and heroic and committed,'' said actor Martin Sheen, who marched in the funeral parade. ``He was a great inspiration and a mentor to me and others.''

Berrigan, a former Roman Catholic priest who staged some of the most dramatic anti-war protests of the 1960s, died of cancer Friday at age 79. He staged some of the most dramatic anti-war protests of the 1960s and was arrested at least 100 times, serving a total of 11 years in prison for his anti-war activities. He led the ``Catonsville 9,'' a group that doused a small bonfire of Selective Service draft records in homemade napalm at a parking lot in the Baltimore suburb on May 17, 1968. His brother, the Rev. Daniel Berrigan, also was a member of the group.

Some mourners carried sticks topped with cloth birds with tattered wings, while others sang Christian hymns and Buddhist monks chanted and beat drums. Ched Myers, 47, an activist, writer and teacher from Los Angeles, said Berrigan was ``a historic pioneer in the act of civil disobedience.''

In the church, mourners held signs reading ``Arm the world with hugs,'' ``Wage Peace,'' and ``Plowshares versus Depleted Uranium,'' a reference to the name of Berrigan's Plowshares for Peace. ``He was a great prophet of peace,'' said the Rev. John Dear, 43, a Jesuit priest who lives in Cimarron, N.M. ``He spoke the truth against war.''

[wideawake]

``Arm the world with hugs''

Remember - these people claim to be grown-ups.

[Norman Conquest]

Why six pallbearers? Most trashcans only have two handles.

[NYer]

The Berrigan brothers have always symbolized what went wrong with the church when it opened its seminaries to left wing, liberal, radicals.

[FreedomWarrior]

I wonder if he died for peace, and would the rest of this human refuse kindly join him??

[stanz]

That was the best. LOL
I remember the Berrigan brothers well.

[Tijeras_Slim]

LOL!

[cubreporter]

Yeah, tell that to Sadaam. Martin Sheen there? Of course. :))))

[Hemingway's Ghost]

Berrigan, a former Roman Catholic priest who staged some of the most dramatic anti-war protests of the 1960s, died of cancer Friday at age 79. He staged some of the most dramatic anti-war protests of the 1960s and was arrested at least 100 times, serving a total of 11 years in prison for his anti-war activities.

The AP's copy editor is getting lazy. Is this the guy Doonesbury's hippie priest is based on?

[Little Bill]

Should have been a garbage truck.

[Little Bill]

I think that it was based on William Sloan Coffin(sp), he was a Yalie, an other remant of the 60's like the Berrigans'

[Aquinasfan]

In the church, mourners held signs reading ``Arm the world with hugs,'' ``Wage Peace,'' and ``Plowshares versus Depleted Uranium,'' a reference to the name of Berrigan's Plowshares for Peace.

Pathetic. I'd be more impressed if they waved their banners in Saudi Arabia.

[Catspaw]

A pick-up? You mean a vehicle with one of those internal combustion engines that emit all kinds of noxious & toxic fumes? Why not a cart & an oxen?

[BikerNYC]

I didn't agree with a lot of what he said or did, but I always thought that he was a man of integrity. He stept up to the plate and spent 11 years in jail for his beliefs, trying to make the world what he thought would be a better place. He and I might have disagreed on a lot, but that doesn't make him an evil person. He seemed to be an honoest person and always seemed to say what he believed. I wish more people were like that.

[madprof98]

Thanks for a thoughtful response to the death of a person who tried to live out his faith. I doubt those calling him "garbage" have tried to do as much.

[Redbob]

Berrigan's dead? WONderful!

The news just keeps getting better and better!
First Wellstone, now Berrigan!

(How ya feeling 'Puff'? Got a fever at all?)

[Redbob]

"Why six pallbearers? Most trashcans only have two handles.">

LOL!
Bears repeating!

[mg39]

RIP, Father Berrigan.

He was a man who lived by his faith and strove for peace and love. Apparently, that's anathema to some cretins here.