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The Trial of the Catonsville Nine
On May 17, 1968, at the height of the Vietnam War, nine men and women entered a Selective Service office outside Baltimore. They removed military draft records, took them outside, and set them afire with napalm. The Catholic activists involved in this protest against the war included Daniel and Philip Berrigan; all were found guilty of destroying government property and sentenced to three years in jail. Dan Berrigan fled but later turned himself in.
The Trial of the Catonsville Nine became a powerful expression of the conflicts between conscience and conduct, power and justice, law and morality. Drawing on court transcripts, Berrigan wrote a dramatic account
of the trial and the issues it so vividly embodied. The result is a landmark work of art that has been performed frequently over the past thirty-five years, both as a piece of theater and a motion picture.
The Trial of the Catonsville Nine became a powerful expression of the conflicts between conscience and conduct, power and justice, law and morality. Drawing on court transcripts, Berrigan wrote a dramatic account
of the trial and the issues it so vividly embodied. The result is a landmark work of art that has been performed frequently over the past thirty-five years, both as a piece of theater and a motion picture.
142 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1970
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About the author
Daniel Berrigan
154 books50 followersDaniel Joseph Berrigan (May 9, 1921 – April 30, 2016) was an American Jesuit priest, college professor, anti-war activist, Christian pacifist, playwright, poet, and author.
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
November 21, 2022
In his book, Father Daniel Berrigan presents a dramatized version of the trial of the Catonsville Nine, in which he was one of the defendants.
I do not completely understand Berrigan's choice to tell the story in the form of a play, and I think that this decision contributes to the lack of clarity in his work. However, the true value of his account is in the way in which it conveys its main ideas. As the author himself explained, he and his partners in crime wanted the trial to be as brief as possible. Their objective was not to defend themselves, but to draw the American public's attention to the fact that their country saw fit to try and sentence nine people for burning pieces of paper with a homemade substance resembling napalm and at the same time use real napalm on the people of Vietnam. In the context of all this, their offense seems little, and the prosecution's case flimsy.
The nine defendants receive most of the presentation time in this account, during which they elaborate on their personal histories and efforts to help the underprivileged both domestically and internationally. According to the defendants, these are tales of disillusionment and dashed ideals caused by the American government's intervention, incompetence, and barbarity abroad.
The reader is led to understand how a number of grievances eventually motivated a group of people to engage in civil disobedience. The Catonsville Nine accuse Green Berets of carrying out executions in Guatemala and Cuban exiles of using American aircraft to destroy towns in Uganda. It is up to the reader whether to believe them or find comfort in the idea that these nine people were suffering from some form of collective delusion or lunacy that enabled them to perceive and comprehend information that most Americans were unable to perceive or comprehend. Their claims make the reader wonder where he had been throughout his life, what had overshadowed his awareness. According to the Catonsville Nine, the American people were supporting the most vicious war machine of all time without knowing what was happening. If Berrigan had abandoned the idea of the vast, uneducated, and uneducated American public and had focused on the sad reality that most people, especially privileged ones, continue to wallow in complacency about their government's activities even when the facts are known, though, his argument would have been less shallow.
The language used in this work is another strong aspect. Playwright and defendant Daniel Berrigan is also a poet. Aside from a few jarring metaphors and some bad language, the dialogues have clarity and breadth, although they are not suitable for the courtroom. I cannot take seriously a narrative that makes me see a Greek choir when I should be seeing defendants in a trial.
THE TRIAL OF THE CATONSVILLE NINE is a play that is not precisely a play. It is a political and philosophical debate written as a radio scenario and mean to be presented by actors. This book is both thought-provoking and oversimplified. There are great quotes in it, but I think that Berrigan's other works explain what the burning of the draft cards and the trial were all about way more informatively.
I do not completely understand Berrigan's choice to tell the story in the form of a play, and I think that this decision contributes to the lack of clarity in his work. However, the true value of his account is in the way in which it conveys its main ideas. As the author himself explained, he and his partners in crime wanted the trial to be as brief as possible. Their objective was not to defend themselves, but to draw the American public's attention to the fact that their country saw fit to try and sentence nine people for burning pieces of paper with a homemade substance resembling napalm and at the same time use real napalm on the people of Vietnam. In the context of all this, their offense seems little, and the prosecution's case flimsy.
