berrigan published "sorrow built a bridge: friendship and aids" reflecting on his experiences ministering to aids patients through the supportive care program at st. vincent's hospital and medical center in 1989. the "religious studies review" wrote, "the strength of this volume lies in its capacity to portray sensitively the impact of aids on human lives." speaking about aids patients, many of whom were gay, "the charlotte observer" quoted berrigan saying in 1991, "both the church and the state are finding ways to kill people with aids, and one of the ways is ostracism that pushes people between the cracks of respectability or acceptability and leaves them there to make of life what they will or what they cannot."