O Washington
Jones, Arthur
O WASHINGTON Arthur Jones The Bishops in Retreat The Reagan Administration liked it. That unanticipated benediction summed up reaction to the third— and perhaps final—draft of the U.S. Catholic...
...Bernardin was certainly unprepared for the media consensus that the bishops had retreated...
...On the basis of the nuclear arms showing, the media commentators may, for the most part, expect the bishops to withdraw or moderate their criticisms of capitalism, too, by the time any final document is issued...
...Now, such bishops as Bernardin and Roach are learning how hot that glare of public attention can burn...
...Moreover, these voices rightly raise the concern that even the conditional acceptance of deterrence as laid out in a letter such as this might be inappropriately used by some to reinforce the policy of arms building...
...But their nuclear weapons debate has gone on under the full glare of national and international publicity of a kind usually reserved for highly charged political controversies...
...H The Catholic bishops are still finding their way in the highly charged public arena as they press on in their determined effort to tackle tough national issues...
...The third draft still opposes nuclear war...
...Both Cardinal Joseph L. Bernardin of Chicago, who headed the war and peace panel, and Archbishop John R. Roach of Minneapolis, president of the bishops' national conference, felt obliged to hold a follow-up press conference to deny that the bishops had yielded to White House pressure...
...Over the next several days, however, it must have been obvious to him that the television and print media did not buy his interpretation...
...Whether it is, in fact, the final draft will depend on the bishops, who will assemble in Chicago early in May to debate and vote on this new rendering...
...From the White House...
...Reporters deal in the categorical: The bishops either backed down or they didn't...
...still supports a "no first strike" policy...
...In fact, what the bishops did was take a half-step backwards...
...And in retreat they lose their attractiveness to the media on this issue...
...Three things already are certain: f The favorable response of the President's national security adviser, William P. Clark, and of the State Department confirmed the extent to which the five-bishop drafting committee had softened the letter's language...
...They are less likely to arouse coverage of their future sorties into sensitive fields...
...Catholic bishops' letter on war and peace...
...Was it pressure from the Vatican...
...They currently have a committee, similar to the war and peace committee, examining capitalism...
...Does it have ramifications for the other issues Catholics have been tackling, from poverty in Appalachia to the VICTORJUHASZ plight of the family farm in the Middle West...
...For example, the second draft had called for a "halt" to further nuclear testing, production, and deployment...
...Until a few years ago, the bishops were always media shy...
...still supports a nuclear test ban treaty...
...Immediately following his NCEA talk, Bernardin found himself facing a brisk barrage of questions from reporters seeking to know why the bishops were backing down...
...In a front-page analysis, Tom Fox, editor of the National Catholic Reporter, pinpointed what Catholic peace activists regard as the crucial and lamentable changes: "In terms of national politics," wrote Fox, the pastoral letter "represents an accommodation to basic tenets of U.S...
...No one is guessing which way the vote will go when the bishops gather in Chicago...
...In terms of church, he added, the letter "represents a significant retreat from a moral analysis used by the bishops for the past half-decade, that appeared to be moving them toward a condemnation of the possession of nuclear weapons...
...How serious is the bishops' back-down...
...Is this mention of "strong voices," without actually heeding them in the letter's recommendations, a capitulation to harsh criticism of the second draft by the Reagan Administration...
...But the Catholic bishops had raised expectations in the peace movement, and perhaps in the population at large, that having taken two giant strides with the first two drafts of their letter, they would take a third magnificent step...
...They also may be learning that subtlety has little part in the public debate...
...the third draft calls for a "curb...
...We won...
...The best Bernardin could offer was that the third draft of the pastoral letter was "more flexible...
...he would rather believe there had been a "secret deal" with the White House...
...No wonder the Reagan Administration was quick to cheer and proclaim, "We won...
...the Church either opposes the production of nuclear weapons, their role in deterrence, and their future deployment, or it doesn't...
...However, the third draft itself reveals some of the passion likely to influence that debate: "We do acknowledge that there are many strong voices within our own episcopal ranks and within the wider Catholic community in the United States which challenge the strategy of deterrence as an adequate response to the arms race today...
...11 The third draft did not get the reception at least two leading Catholic churchmen expected...
...any decision needs a two-thirds majority in favor...
...So, by what Bernardin called the more "nuanced" approach, the Catholic bishops are seen to be in retreat...
...Did the bishops back down...
...The cardinal released the third draft on April 6 at the Washington meeting of some 12,000 National Catholic Educational Association members, a friendly audience which, the next day, gave a warm and good-humored reception to Ronald Reagan...
...still opposes deployment of missiles aimed at civilian population centers...
...Should the bishops be concerned about the media's interpretation of their position...
...Addressing a Georgetown University audience, Berrigan said he would be distressed if this draft represented the bishops' own thinking...
...No answers came...
...Jesuit Father Daniel Berrigan said he hoped the Administration had interfered...
...nuclear arms policies despite key differences with elements of those policies...
...From the European bishops...
Vol. 47 • May 1983 • No. 6