The nine defendants receive most of the presentation time in this account, during which they elaborate on their personal histories and efforts to help the underprivileged both domestically and internationally. According to the defendants, these are tales of disillusionment and dashed ideals caused by the American government's intervention, incompetence, and barbarity abroad.
The reader is led to understand how a number of grievances eventually motivated a group of people to engage in civil disobedience. The Catonsville Nine accuse Green Berets of carrying out executions in Guatemala and Cuban exiles of using American aircraft to destroy towns in Uganda. It is up to the reader whether to believe them or find comfort in the idea that these nine people were suffering from some form of collective delusion or lunacy that enabled them to perceive and comprehend information that most Americans were unable to perceive or comprehend. Their claims make the reader wonder where he had been throughout his life, what had overshadowed his awareness. According to the Catonsville Nine, the American people were supporting the most vicious war machine of all time without knowing what was happening. If Berrigan had abandoned the idea of the vast, uneducated, and uneducated American public and had focused on the sad reality that most people, especially privileged ones, continue to wallow in complacency about their government's activities even when the facts are known, though, his argument would have been less shallow.
The language used in this work is another strong aspect. Playwright and defendant Daniel Berrigan is also a poet. Aside from a few jarring metaphors and some bad language, the dialogues have clarity and breadth, although they are not suitable for the courtroom. I cannot take seriously a narrative that makes me see a Greek choir when I should be seeing defendants in a trial.
THE TRIAL OF THE CATONSVILLE NINE is a play that is not precisely a play. It is a political and philosophical debate written as a radio scenario and mean to be presented by actors. This book is both thought-provoking and oversimplified. There are great quotes in it, but I think that Berrigan's other works explain what the burning of the draft cards and the trial were all about way more informatively.
May 15, 2016
Rest in peace Father Berrigan. I'm certain that your presence on this Earth was significant. I had the pleasure of hearing you speak, of breaking bread with you. There are too few men like you. You inspired me when I was an undergraduate, now, and always. You have left a gauntlet legacy. Amen.
February 24, 2023
This little book was consistently odd, from the first page to the last. I never heard of this story until I stumbled across it in a used bookstore, in the Drama/Classics section of all places. Needless to say it proved to be about a true crime case, because such books seem to fall out of every mouse-hole and passing cloud to fall into my hands. The Catonsville Nine were a group of Catholic war protestors who stole the 1A files from a draft center and, to prevent the teenagers listed in the files from dying in Vietnam they -- quite symbolically -- napalmed their paperwork. This is their trial, with the judge's rulings and attorneys' comments left intact but the defendants' testimony rendered in blank verse. Maybe the proceedings would be less mysterious to me if I were Catholic or a member of the Love Generation, but it did finally all come clear. When I read the reaction of the Nine to the verdict, I thought immediately of Jack Kevorkian and wondered what he was thinking at the moment of his own comeuppance...this gave me an unexpected insight into the thought process behind the protests against this war and probably any protest movement or crime of conscience. Very glad I found this little book.
November 17, 2021
An exceptional piece of "found drama", the court transcripts are arranged like poetry and interspersed with literary excerpts, philosophical asides, and comparative texts that help illuminate not just the conflict at hand, but the conflict that has plagued so much of human history. Berrigan's telling a true story with real sources, but he has an eye to the drama of it all, and his placement of the material, his sense of when to cut and when to hone close betrays an expert storyteller at his best and the book reads refreshing as water, never dry for a moment, and never anything less than a well aimed missle look to find the heart of an America that Berrigan and his cohorts believed in ferociously.
June 4, 2017
In May 1968, Fr. Daniel Berrigan, his brother Fr. Philip Berrigan and 7 Catholic workers used homemade napalm to burn some 380 draft record files in the parking lot of the Catonsville, MD draft board. They were arrested on the spot and charged with destruction of federal property and violations of the Selective Service Act. They were convicted of all charges. Fr. Berrigan was sentenced to three years. The activism of the Catonsville Nine (as they were dubbed by the media) and, in particular, that of Fr. Berrigan, captured the attention of the nation and inspired a generation to speak out in non-violent demonstration and civil disobedience.
