A peacemakers birthday bash
A renowned poet who was once a fugitive from the FBI and the
subject of a Time magazine cover story, Jesuit Fr. Daniel Berrigan
isnt in the news as much as he was in the 1960s when he was a leader of
Catholic opposition to the Vietnam War.
However, the elder statesman of the Catholic left keeps busy as a
retreat leader and writer, as well as doing volunteer work with New York City
AIDS patients.
Berrigans friends -- more than 700 are expected -- plan to
gather May 6 in Manhattan to fete the eldest Berrigan brother, who turns 80 May
9. The party will be held at St. Paul the Apostle Church auditorium on West
60th Street.
The party will feature music by folksinger Dar Williams and
speeches from Detroit Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, author Howard Zinn, brother
Jerry Berrigan and Berrigans also-famous sister-in-law Elizabeth
McAlister. Conspicuously absent from the party will be Dans brother and
frequent partner-in-crime, Philip Berrigan, The 78-year-old Philip, who is
married to McAlister, is serving a one-year prison sentence in an Ohio federal
prison for an anti-nuclear weapons protest.
Jesuit Fr. John Dear, who lives in The West Side Jesuit Community
on 98th Street where Berrigan resides, will serve as master of ceremonies.
Reservations are required to join the celebration for the greatest living
peacemaker in the country, Dear said.
Organizers, who started planning the event in February, hope to
avoid the overflow of revelers that showed for Berrigans 75th birthday
party in 1996. A smaller New York City church was used for that event, and
scores of people had to be turned away at the door.
As at all of Berrigans parties, attendees will be treated to
Ben & Jerrys ice cream. The company agreed to provide free ice cream
for Berrigan events in exchange for a Berrigans appearance in a national
ad for the company in 1994.
Money raised at the party -- suggested donation is $20 --will be
donated to the New York City-based peace group Kairos, which, among other
things, provides support to peace prisoners.
-- Patrick ONeill
National Catholic Reporter, May 4, 2001
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