The “Trial of the Catonsville Nine” made an appearance at St. John’s last weekend. Along with the play, Frank Cordaro, SJU Theology School graduate and political activist, was also seen around the SJU campus.
The “Trial of the Catonsville Nine” tells the story of the nine Catholic activists who burned draft files in Catonsville, Md. to protest for the Vietnam War.
While attending SJU, Cordaro, along with over 30 students and faculty, also participated in an act of civil disobedience as a means of effecting social change. Taking place from 1983-1985, the act was set much closer to home. It was, in fact, on the SJU campus.
Using the St. John the Baptist statue from the SJU Abbey, the group conducted a prayer vigil on the church’s lawn to oppose the continuation of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) on campus. The group believed the Benedictine values of the university clashed with ROTC values.
“We brought the statue outside the Abbey as a statement,” Cordaro said. “If John the Baptist was alive today, he would have been out there with us.”
The group conducted weekly prayer vigils, hoping to spread their opinion that ROTC at a Benedictine college and university contradicts the way of life of Jesus, or of peace.
“Jesus would not study war on a Benedictine campus,” Cordaro said. “The SJU campus should not provide opportunities of war.”
A two-year study was conducted and followed by a vote to determine whether ROTC should continue to be present on campus or not. The majority of monks, faculty and students voted to keep ROTC.
Lieutenant Colonel James Fischer, an ROTC instructor at SJU, thinks the Benedictine values play an important role in the teaching of ROTC classes.
“The army needs Benedictine officers from the thought processes and methods of learning to the importance of listening; each is valuable. In the defense of a country done by citizens, you want to have training of officers be as diverse as possible,” Lt. Col. Fischer said.
Lt. Col. Fischer believes ROTC gives Benedictines who have reservations about the military a chance to influence the military by teaching its future leaders.
“If Catholic Benedictine colleges and other universities no longer had ROTC, officer training would most likely be limited to military schools like West Point, the Virginia Military Institute, the Citadel, Texas A&M, Officer Candidate School, etc,” Fischer said. “I cannot think of a more surefire way to segregate the organization from the influence of the people and foster the very climate of militarism we all want to prevent.”
Cordaro thinks a scholarship program for students wishing to study and practice methods of peaceful acts of civil disobedience should be as available for students as much as ROTC.
“Catholic Benedictine colleges and universities should promote peace warriors, not war warriors,” Cordaro said.
Fischer agreed a program funding peaceful methods of civil disobedience is a good idea.
“No opposition to it; I like it as a method, but non-violent protests don’t work in every situation. If the Peace Corp. was funded for scholarships, it would be a great idea,” Fischer said.
Cordaro said students who want to practice civil disobedi- ence can get involved in organiza- tions like the Des Moines Catholic Worker, where Cordaro is a member.
“Behind every question, ask ‘What would Jesus do?’” Cordaro said.