Free Republic

BALTIMORE -- Philip Berrigan, the former priest whose fight against the Vietnam War and nuclear weapons helped ignite a generation of anti-war dissent, has died of cancer. He was 79. Berrigan's family said he was diagnosed with cancer two months ago and decided to stop chemotherapy last month. He died Friday night at Jonah House, the communal residence for pacifists that he founded. His brother, the Rev. Daniel Berrigan, officiated over last rites ceremonies Nov. 30, attended by friends and peace activists, family members said. Berrigan led the "Catonsville 9," a group that staged one of the most dramatic protests...

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...

<p>An Israeli hospital worker is vaccinated last week.</p> <p>September 24, 2002 -- WASHINGTON - Federal officials sent states detailed guidelines yesterday for rapidly vaccinating their entire populations against smallpox should the deadly disease return through an act of terrorism.</p> <p>It's been decades since smallpox was seen in this country and the disease has been eradicated from Earth, so officials would assume that a single case of smallpox means the nation is under attack.</p>