In Memory of Four Peacemakers
by Fr. Frank Cordaro
Fr Dick McSorely, SJ, PRESENTE!
After the war Dick returned to the states, was ordained a priest in 1946 and was assigned to a parish in southern MD. Dick soon got involved with the issues of segregation and civil rights. He came to Georgetown University in 1961, embraced non violence and taught peace studies. He’s been at Georgetown ever since.
He marched with MLK. He was an early anti-Veitnam War protester and was arrested numerous times. One of the founders of Pax Christi USA, Fr Dick was a great friend to Dorothy Day and the CW movement. He helped start several DC CW communities including the Dorothy Day CW.
In the mid-1970’s Fr McSorely wrote an article, “IT’S A SIN TO BUILD A NUCLEAR WEAPON” in which he wrote: “Can you imagine Jesus pushing that button that would release nuclear weapons on millions of people?... What is wrong to do, it is wrong to intend to do. If it is wrong for me to kill you, it is wrong for me to plan to kill you... The tap root of violence in our society is our intent to use nuclear weapons. Once we have agreed to that all other evil is minor in comparison. Until we squarely face the question of our consent to use nuclear weapons, any hope for improvement of public morality is doomed to failure.”
One of the first prison support letters I got in Aug of 1977 after doing a blood spilling at the Pentagon was from Fr Dick and I did not even know who he was at the time. The last time I heard from Fr Dick was this past year while in jail. He wrote to support me yet again.
Active and engaged, right to the last, Fr Dick was quoted in our last issue of vp “(In) answer to your question, can a person be a good American according to the government view as well as a good Catholic, I know the answer is no. A good American believes in killing; a good Catholic doesn’t. In Christ.” Dick McSorely, SJ.
* Fr Dick McSorley’s autobiographic book, MY PATH TO PEACE AND JUSTICE is available through the Catholic Worker Books Store at 1-800-43-PEACE or at their web page
www.catholicworker.com/bookstore.
Fr Dick McSorely, a Jesuit priest from Georgetown University died Oct 2002 in Wash. DC. He was 88. If one Jesuit could redeem a Jesuit institution like Georgetown University from its nationalistic violent sins, it would be Dick McSorely. Dick entered the Jesuits in 1932. He was in the Philippines doing mission work before WWII when the Japanese took over the Philippines. Dick spent three years as a prisoner of war and suffered starvation and sickness during this time.
Fr Dick McSorely, SJ
Fr Dick McSorely, my your soul rest in peace! *
