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Born May 9, 1921
Virginia, Minnesota

American antiwar activist and Catholic priest

Daniel Berrigan is a Roman Catholic priest whose vocal opposition to U.S. involvement in Vietnam made him one of America's most visible and controversial antiwar activists. He participated in numerous peace demonstrations during the Vietnam War, and in 1966 he helped found Clergy and Laity Concerned About Vietnam (CALCAV), one of the most respected groups within the antiwar movement. Berrigan's fame peaked in 1968, when he and eight other Roman Catholic antiwar protestors (including his youngest brother, Philip Berrigan, who was also a priest) burned military draft files in Catonsville, Maryland. This action, which ultimately resulted in the imprisonment of both Berrigan brothers, was one of the most famous acts of protest of the entire Vietnam War era.