Word: drafted
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...first draft was submitted last June to the 285 active American bishops. Among those objecting to the letter then was Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger. While praising the document's recognition of the right to legitimate self-defense, Weinberger insisted that "safety requires an armory of arms." Defending the first-use doctrine, he wrote: "Were NATO to forgo the possibility of a nuclear response to armed aggression, the Warsaw Pact might conclude that the risks of conventional attack against Western Europe were acceptable." National Security Adviser William Clark also wrote a detailed response to the first draft. Said...
...draft issued last week contains some revisions, but overall it is even more fervent in its opposition to the Administration's policies than the previous document. The White House, which has sought to deflect attention from arms control issues during the campaign, decided to delay any formal response until after the election. But at his first formal news conference in 21 months, Weinberger last week strongly defended Reagan's proposed strategic buildup. Said the Defense Secretary: "A nuclear freeze would weaken the deterrent forces we rely on to prevent war. We think freezing at this point is something...
...even thought of the possible impact on the elections," says Bishop John O'Connor, auxiliary military vicar and one of the document's coauthors. Says Chicago Archbishop Joseph Bernardin, who chaired the five-bishop panel: "I am sure no one really believes that we made public our draft to influence the elections...
...proposed letter represents a careful compromise by the authors, who studied 1,000 pages of comment on their first draft. Bishop Gumbleton pressed for the most pacifist approach, while Bishop O'Connor tended to oppose harsh criticism of U.S. policy. It specifically addresses the responsibilities of Catholics as individuals. "As citizens we wish to affirm our loyalty to our country and its ideals, yet we must also hold to the universal principles proclaimed by the church...
...most divisive dispute was over the legitimacy of deterrence as a justification for a nuclear arms program. Pope John Paul II addressed this moral problem in a statement he sent to the U.N. after the first draft had been written. The Pope said deterrence "may still be judged morally acceptable," but added that it could not be considered "an end in itself and "it is indispensable not to be satisfied with this minimum, which is always susceptible to the real danger of explosion." This formulation follows the guidelines established by the Second Vatican Council in 1962-65, which wrestled with...