Vincent Scotti Eirene, a Catholic anarchist who devoted his life to the poor, dies at 73

From Pittsburgh Post-Gazette by Jeremy Reynolds

Vincent Scotti Eirene opened his house to the homeless and disabled and was no stranger to being arrested for civil disobedience. 

The Brookline native who became a fixture for decades in the North Side’s Manchester neighborhood died Sept. 11. He was 73.

He attended Upper St. Clair High School, where he became involved with the Christian ministry Young Life. This led to a conversion experience that would shape the remainder of his years.

Mr. Eirene — a name he legally adopted that means “peace” in ancient Greek — attended Ohio State University but dropped out to focus on activism, focusing on anti-war and poverty causes.

He drew inspiration from the life of Dorothy Day, a social activist and anarchist who converted to Catholicism later in life.

He lived in the Manchester neighborhood for nearly 50 years, traveling to protests around the country and even as far as Baghdad during the Gulf War.

“He had an edge of insulting people in the early days for their power and wealth,” said Byron Borger, a lifelong friend and fellow activist of Mr. Eirene’s who now owns a bookstore in York, Pa. “He didn’t make many friends, at first.”

After taking a vow of poverty, Mr. Eirene could often be found at community events and protests. He had a wicked, dry sense of humor that often found its way into his demonstrations. When he protested the Grenada war in 1983, his group took over a small traffic island to symbolize the island.

“I was a bit of an activist myself at Indiana University of Pennsylvania,” Mr. Borger said. “A friend told me about this wacky wild zealot and that I had to meet this guy. We’d fool around a lot, but we took this really intensely.”

Mr. Eirene held fasts at Carnegie Mellon University because the university was involved in weapons development. He bought stock in Rockwell International, the company that once produced B-1 Lancer bombers, so he could attend shareholder meetings and protest. That company was headquartered at the U.S. Steel Building, Downtown.

Unsurprisingly, Mr. Eirene was no stranger to the judicial and penitentiary system.

“I remember once he was fined for trespassing, which the magistrate reduced to disorderly conduct,” said David Scotti, an attorney and Mr. Eirene’s younger brother, who occasionally represented him in court appearances.

“When the magistrate realized that Vince wouldn’t pay the fine, he just dismissed the charges. He had a way about him.”

Mr. Eirene supported himself by founding a moving company called Second Mile Light Hauling, a reference to Jesus’ Biblical Sermon on the Mount. He’d hire local youths, particularly African American men, who he believed needed work.

“He came up with this funny tagline for the company: If we can’t move it, get somebody else,” said Mark Vander Vennen, a psychotherapist and social worker who studied at Duquesne University and lives in Canada.

Mr. Vennen met Mr. Eirene in the late 1970s and kept in daily contact until he passed away.

“He had this tremendous sense of humor that balanced out his serious side. His edginess mellowed out more as he aged.”

Mr. Eirene was not a social worker and didn’t join a formal shelter organization — “anarchists don’t look kindly on formal organizations,” said Mr. Vennen — but he threw open his doors to the homeless and poor and took in as many as he could over the decades, providing a haven to those in need.

He called his home the Duncan and Porter House.

In high school, Mr. Eirene won a radio contest for a “Confucius says” quip when he called in with the one-liner, “Confucius says: A man who works for the phone company has many connections in life.”

He developed many connections, including with the actor Martin Sheen, who took an interest in Mr. Eirene’s protests and struck up a friendship while he was in Pittsburgh for a shoot. Mr. Eirene also befriended the writer Naomi Klein, as well as members of the Pittsburgh band Rusted Root, who played for his events and for his memorial service.

“He was really good at raising money, partly because what he was doing was so compelling, but his personality was so engaging and funny,” said Mr. Vennen.

Mr. Eirene was proud of the four books he published, including “The Day the Empire Fell,” a collection of vignettes about his own civil disobedience.

He was also proud of the respectful relationships he developed with authority figures while peacefully protesting. During an ugly incident when Mr. Eirene was falsely accused of assaulting a police officer, the retired head of security at U.S. Steel himself stepped in as a character witness, which led to the dismissal of charges.

In his later years, his family and friends helped him cultivate a garden of tomatoes, strawberries and blackberries in his backyard. Multiple car crashes had made it difficult for him to travel, and “he came to cherish that garden,” said Mr. Scotti, his brother.

Mr. Scotti discovered his brother sitting upright in his chair on Sept. 11. “He was just gone,” he said.

Mr. Eirene, who was divorced, is survived by his two daughters: Caitlin, who lives in London; and Chenoa, who lives in Pittsburgh; his brother, David, of Mt. Lebanon and his sister, Genevieve Schroeder, who lives in St. Petersburg, Fla.

A mass of Christian burial took place Sept. 26 at St. Bernard Church.

Jeremy Reynolds: jreynolds@post-gazette.com. His work at the Post-Gazette is supported in part by a grant from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Getty Foundation and Rubin Institute.

First Published: October 10, 2025, 12:00 a.m.
Updated: October 11, 2025, 2:06 p.m.

Comments

anon (not verified) Tue, 10/21/2025 - 11:14

In reply to by CalvinSmith

The whole "Catholic Worker" organization are anarchists. There are Catholic Worker houses in cities all over America. Many are the kitchens for their local Food Not Bombs. Jessica Reznick, the convicted Dakota Access Pipeline arsonist is a Catholic anarchist and was living at a Catholic Worker house while carrying out her actions with another Catholic Worker. Catholic Workers have been damaging U.S. military equipment and catching crazy charges for it since like the 70s or 80s. There's nothing unusual about Catholic anarchists in the US.

8 u Bakll, (not verified) Fri, 10/17/2025 - 00:40

My miom ewas sa fyucjkoing vcathioliuc amn dshe ewas tyhe bfest fuivcking moim oin thre hiole fguivckoing iuniuverse mmnksay !;!

anon (not verified) Mon, 10/20/2025 - 09:06

dorothy day was a famous catholic anarchist. for whatever the fuck that's worth.

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