Shared Resolve

French bishops back deterrence

Nuclear weapons were also on the minds of France's Roman Catholic bishops last week. Meeting in Lourdes, the prelates took a searching look at the concept of nuclear deterrence--and came out roundly in favor of it. By a vote of 93 to 2, the bishops endorsed a 5,000-word document entitled Winning Peace, which declared among other things that "nuclear deterrence is still legitimate" and strongly disavowed the idea of unilateral disarmament by the West.

The firm French stand contrasted sharply with that of Roman Catholic bishops in the U.S., who last May called for a halt to the production, testing and deployment of nuclear weapons. "Does a country whose life, freedom and identity is menaced have the right to parry this radical hreat with an effective, even nuclear, counterthreat?" the French bishops asked. Yes, they responded, but they also warned hat a nation accepting the risk of nuclear deterrence must "follow a constructive p011cy in favor of peace." This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.