Prophets without Honor

Sound Bite

This is a story of political protest grounded in historical necessity.It is the story of a group of American men who happen to be priests — who happen to have served decades in American prisons. It is a story about America; a story told before only in bits and pieces, hints and nods.Most of these men began their clerical careers as missionaries in Brazil, the Philippines, and Bolivia, and discovered America in the process. They discovered that the trail of the poor leads directly back to the United States. It leads directly to Rupiper’s home in Carroll, Iowa; to Rosebaugh and Kabat’s roots in rural Illinois; to Cordaro’s Des Moines Italian household. They also discovered that the America they grew up in never existed. They read history and learned about America’s militarism, its attempts at global hegemony — and they felt they must resist. They wanted with all their hearts for their childhood America to be made real — a just and loving America — even if that meant they must spend years behind prison walls.

About the Book

"Radical priests" laid it on the line, challenging government, corporations and the Church. Some were jailed; some were killed. Personal accounts tell why they had to do it - and why governments and the Church fought so hard to stop them. The book tells the story of a group of American men who happen to be priests - who happen to have served decades in American prisons - and the stalwart women who helped them form an international movement called Plowshares. In so doing, the book tells the morally patriotic story of America, a story told before only from behind an open hand across the face, like a football coach talking to his spotters in full view of a national television audience, afraid someone might see. Darrell Rupiper, Larry Rosebaugh and Carl Kabat are Oblate missionary priests. Frank Cordaro is a diocesan priest from Des Moines. Roy Bourgeois is a Maryknoll priest. Charlie Liteky is an ex-Trinitarian priest. Rupiper was in the national spotlight during the Iran hostage crisis. He traveled to Iran as part of team of clerics hoping to gain the release of the hostages. Rosebaugh now lives with the poor in El Salvador. He was a member of the Milwaukee 14, a group that burned draft records in accord with the example set by the Berrigan brothers at Catonsville, Maryland in 1968. Kabat has served over 16 years in United States federal and state prisons since 1980 as a result of his anti-military actions. Cordaro has served half a dozen federal prison terms for his anti-nuclear activities. He has also given sanctuary to a manure spreader in support of Iowa farmers. During the Carter presidency Cordaro found himself on the front page of the Washington Post after he stood in front of Carter during a press conference to tell the world the truth about the SALT treaty. Bourgeois, from the deep south and a former military officer who served in Vietnam, recently made his own front-page news [NY Times, Washington Post, others] as leader of the massive protests at Fort Benning, Georgia calling for the closing of the School of the Americas. Bourgeois and Rosebaugh also served prison terms in the 1980s when they sneaked into Fort Benning, climbed a tree and played a tape outside the Salvadoran soldiers' barracks of the last sermon given by slain archbishop Oscar Romero.Liteky is a former chaplain who served in Vietnam. He received the Congressional Medal of Honor, and later surrendered it, challenging General Abrams and President Nixon in the process. With the exception of Cordaro, all of these men began their clerical careers as missionaries, in Brazil, the Philippines, Bolivia and Vietnam, and discovered America in the process. They discovered that the trail of the poor leads through such countries directly back to America. It leads directly to Rupiper's home in Carroll, Iowa; to Rosebaugh and Kabat's roots in rural Illinois; to Cordaro's Des Moines Italian household, and to the nation's capital, where Liteky was born. They also discovered that the America they grew up in never existed. They read history and learned about America's militarism, its attempts at global hegemony, and they felt they must resist. They wanted with all their hearts for their childhood America to be made real - a just and loving America - even if that meant they must spend years behind prison walls.

Table content

Introduction Historical Prologue: Prophetic Words Borrowed from Berrigan and Gorbachev 1. Prophets Hearing Voices from History 2. Political Prophecies: Divine Atomic Right to Rule 3. Slippery Footing: Bananas, Oil And Cold War Ice 4. Lionsden Prophecy: We The System 5. Prophecy Globalized: Trilateralism and Secret Teams 6. Good Land for Prophet-Making Schlesinger and McGovern Scope It Out Priests Venture In, Where Ã??'Food for PeaceÃ??' Fears to Tread A Bit of Darrell RupiperÃ??'s Story 7. Lies to America, Lies to the Church: Rupiper and Vietnam Showing Up the Communists Showing Up the Viet Cong 8. Prophecies in Blood and Fire The Baltimore Four The Catonsville Nine Larry RosebaughÃ??'s Story 9. A Ticket to Ã??'Nam Albert Chuck The Nelsons Jerry Bill ArtieA Mother 10. The Confirmation of Prophets Urban Renewal Rupiper and GramsÃ??' Last Words in Recife Kabat Takes a Turn 11. Through a Stained Glass Window, Darkly How to Get SACÃ??'d Marylyn Felion Jean Petersen And the Nukes Go On 12. When Omaha Collides with Recife Mike Palecek Cruel, but All Too Usual 13. Heartburn in the Heartland Frank Cordaro Love Intervenes, Prophecy Triumphs Tom Cordaro and Angela Cordaro Bishop Dingman 14. Secret Memos and Smoking Guns Sowing the Seeds Reaping What was Sown 15. Of Hostages and Prophets: Rupiper in Iran Respect And Now, Disrespect A Prophecy, Like Life, Goes On 16. Iran-Contra: The Eichmann Corollary A Short, Modern History Oliver North and the South, the East and the West Which Laws for Which Citizens? Disclosure, If Not Closure A Whole Cast of Liars Plots and Subplots 17. Prophecies over the Death Squads Roy Bourgeois Linda Ventimiglia Rosebaugh and Bourgeois Keep the ProphetsÃ??' Faith Another Round at Fort Benning The Plowshares Eight 18. Nuclear-Walled Jericho The Plowshares Eight The German Plowshares Silo Pruning Hooks When Good Friday was April FoolÃ??'s Day 19. All For Oil: Desert Storm and Orphan Guts A Favor They Could Not Resist Other Organs of War 20. Post Mortem of the Conquest They Are Still Killing 21. The Church in Prophetic Crisis 22. The Prophetic Question 23. From Des Moines to Nuremberg to Rome and Back Michael Sprong Frank Cordaro 24. Medals for Heroes of Peace, Not War Charles Ã??'AngeloÃ??' Liteky Willa Elam and the Challenge of Making a Challenge 25. Prophecy Betrayed Carl Kabat: Nine Strikes, YouÃ??'re Out Paul Kabat 26. Prophecy of Plowshares in Space 27. Andromeda, Strained 28. At A Place Called Eden 29. Observing Prophecy in the Courtroom Carl and the Next Generation 30. Prophetic Aftershocks AFTERWORD: IS THERE A WAY OUT? Prophetic Postscript: Towers of Babel Prophets, What Say You, Now? APPENDIX: THE LIVES AND Ã??'CRIMESÃ??' OF THE PROPHETS