The Rev. Daniel Berrigan — the late Roman Catholic priest who emerged as a prominent peace activist during the Vietnam War era — was remembered by Hawaii friends during a Campaign Nonviolence event Thursday at the University of Hawaii’s Newman Center.

The event, which featured a film screening and readings of Berrigan’s poems and excerpts from his numerous books, was part of International Week of Peace activities sponsored by Pace e Bene (peace and all good).

Wally Inglis, a retired Catholic priest and Maryknoll School teacher who was a friend of Berrigan’s for more than four decades, organized the event. Inglis and his wife, Kay, named their first child Daniel after Berrigan, who died in May after a long illness at age 94.

“In my desire to be a person who is committed to active nonviolence,” Inglis said, “Dan’s example and words are a constant reminder that part-time, scattered dedication to the pursuit of peace and justice is hardly enough.”

Inglis, who served as a priest in Los Angeles, Boston and Taiwan, added that Berrigan “had little tolerance for silence in the face of injustice.”

Berrigan, a Jesuit, and his brother, the Rev. Philip Berrigan, a Josephite priest, became leaders in the 1960s anti-war movement.

On May 17, 1968, the brothers and other activists entered a draft board in Catonsville, Md., and removed the records of men about to be sent to Vietnam. The group burned the files outdoors, in garbage cans.

The “Catonsville Nine” were convicted on federal charges of destroying U.S. property and interfering with the Selective Service Act of 1967. They were sentenced on Nov. 9, 1968, to prison terms ranging from two to 3-1/2 years.

According to an Associated Press report, when asked in 2009 by America, a national Catholic magazine, whether he had any regrets, Daniel Berrigan replied: “I could have done sooner the things I did, like Catonsville.”

In 1972, Berrigan came to Hawaii to support his friend, Jim Albertini, and two other anti-war activists when they were on trial in Honolulu for pouring blood on files at Hickam Air Base.

Berrigan and his brother inspired similar actions across the country, including at Camp Smith in Aiea on Ash Wednesday in 1981, said Inglis.

During that protest, a dozen anti-war activists went uninvited to conduct a liturgy, which included the spreading of ashes on Camp Smith’s walls, he said. The group included Albertini, Inglis’ wife (holding the couple’s infant daughter) and the Rev. Dan Dever, who was then schools superintendent for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu. Dever also served as a founding chaplain for the Newman Center, where a building now bears his name.

Inglis said, “For all of his notoriety and acclaim, Daniel Berrigan was a gentle, soft-spoken and humble man. He disliked being tagged with the ‘hero’ label — diverting whatever credit due to his wider community of gospel-inspired peacemakers.”