By Thea Jarvis

A receptive, interested crowd gathered at Holy Cross Church in Chamblee Sunday, October 10 to hear Archbishop Thomas Donnellan discuss "The Church's Teaching on Nuclear Armaments."

From the outset, the archbishop made it clear that the topic was a complex one, complicated by the fact that many confuse the teaching of the Church with the teachings of individuals within the Church who are speaking out on nuclear issues.

He outlined the traditional position held by the Church on war and the bearing of arms, using the post-Vatican II theological encyclopedia, "Sacramentum Mundi," edited by Father Karl Rahner, as a major source.

The Church repudiates the power politics of the international arena that frequently lead to war, the archbishop noted, but does not follow a line of absolute pacifism, judging that to do so would be to ignore the possibility of necessary defensive conflict.

"War may become legitimate if there is no other means to remedy injustice," the archbishop explained, adding that the Church embraced a middle position in which it is "possible to have a forceful defense of your rights which could include war."

The four reasons for a just war, incorporated into the Church's body of moral theology -- a clear injustice, the exhaustion of all peaceful means of resolving a conflict, a proportion between the gravity of the injustice and the damage war would inflict, and reasonable hope for success -- would seem to be applicable in the modern nuclear era, the archbishop commented. The devastation wrought by nuclear armaments, however, would indicate that "even in a just cause we are not to unleash a total nuclear war," he said.

The archbishop discussed the direction American bishops, in the light of traditional Church teachings on war, are presently following.

The current agenda of the National Council of Catholic Bishops calls for consideration of a pastoral letter, "God's Hope in a Time of Fear," at their November meeting. The document touches on a wide range of interrelated topics; among them war, peace, nuclear arms and respect for life.

The bishop hoped to have final work on the letter completed at the late fall conference, but "it is obvious it is far too complex a question for the document to be issued as early as that," Archbishop Donnellan observed.

A good deal of "discussion, editing, working out of philosophy" is needed to allow the pastoral to provide a representative range of thought and input, he said.

Meanwhile, the archbishop related, bishops around the country have spoken out on nuclear issues and "obviously, there are some questions the bishops will be divided on." These include unilateral disarmament, the use of nuclear arms as a deterrent force, the morality of nuclear weaponry in certain situations, employment in the nuclear weapons industry and payment of taxes to a government which funds a nuclear buildup.

For himself, Archbishop Donnellan admits that "even on the theory of a just war, I couldn't justify the dropping of an atomic bomb." He is embarrassed by the fact that the United States is the only country in the world to have used an atomic weapon.

His personal feelings do not preclude his understanding that others, in following their own consciences, may not agree with his views or those of other bishops.

"They may be perfectly good Catholics and be on two different sides of the question," the archbishop replied to an audience query. The Church's teaching on a just war may be clear, he said, but people must personally apply these principles to specific situations.

Church members who give the impression that their personal opinions are to be taken as the official Church directives are not in tune with the fundamental rights of the individual conscience, he pointed out.

"They can't impose them on you as obligations," the archbishop concluded.