This book,The Trial of the Catonsville Nine, which consists of large portions of the transcript of the October 1968 trial rendered into free verse by Fr. Berrigan, is his apologia, beautifully stating why he acted as he did. He told the Court and jury about his trip to Hanoi several months earlier to secure the release of a small group of American POWs and to bring them home to the U.S. While he was there, he saw the impact that American bombs and incendiary weapons was having on innocent Vietnamese civilians. So, he used napalm for "the burning of paper instead of children".
Our apologies, good friends
For the fracture of good order – the burning of paper
Instead of children – the angering of the orderlies
In the front parlor of the charnel house
We could not – so help us God – do otherwise . . .
We say: killing is disorder
Life and gentleness and community and unselfishness
Is the only order we recognize
For the sake of that order
We risk our liberty – our good name
The time is past when we may be silent. . .
When at what point will you say no to this war?
We have chosen to say
With the gift of our liberty
If necessary our lives
This book,The Trial of the Catonsville Nine, which consists of large portions of the transcript of the October 1968 trial rendered into free verse by Fr. Berrigan, is his apologia, beautifully stating why he acted as he did. He told the Court and jury about his trip to Hanoi several months earlier to secure the release of a small group of American POWs and to bring them home to the U.S. While he was there, he saw the impact that American bombs and incendiary weapons was having on innocent Vietnamese civilians. So, he used napalm for "the burning of paper instead of children".
Our apologies, good friends
For the fracture of good order – the burning of paper
Instead of children – the angering of the orderlies
In the front parlor of the charnel house
We could not – so help us God – do otherwise . . .
We say: killing is disorder
Life and gentleness and community and unselfishness
Is the only order we recognize
For the sake of that order
We risk our liberty – our good name
The time is past when we may be silent. . .
When at what point will you say no to this war?
We have chosen to say
With the gift of our liberty
If necessary our lives
July 14, 2016
Had the opportunity to visit the building where Fr. Daniel Berrigan and eight others, six men and two women, walked into the Catonsville, Maryland, Selective Service office, May 17, 1968, and took 378 A-1 draft files out of filing cabinets, brought them outside into the parking lot and burned them with their own home made napalm. (Information gotten from an Army Manuel). They did not use the jell, however, which is designed to stick to a person's skin and continue to burn into the person's body. (Did the Geneva convention put its stamp of approval on napalm, or was that just another example of the US disregarding anything resembling a decent act humanity?)
This act of civil disobedience roused even more, an already roused nation, standing against the atrocity known as US action in Vietnam. Vietnam was never officially called a war, was it? And it is true, rather than a war, it was a heinous crime against humanity perpetrated by the US war machine.
Naturally there were the detractors roused in the opposite direction. There are always those dangerous ones who go along to get along. Those are the ones that allow these kinds of atrocities to go on and on.
Every word in the book was taken from descriptions of the actual activity as it developed, and words spoken by the people involved, including the clerks pleading that those now known as the Catonsville 9, not destroy the files of those people they were about to send out to be destroyed.
The most powerful words of all, those spoken by Fr. Berrigan were: "Our apologies, good friends, for the fracture of good order, the burning of paper instead of children...."
The Catonsville 9's purpose, one of them said, was to stop the flow of soldiers to Vietnam. "We do this because everything else has failed."
This act of civil disobedience roused even more, an already roused nation, standing against the atrocity known as US action in Vietnam. Vietnam was never officially called a war, was it? And it is true, rather than a war, it was a heinous crime against humanity perpetrated by the US war machine.
Naturally there were the detractors roused in the opposite direction. There are always those dangerous ones who go along to get along. Those are the ones that allow these kinds of atrocities to go on and on.
Every word in the book was taken from descriptions of the actual activity as it developed, and words spoken by the people involved, including the clerks pleading that those now known as the Catonsville 9, not destroy the files of those people they were about to send out to be destroyed.
The most powerful words of all, those spoken by Fr. Berrigan were: "Our apologies, good friends, for the fracture of good order, the burning of paper instead of children...."
The Catonsville 9's purpose, one of them said, was to stop the flow of soldiers to Vietnam. "We do this because everything else has failed."
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May 8, 2011Amazing book, about an amazing act of civil disobedience!! I want to read it again!
