(1983)
On May 3, 1983, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops promulgated a pastoral letter on war and peace, The Challenge of Peace: God's Promise and Our Response. Addressing Roman Catholics and non-Catholics alike, the American bishops restated the moral implications of war, nuclear stockpiling, and other policies of nuclear deterrence. The letter came during the last phase of the cold war, which had culminated in a renewed arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union. Furthermore, the letter appeared in the midst of Ronald W. Reagan’s first term in office, when he had taken a tough stance against the Soviet Union, calling it an “evil empire.” The letter, in effect, encouraged peace activists who were calling for a “nuclear freeze” in the arms race, while at the same time creating great controversy among anti-Soviet conservatives who supported the administration defense buildup.
From the start of his pontificate in 1978, Pope John Paul II sought to reduce the threat of nuclear war and promote the cause of global peace. In two addresses to the United Nations, the pope recognized that nuclear deterrence could temporarily prevent war, but warned that it was ultimately unsatisfactory because it relied on the threat of global destruction. He asked that any future efforts toward peace include a genuine commitment to disarmament and implored the assembled nations to devote as much energy to spiritual renewal as they did to technological innovation.
The National Conference of Catholic Bishops applied the pontiff’s principles specifically to the policies of the United States. The Challenge of Peace recognized the nation’s right and duty to protect itself from unjust aggression but condemned even the defensive use of nuclear weapons because they indiscriminately kill innocent civilians and noncombatants. The bishops urged the United States to pursue bilateral verifiable agreements that would halt the testing, production, and deployment of nuclear weapon technology; significantly reduce existing stockpiles; encourage global restrictions on the sales of conventional weapons; and establish a global authority with which to police the nonproliferation of all weapons of mass destruction.
The bishops’ letter came under immediate attack by conservative groups who believed that the call for disarmament was naive and counterproductive. NeoconserVATIVEs such as Max Kampelman and Roman Catholic conservatives such as George Weigel criticized the bishops in a well-publicized campaign and countered that unilateral disarmament was dangerous and that the Soviet Union had failed to live up to arms reduction treaties in the past. Realistic arms control, these opponents maintained, could only be accomplished by tough-minded negotiations with the Soviet Union that allowed for on-site inspection and verified arms reductions.
See also Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty; delense policy; LoREIGN PoLIcY; IrANIAN HosTAGE cRIsIs; Kissinger, Henry A.; nuclear lreeze movement.
—Aharon W. Zorea
World History
