Our Mission
We propose an organization…
that will promote the person, thought, and legacy of activism of Daniel Berrigan, SJ.
that comes out of the tradition promoted by Berrigan in which contemplation, reflection, and study flow into and from community, activism, and resistance.
that will provide a space for dialogue between the writings of Daniel Berrigan and contemporary communities of resistance that share his concerns and expand them.
that will center the experiences and concerns of women, people of color, younger people, LGBTQ+ people, immigrants, the incarcerated, and those who have difficulty finding a voice in academic, religious, and social institutions.
that will be as accessible as possible and use a variety of media: writing, art, music, poetry, celebrations, social media
Steering Committee
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Anna Brown
Anna J. Brown, Ph.D. is the Chair of the political science department and Director of the social justice program at Saint Peter's University. She founded the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. - Kairos Social Justice House and social justice program at the University as well as co-founded its Center for Undocumented Students. Along with James L. Marsh, Brown co-edited and authored Faith, Resistance, and the Future: Daniel Berrigan's Challenge to Catholic Social Thought. She has been a member of the Kairos community, co-founded by Berrigan, since 1996.
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Ryan Di Corpo
Ryan Di Corpo is a Boston-based journalist and editor whose writing has appeared in The Washington Post, America, Boston College Magazine and other outlets. Ryan Di Corpo is the managing editor of Outreach, an LGBTQ Catholic resource.
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Colleen Dulle
Colleen Dulle is an associate editor of America magazine. She serves on the advisory committee of the Dorothy Day Guild and the board of directors of the Ignatian Solidarity Network. Although she no longer serves actively on the DBC steering committee, she manages the website.
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Terry Moran
Terrence J. Moran is a priest, a member of the NYC-based Kairos Peace Community, co-founded by Daniel Berrigan, and works as the Director of the Office of Peace, Justice, and Ecological Integrity for the Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth in New Jersey.
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John Noble
John Noble is the Director of Development at Pax Christi USA, and is active in ecumenical peace and justice work in Des Moines, Iowa. John is an active member of Downtown Disciples, a progressive community with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
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Kathy O’Leary
Kathy O’Leary is the regional coordinator for Pax Christi, NJ and was elected to the National Council in 2023. She has been focusing on the issue of immigration detention since 2007. She has written and contributed to reports, articles, and op-eds on ICE detention; organized local, state-wide, and regional protests and vigils; and worked on deportation defense campaigns.
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Bill Wylie-Kellerman
Bill, a life-long resident of Detroit, is a nonviolent community activist, author, teacher, and retired United Methodist pastor, most recently serving St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Detroit. He was a long-time friend of Dan Berrigan and is the author of Celebrant’s Flame: Daniel Berrigan in Memory and Reflection.
About our logo
The logo of the Daniel Berrigan Collective, designed by Sister Donna Korba, IHM, is inspired by a pendant that Dan frequently wore. The pendant shows the early Christian symbol of the ἰχθύς/ichthys, the Greek word for fish. The letters also stand for the Greek words “Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior.” By hearkening to the early days of Christianity, it reflects Dan’s perennial effort to get to the heart of the matter – to the call of the Gospel and its implications for resistance to Empire. The fish was also a symbol of the Eucharist because of its appearance in the miracle of the loaves and fishes, present in all four gospels.
The logo contains the words that are key to the mission of the Daniel Berrigan Collective: Contemplation, Community, Resistance.
Dan on contemplation:
“I just think we need to release the contemplative springs within.”
Dan on community:
“The work of tactic, which is always very captivating to people in bad times-‘What is the tactic?’-that is in itself a captivation. The first question is ‘Where is the community?’ and then out of community comes naturally the tactic.”
Dan on resistance:
“I am convinced that contemplation is a political act of the highest value, implying the riskiest consequences to those taking part. Union with[God]leads [people], in a sense charged with legal jeopardy, to resistance against false, corrupting, coercive, imperialist policy. The saints were right: their best moments were on the run, in jail, at the edge of social respectability.”