January 26, 2023
In May of 1968, a group of nine fervent Catholic social justice activists burned Selective Service records (with homemade napalm) in order to make a difference, no matter how small, in the progress of the VietNam war. The value of property, the power of governments to set policy and organize people for war, the sanctity of life, the obligation of the government to act in an ethical and moral manner, and indeed to respond to its citizens are at the heart of the activists reasons for their action. In October of 1968 all nine activists were convicted.
The government conceded that the war was illegal, that the beliefs of the defendants were reasonable, that the individuals were truthful and sincere. Yet the judge instructed the jury that they could not decide the case based upon conscience. All nine activists were convicted.
Daniel Berrigan presents this compilation of facts in the form of a play. It's a drama for all time.
The government conceded that the war was illegal, that the beliefs of the defendants were reasonable, that the individuals were truthful and sincere. Yet the judge instructed the jury that they could not decide the case based upon conscience. All nine activists were convicted.
Daniel Berrigan presents this compilation of facts in the form of a play. It's a drama for all time.
June 23, 2023
Beautifully done, powerful, and soul moving.
During the Vietnam war, nine fiercely devoted Catholics burned draft files to hinder the war and perhaps save the lives of young American men. The Trial of the Catonsville Nine is a play written by one of the nine, depicting the courtroom aftermath in which the nine make their case for why they broke the law.
Their speeches, though perhaps unheeded by the judge and jury, are powerful and inspiring to all Christians. The nine remind us that there is a difference between law and justice, legal and good. We follow God, and not man.
During the Vietnam war, nine fiercely devoted Catholics burned draft files to hinder the war and perhaps save the lives of young American men. The Trial of the Catonsville Nine is a play written by one of the nine, depicting the courtroom aftermath in which the nine make their case for why they broke the law.
Their speeches, though perhaps unheeded by the judge and jury, are powerful and inspiring to all Christians. The nine remind us that there is a difference between law and justice, legal and good. We follow God, and not man.
March 17, 2025
Real bravery. The moral compulsion these individuals felt and expressed is truly incredible. There's a section of the book where the judge asks one of the defendants if he realized that destroying a few draft files would mean that others would be drafted in their place, that the machine wouldn't stop. The defendants response is that that thinking is non-sensical. Some drafts orders were delayed, some young men would get to live. That's real, even if the machine will just churn up the next bunch.
January 3, 2025
The Catonsville Nine steal files from a draft center and burn them – with napalm. When they appear in court the question becomes very simple: if you can legally be held accountable for burning ‘cards’ with napalm then who should be held accountable for burning ‘people’ with napalm in Vietnam? This thought provoking book challenges the reader to look at the often overlooked cause/effect war has on society.
March 30, 2021
Did not actually read it. Saw a play that adapted it. It was one of the most powerful I have ever seen.
It is contemporary in the sense that we all have chosen to either ignore the U.S.’s murderous and ruinious “defense” policies, or have decided to resist them in one way or another.
It is contemporary in the sense that we all have chosen to either ignore the U.S.’s murderous and ruinious “defense” policies, or have decided to resist them in one way or another.
March 28, 2022
I am unfortunately a flaming libtard because of this book. 😔 it was really good tho. Some good quotes. I think we should be taught way more about the Vietnam war. And TAKE AWAY THE DRAFT FOR GODS SAKE!
June 30, 2025
The unusual farrago structure of the text that is part dramatized version of the trial, part Poetry, and part thematic quotes...is a little awkward to a 21st century readers. However the sentiments of civil disobedience are more relevant than ever.
September 22, 2017
4 1/2 stars
March 8, 2018
We need more like him today.
November 7, 2018
Do stuff or, I guess, don’t.
