"During the first three months of 1972 a trial took place in the middle
district of Pennsylvania: THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA versus Eqbal
Ahmad, Philip Berrigan, Elizabeth McAlister, Neil McLaughlin, Anthony
Scoblick, Mary Cain Scoblick, Joseph Wenderoth. The defendants stood
accused of conspiring to raid federal offices, to bomb government
property, and to kidnap presidential advisor Henry Kissinger. Six of
those seven individuals are, or were, Roman Catholic clergy--priests and
nuns. Members of the new 'Catholic Left.'" --from the introduction
When The Harrisburg 7 and the New Catholic Left was originally
published in 1972, it remained on The New York Times Book Review "New
and Recommended" list for six weeks and was selected as one of the
Notable Books of the Year. Now, forty years later, William O'Rourke's
book eloquently speaks to a new generation of readers interested in
American history and the religious anti-war protest movements of the
Vietnam era.
O'Rourke brings to life the seven anti-war activists, who were
vigorously prosecuted for alleged criminal plots, filling in the drama
of the case, the trial, the events, the demonstrations, the panels, and
the people. O'Rourke includes a new afterword that presents a sketch of
the evolution of protest groups from the 1960s and 1970s, including the
history of the New Catholic Left for the past four decades, claiming
that "[a]fter the Harrisburg trial, the New Catholic Left became the
New Catholic Right."
