Tag: radical

On
Bishop Robert Barron

Daniel Berrigan and nonviolence

Fr. Daniel Berrigan, SJ, passed away April 30 at the age of 94. Though many younger Catholics might not remember him, Father Berrigan was one of the most provocative and controversial religious figures of his time.

Standing in the tradition of principled non-violence proposed by Mahatma Gandhi, Thomas Merton, Dorothy Day, and others, Berrigan led the charge against America’s involvement in the Vietnam conflict and its on-going participation in the Cold War and the nuclear arms race.

He was most famous, of course, for his leadership of the “Catonsville Nine,” a group of protestors who, in the spring of 1968, broke into a building and burned draft records with homemade napalm. To say that he was, during that tumultuous time in American history, a polarizing figure would be an understatement.

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On
Bishop Robert C. Morlino

Anwar al Awlaki and the Fundamental Option

Editor’s note: The following column is adapted from Bishop Robert C. Morlino’s staff catechesis on November 11.

If you’ve paid attention to the news in recent weeks, you may have heard the name Anwar al Awlaki. He is the former imam (which is the Muslim term for pastor) of a mosque in Fairfax County, Virginia, whose services and sermons were attended by Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the Fort Hood killer, and simultaneously, three of the 9-11 hijackers.

Awlaki, who now resides in Yemen, has articulated, as a pastor, a concept of conscience. This is one of our main words of interest as Catholics: “conscience.” Awlaki has said that Major Hasan, who killed 13 and wounded many others, is in very good conscience as a Muslim because it is good to prevent American service people from waging war in Islamic countries, however you do it. It is, Awlaki articulated, the Will of Allah, that faithful Muslims take such preventative measures against American or allied service people, because the good of the worldwide Islamic Caliphate requires it. The Caliphate, in general, refers to a huge Islamic State which is desired by many Islamic extremists.

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