Archbishop Paul J. Hallinan says he does not know if his support of the “Negotiation Now!” campaign to end the war in Vietnam reflects the thinking of people in the archdiocese.

In reply to a newsman’s question, the archbishop said, “I know from my mail that I am not speaking for about a dozen people in the archdiocese. I cannot say that I do not speak for most Catholics.

“What I am saying as an archbishop is an opinion that flows from my position as the spiritual leader of the archdiocese. It is drawn from the position of the Church and from the statements and writings of the popes.”

Archbishop Hallinan and three other American bishops held press conferences last week in different parts of the country to outline their support of the campaign. The others were Bishop Victor J. Reed of Oklahoma City-Tulsa; Auxiliary Bishop James P. Shannon of Minneapolis-St. Paul and Auxiliary Bishop John J. Dougherty of Newark, president of Seton Hall University.

The bishops asked the United States to halt bombing of North Vietnam and to take further initiatives to bring about negotiations among all parties in the conflict. The campaigns seeks one million signatures to present to President Johnson.

The archbishop said he was supporting “Negotiation Now!” because it is a “bringing together of support that has not been tried.” He said he did not think hackers of “Negotiation Now!” advocate immediate U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam and “I do not think that at any time we can accuse the president of insincerity or equivocation.”

The four prelates had signed the “Negotiation Now!” petition several weeks ago.

The statement of the four bishops follows:

When he visited the United Nations and repeatedly since then, Pope Paul VI has voiced his fervent hopes for “peace…war no more!”

Again this week, the new and perilous escalation of the war in Vietnam seems to take us another step away from this hope and down the path which could lead to confrontation with Communist China and World War III.

We must speak today because of the growing magnitude of this tragic conflict. To begin to translate Pope Paul’s plea from a hope to a reality, we have joined in support of the national campaign for Negotiation Now! calling for a new national consensus around a bold and dramatic program which adopted offers a chance to bring an end to the killing in Vietnam.

We call on the United States to stop bombing Viet Nam.

We call further upon our government to name a time and place where our negotiators will appear ready to negotiate with official representatives of all parties concerned, including the National Liberation Front.

We call on North Vietnam and the National Liberation Front to respond affirmatively and ask South Vietnam to respect and join in these steps.

We ask our government to reaffirm our offer of a billion dollar economic program through the United Nations.

We urge vigorous support for internationally supervised free elections. Only through democratic elections can all political factions bring their programs to the people of South Vietnam, not by terror and violence but by orderly political processes. We reject the call for unilateral withdrawal of the United States from responsibility for helping to establish a stable peace in Southeast Asia. We reject also the present tragic entrapment in which the war’s gradual escalation skirts World War III and brutalizes and degrades all nations and political forces involved.

With growing dismay we have viewed a public climate increasingly characterized by troubled acceptance of military escalation or by intemperate dissent which in condemning the policies of our own country has too often ignored the obstacles to peace posed by North Vietnam and the National Liberation Front.

We call today not for minority dissent but for majority affirmation of a new course by our government. Not simply for de-escalation but for bold and dramatic action which can bring a response from the other side. We ask of our government more than an expression of willingness to negotiate.

Along with U Thant, secretary general of the United Nations, and Pope Paul VI we believe the initiatives listed above would maximize the chances for beginning negotiations.

While there have been bombing pauses in the past, never before have we tried simultaneously the actions which we call for today. We earnestly call upon our fellow clergymen, Catholics and all Americans for their prayers in this hour of peril, and for their help in showing President Johnson that they support the United States’ initiatives to end this war. In seeking one million signatures to the Negotiation Now! petition, we urge every American to sign this call and to help gather signatures in their families, in their parishes, and in their community. We believe in America’s ability to take these steps, not simply to end this war, but to begin to strengthen the international institutions of law needed to prevent wars or future Vietnams.