Daniel Berrigan, S.J. died on April 30, 2016, in New York. Ordained as a Jesuit priest in 1952, Berrigan is remembered for his non-violent protests against the Vietnam War, his participation in the first Plowshares action in 1980 at the General Electric Nuclear Missile Facility in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, as well as his spiritual leadership at retreat centers across the country. Through his poetry, Berrigan, a gifted writer, shared his hope for world peace, observations about injustice, his experience working with the terminally ill, and love for his family. In a poem inspired by friends and family imprisoned for a peace action, Berrigan wrote:
“…Hold the light high,
prisoners. Hear the cry;
‘Hardly
in the cornered world, another glimmer
to walk by!’
In your hands a key,
in the world a conundrum –
O set right
the unutterable awry!”
With Daniel’s recent passing, we celebrate his courage and faith to live a life committed to social justice.
DePaul University Special Collections and Archives holds the Daniel Berrigan Papers. The papers include biographical files, correspondence, research files, and poems written by Berrigan. For additional information on the Daniel Berrigan Papers, please contact DePaul’s Special Collections and Archives at archives@depaul.edu or stop by our department in the John T. Richardson Library, Room 314.