(9 of 12)
Beginning work in July 1981, the Bernardin committee held 14 hearings and heard from 36 witnesses, including Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger and his predecessor, Harold Brown, SALT Negotiator Gerard Smith, as well as theologians, Bible scholars, physicians and peace protesters. Bernardin sent a copy of the first draft of the committee's report to the Pope, who is said to have approved it.
When news of the text's dovish stance leaked last June, National Security Adviser Clark wrote fellow Catholics asking them to press the Administration views upon the bishops. The topic doubtless came up when Clark and President Reagan lunched with the Pope's top aide, Agostino Cardinal Casaroli, in Hartford on Aug. 3. On Sept. 13, Weinberger sent Bernardin a carefully worded statement making the same points that Clark made later. In October, retired General Vernon Walters, a State Department troubleshooter, quietly visited Rome to brief Pope John Paul on the Administration's position on nuclear strategy, among other matters. The White House campaign changed the view of neither the bishops nor the Pope.
The anguished discussion of the bishops in Washington about the morality of nuclear deterrence reflected only part of a far broader debate that is building about the proper place of the bishops and the church they serve in the modern world. The debate involves a number of respected Catholic thinkers. The four main points currently at issue:
Church and State. A few critics make the flimsy charge that the bishops' activism, particularly their zealous support for measures that would overturn the Supreme Court's abortion ruling, violates the constitutional principle of church-state separation. Not only is there no clear legal bar against such efforts, but just about every U.S. denomination has entered politics at one time or another. Says Archbishop Roach: "We may never allow the separation of church and state to be used to separate the church from society." Former Defense Secretary James Schlesinger disagrees with the bishops' view on deterrence, but says: "Some laymen would like the bishops to confine their discussion to kissing on the first date. Bishops have as much right to comment as anybody else."
Rabbi Balfour Brickner, a longtime social-action official for Reform Judaism, has battled Catholic officialdom on abortion. Yet he says of the nuclear issue, "They let us carry the ball alone for too long. Bring on the bishops!" But Archbishop Peter Gerety, 70, of Newark, warns, "We have to make clear that we are not trying to write legislation or elect politicians." In some cases bishops have veered close to doing both on the abortion issue.
The Bishops' Competence. Numerous critics argue that writing detailed prescriptions on nuclear strategy is simply beyond the bishops' scope of knowledge. At least one bishop is inclined to agree. Peoria's Edward O'Rourke, 65, thinks the clergy are experts on moral principles, but not always on how to apply them: "I'm not confident we bishops have the ability to tell the President of the U.S. how to get the world out of the dangerous position in which it finds itself. If I were that wise, I wouldn't be sitting here in