January 15, 2021
Oh the way this is structured is incredible! The poem-like verses, the little interludes. This is honestly such a great read
January 12, 2008
quotes i liked:
quoting thomas jefferson: "god forbid we should be twenty years without a rebellion. what country can preserve its liberties if the rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance?" (page 23)
"we have already made it clear our dissent runs counter to more than the way which is but one instance of American power in the world. latin america is another instance, so is the near east. this trial is yet another. from those in power we have met little understanding, much silence, much scorn and punishment. we have been accused of arrogance, but what of the fantastic arrogance of our leaders? what of their crimes against the people, the poor and the powerless? still no court will try them, no jail will receive them. they live in righteousness and will die in honour. for them we have one message, for those in who manicured hands the power of the lang lies, we say to them:
lead us. lead us into justice and there will be no need to break the law. let the president do what his predecessors failed to do: let him obey the rich less and the people more. let him think less of the privileged and more of the poor, less of america and more of the world. let lawmakers and judges and lawyers think less of the law, more of justice, less of legal ritual, more of human rights. to our bishops and superiors we say: learn something about the gospel and something about illegitimate power. when you do you will liquidate your investments, take a house in the slums or even join us in jail. to lawyers we say defend draft resisters, ask no fees, insist on justice, risk contempt of court, go to jail with your clients. to the prosecution we say refuse to indict opponents of the war, prefer to resign, practice in private. to federal judges we say give anti-war people suspended sentences to work for justice and peace or resign your posts. you men of power i also have a dream, federal judges, district attorneys, marshals against the war in vietnam. you men of power you have told us that your system is reformable. reform it then! and we will help with all our conviction and energy. in jail or out." (pages 29-30)
quoting thomas jefferson: "god forbid we should be twenty years without a rebellion. what country can preserve its liberties if the rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance?" (page 23)
"we have already made it clear our dissent runs counter to more than the way which is but one instance of American power in the world. latin america is another instance, so is the near east. this trial is yet another. from those in power we have met little understanding, much silence, much scorn and punishment. we have been accused of arrogance, but what of the fantastic arrogance of our leaders? what of their crimes against the people, the poor and the powerless? still no court will try them, no jail will receive them. they live in righteousness and will die in honour. for them we have one message, for those in who manicured hands the power of the lang lies, we say to them:
lead us. lead us into justice and there will be no need to break the law. let the president do what his predecessors failed to do: let him obey the rich less and the people more. let him think less of the privileged and more of the poor, less of america and more of the world. let lawmakers and judges and lawyers think less of the law, more of justice, less of legal ritual, more of human rights. to our bishops and superiors we say: learn something about the gospel and something about illegitimate power. when you do you will liquidate your investments, take a house in the slums or even join us in jail. to lawyers we say defend draft resisters, ask no fees, insist on justice, risk contempt of court, go to jail with your clients. to the prosecution we say refuse to indict opponents of the war, prefer to resign, practice in private. to federal judges we say give anti-war people suspended sentences to work for justice and peace or resign your posts. you men of power i also have a dream, federal judges, district attorneys, marshals against the war in vietnam. you men of power you have told us that your system is reformable. reform it then! and we will help with all our conviction and energy. in jail or out." (pages 29-30)
February 1, 2008
This book documents the court trial of nine Catholic priests, nuns, and laypeople following their Vietnam-era protest of the draft - they made homemade napalm, broke into a Selective Service office, and burned a few hundred draft files. While the story is fascinating, the book (which is written in the form of a play) is a bit ungainly. Berrigan more or less wrote out what everyone in the court said, except in verse. Some of it is poignant; some of it just doesn't work well in verse form. That said, though, it's a really interesting glimpse into the minds of these people who broke the law because they believed so strongly in their religious convictions. If you know Adrienne Rich's poem "The Burning of Paper instead of Children" (one of my favorites) or Dar Williams's song "I Had No Right" and were curious to learn more about the person/incident being described, The Trial of the Catonsville Nine is a good place to start.
October 12, 2009
Was interesting and makes you really think about going along with the system when lives are at stake. I know Daniel Berrigan is still fighting the system and I even went to a social action meeting and saw him. Maureen read this in college, gave it to me and I finally got around to reading it.
September 3, 2012
Very helpful meditation raising the question of Christian conscience during time of Empire. Does the Christian have no more to live for than promoting consumerism, turning a blind eye to the militarism used to protect in an age where the world truly burns as a consequence of a lifestyle it offers?
November 18, 2023
A moving summation of the trial of the Catonsville Nine, pared down from the trial record by participant Father Daniel Berrigan. In some ways, the true act of witness was the trial, rather than the burning of the draft files.
August 25, 2008
As a piece of literature, it's pretty good. As a play, it is seemingly unperformable.
November 15, 2013
These brave people broke the law but changed history - real revolutionaries
November 7, 2016
They broke the law, but followed their conscience. I was so interested in this because I knew one of them. That person was dedicated, compassionate, and a credit to their profession .
May 28, 2018
exceptional, written by my uncle Dan!
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews