THE
EVOLUTION OF WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES POLICY
ON NUCLEAR ARMS AND DISARMAMENT, 1948-2000*
Prepared by:
Dwain C. Epps, Coordinator, International Relations
World Council of Churches, Geneva
The question of atomic, hydrogen and nuclear weapons
has been at the heart of concerns of the World Council
of Churches since its first Assembly in 1948. It was
a logical focus of an ecumenical movement whose roots
were in Christian peace movements going back to the
late 19th century. The Amsterdam statement laid the
foundations for ecumenical concern in the second half
of the 20th century:
War as a method of settling disputes is incompatible
with the teaching and example of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The part which war plays in our present international
life is a sin against God and a degradation of man.
We recognise that the problem of war raises especially
acute issues for Christians today. Warfare has greatly
changed. War is now total and every man and woman
is called for mobilisation in war service. Moreover,
the immense use of air forces and the discovery of
atomic and other new weapons render widespread and
indiscriminate destruction inherent in the whole conduct
of modern war in a sense never experienced in past
conflicts...
The churches must also attack the causes of war by
promoting peaceful change and the pursuit of justice.
They must stand for the maintenance of good faith
and the honouring of the pledged word, resist the
pretensions of imperialist power, promote the multilateral
reduction of armaments, and combat indifference and
despair in the face of the futility of war...
Report of Section IV, "The Church
and the International Disorder," Official Report
of the First Assembly, Amsterdam, 1948, WCC, Geneva.
p 89.
The II. Assembly responded to developments beyond the
atomic bomb:
The development of nuclear weapons makes this an
age of fear. True peace cannot rest on fear. It is
vain to think that the hydrogen bomb or its development
has guaranteed peace because men will be afraid to
go to war, nor can fear provide an effective restraint
against the temptation to use a decisive weapon either
in hope of total victory or in the desperation of
total defeat.
The thought of all-out nuclear warfare is indeed
horrifying. Such warfare introduces a new moral challenge.
It has served to quicken public concern, and has intensified
awareness of the urgency of finding means of prevention....
An international order of truth and peace would require:
a) under effective international inspection and control
and in such a way that no state would have cause to
fear that its security was endangered, the elimination
and prohibition of atomic, hydrogen and all other
weapons of mass destruction, as well as the reduction
of all armaments to a minimum...
We must also see that experimental tests of hydrogen
bombs have raised issues of human rights, caused suffering
and imposed an additional strain on human relations
between nations. Among safeguards against the aggravation
of these international tensions is the insistence that
nations carry on tests only within their respective
territories, or if elsewhere, only be international
clearance and agreement.
Report of Section IV, "International
Affairs: Christians in the Struggle for World Community,"
Official Report of the Second Assembly, Evanston, 1954,
WCC, Geneva, pp 131-134. The resolutions on International
Affairs adopted by the Assembly did not include specific
reference to nuclear weapons or disarmament.
Between 1954 and 1961, the WCC's Commission of the
Churches on International Affairs (CCIA) spoke and worked
intensively on the need for an international instrument
to control nuclear testing. The III. Assembly further
underscored the dangers of nuclear weapons developments,
and for the first time officially expressed concerns
about the use of outer space.
The most serious problem facing the world today is
that of disarmament. General and complete disarmament
is widely recognized to be the desired goal...
The recent violations of the moratorium on nuclear
bomb testing have shocked the nations into a new realization
of the acute danger and horror of modern warfare.
Churches must protest against the accelerating arms
race and the mounting terror which it portends. The
First Assembly...clearly recognized that war is contrary
to the will of God. War in its newer forms is understood
not only by Christians but the general conscience
of the nations as an offense against both the world
of nature and the race of man, threatening annihilation
and laying on mankind an unbearable burden of cost
and terror. The use of indiscriminate weapons must
now be condemned by the churches as an affront to
the Creator and a denial of the very purposes of the
Creation. Christians must refuse to place their ultimate
trust in war and nuclear weapons. In this situation
the churches must never cease warning governments
of the dangers, and they must repudiate absolutely
the growing conviction in some quarters that the use
of mass destruction weapons has become inevitable.
Christians must press most urgently upon their governments,
as a first step towards the elimination of nuclear
weapons, never to get themselves into a position in
which they contemplate the first use of nuclear weapons.
Christians must also maintain that the use of nuclear
weapons, or other forms of major violence, against
centers of population is in no circumstances reconcilable
with the demands of the Christian Gospel.
Total disarmament is the goal, but it is a complex
and long-term process in which the churches must not
underestimate the importance of first steps. There
may be possibilities of experimenting with limited
geographical areas of controlled and inspected disarmament,
of neutralizing certain zones, of devising security
against surprise attack which would reduce tension,
of controlling the use of outer space....
New Delhi Speaks, Third WCC Assembly,
New Delhi, 1961, Association Press, New York, 1962,
pp 79ff.
The landmark 1966 Church and Society Conference in
Geneva is most often recalled as having brought Third
World perspectives and theologies of liberation onto
the stage of the global ecumenical movement. However
it too devoted particular attention to nuclear war,
based again on the Amsterdam affirmation.
...(The) First Assembly...declared, 'War is contrary
to the will of God'... We now say to all governments
and peoples that nuclear war is against God's will
and the greatest of evils. Therefore we affirm that
it is the first duty of governments and their officials
to prevent nuclear war. ...
The real problem is how the supreme task, to avoid
nuclear war can be carried out... (here there is)
an increasing role for the smaller powers in depolarizing
international affairs....
The churches should add that they have (a) common...duty
to preserve the life of the peoples of this world,
and to work for a world order which will transcend
the present uneasy peace of the equilibrium of power.
It is intolerable for the peace of the world to depend
on a precarious nuclear balance...
Official Report, World Conference
on Church and Society, WCC, Geneva 1966, pp 123ff.
That Conference deeply influenced the agenda of the
IV. Assembly held two years later. That agenda was heavily
devoted to the timely issues of racism and economic
development and others stimulated by the global revolutionary
fervor of the year 1968. But it too spoke out on the
question of nuclear weapons, beginning once more with
the Amsterdam declaration.
The WCC reaffirms its declaration at the (First Assembly):
"War as a method of settling disputes is incompatible
with the teachings and example of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Of all forms of war, nuclear war presents the gravest
affront to the conscience of man. The avoidance of
atomic, biological or chemical war has become a conditions
of human survival...The churches must insist that
it is the first duty of governments to prevent such
a war: to halt the present arms race, agree never
to initiate the use of nuclear weapons, stop experiments
concerned with and the production of weapons of mass
human destruction by chemical and biological means
a move away from the balance of terror towards disarmament.
...
The concentration of nuclear weapons in the hands
of a few nations presents the world with serious problems:
a) how to guarantee the security of the non-nuclear
nations; b) how to enable these nations to play their
part in preventing war, and; c) how to prevent the
nuclear powers from freezing the exiting order at
the expense of changes needed for social and political
justice....
Uppsala Speaks, Fourth WCC Assembly, Uppsala,
1998, Geneva, 1968, pp 62 ff.
The V. Assembly in Nairobi was marked especially by
the global concern for human rights and East-West tensions.
In its Section on "Structures of Injustice and
Struggles for Liberation," to survival, it shifted
the nature of Christian responsibly very significantly
based on ideas provided by the Federation of Churches
in the German Democratic Republic:
Christians must resist the temptation to resign themselves
to a false sense of impotence or security, The churches
should emphasize their readiness to live without the
protection of armaments, and take a significant initiative
in pressing for effective disarmament. Churches, individual
Christians, and members of the public in all countries
should press their governments to ensure national
security without resorting to the use of weapons of
mass destruction...
We appeal to Christians to think, work and pray for
a disarmed world.
Breaking Barriers, The Official
Report of the Fifth Assembly of the WCC, Nairobi,
1995, WCC, Geneva, p 182.
The nuclear arms race accelerated rapidly in the late
1970s, and the CCIA was asked by the Central Committee
to organize a consultation to consider it and the proliferation
of conventional weapons of mass destruction. Its 1978
report noted:
We are living in the shadow of an arms race more
intense, more costly, more widespread and more dangerous
than the world has ever known. Never before has the
arms race been as close as it is now to total self-destruction.
Today's arms race is an unparalleled waste of human
and material resources; it aids repression and violates
human rights; it promotes violence and insecurity
in place of the security in whose name it is undertaken;
it frustrates humanity's aspirations for justice and
peace; it has no part in God's design for His world;
it is demonic.... To hope in Christ is neither to
be complacent about survival nor powerless in the
fear of annihilation by the forces of evil but to
open our eyes to the transcendent reality of Christ
in history.
"Report of
the WCC Consultation on Disarmament," Glion,
Switzerland, 1978, in The Churches in International
Affairs 1974-1978, WCC, Geneva 1979, p 72
That same year, Dr. Philip Potter, WCC General Secretary
brought the concerns highlighted in the consultation
to the attention of the United Nations in a plenary
address to the General Assembly in which he addressed
several of the underlying causes of the global arms
race:
We must challenge the idol of a distorted concept
of national security which is direct to encouraging
fear and mistrust resulting in greater insecurity.
The only security worthy of its name lies in enabling
people to participate fully in the life of their nations
and to establish relations of trust between peoples
of different nations. It is only when there is a real
dialogue -- a sharing of life with life in mutual
trust and respect -- that there can be true security.
Address of Dr. Philip Potter, WCC
General Secretary, to the First Special Session of
the UN General Assembly devoted to Disarmament, NY,
1978. op. cit. p 70f
This concern for national security arose not only as
a causal factor in the super-power nuclear arms race,
but as a justification for massive violations of human
rights, especially by military dictatorships around
the world. The Central Committee linked these concerns
at its meeting in 1979:
...given the need not only to denounce militarism
and the arms race, but to develop positive alternatives
to the present destructive system...and as a matter
of highest priority for the WCC...(the Central Committee
establishes the) Program for Disarmament and against
Militarism and the Arms Race.
Minutes of the WCC Central Committee,
Kingston, Jamaica, 1979; also contained in The Churches
in International Affairs, 1970-82, WCC, Geneva, 1983,
p 35.
The WCC Sub-Unit on Church and Society organized in
1979 a major world Conference on Faith, Science and
the Future in Boston, Massachusetts. It adopted the
following declaration which was subsequently endorsed
by the Executive Committee and commended to the churches:
We, scientists, engineers, theologians and members
of Christian churches from all parts of the world,
participants in the WCC Conference on Faith, Science
and the Future, now meeting at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology (USA), acknowledge with penitence the
part played by science in the development of weapons
of mass destruction and the failure of the churches
to oppose it, and now plead with the nations of the
world for the reduction and eventual abolition of
such weapons.
WHEREAS:
- the arsenals of tens of thousands of nuclear weapons
already constitute a grave peril to humankind:
- sharp changes by the super-powers towards a counterforce
strategy are so destabilizing that sober scientists
estimate a nuclear holocaust is probable before the
end of the century;
- there is widespread ignorance of the horrible experience
of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the even greater implications
of limited or global nuclear war with current and
projected nuclear weapons;
- we are profoundly disturbed by the willingness of
some scientists, engineers and corporations, with
the backing of governments, to pursue profit and prestige
in weapons development at the risk of an unparalleled
destruction of human life;
- the waste of the increasingly scarce materials and
energy resources of the world on the instruments of
war means further deprivation of the poor whom we
are commanded to serve;
- we grieve that so many of the most able scientists,
especially the young ones, are seduced away from the
nobler aspirations of science into the unwitting service
of mutual destruction;
- in a time of radical readjustment of the world economy
the intolerable burden of the nuclear arms race creates
worldwide economic problems;
AND BECAUSE WE BELIEVE:
- that God made us and all creation;
- that He requires us to seek peace, justice and freedom,
creating a world where none need fear and every life
is sacred;
- that with His grace no work of faith, hope and love
need seem too hard for those who trust him;
WE NOW CALL UPON:
- all member communions of the WCC and all sister
churches sending official observers, and through them
each individual church and congregation;
- our fellow religionists and believers in other cultures,
whether Hindu, Jewish, Buddhist or Muslim, and our
Marxist colleagues;
- the science and engineering community, especially
those engaged in research and development, together
with professional scientific associations and trade
unions;
- the governments of all nations and especially the
nuclear powers;
- all concerned citizens of the world;
TO EMBARK IMMEDIATELY ON THE FOLLOWING TASKS:
- to support and implement the WCC Program on Disarmament
and against Militarism and the Arms Race, and give
special emphasis to issues related to military technology
and its conversion to peaceful uses;
...
- to stop the development and production of new forms
and systems of nuclear weapons...
- to educate and raise the consciousness of every
constituency to the realities of nuclear war in such
a way that people cease to avoid it as an issue too
big to handle;
...
- to prepare local and national programs for the conversion
to civilian use of laboratories and factories related
to military research and production, and to provide
for the retraining and re-employment of those who
work on them;
- to resolve never again to allow science and technology
to threaten the destruction of human life, and to
accept the God-given task of using SCIENCE FOR PEACE.
Minutes of the WCC Executive Committee,
Bossey, Switzerland, 1979, op. cit. p 40ff.
That year, 1979, marked a major turning point in the
mobilization of world public opinion about the nuclear
arms race. The announcement by the USA of its intention
to produce a neutron bomb and radically to escalate
the number and quality of its nuclear arms based in
Europe created a massive public outcry. The Central
Committee echoed the demands of the anti-nuclear movement
the following year:
The Central Committee urges all nuclear powers to:
a) freeze immediately all further testing, production
and deployment of nuclear weapons and of missiles
and new aircraft designed primarily to deliver nuclear
weapons;
b) start immediately discussions with a view to making
agreements not to enhance the existing nuclear potentials
and progressively reducing the overall number of nuclear
weapons and a speedy conclusion of a comprehensive
test ban treaty.
Minutes of the WCC Central Committee,
Geneva, 1980, in op. cit. pp 43f
The following year, in Dresden (GDR), it received a
report from the Program for Disarmament and against
Militarism and the Arms Race, and said:
The Central Committee...calls upon the churches now
to:
1) challenge the military and militaristic policies
that lead to disastrous distortions of foreign policy
sapping the capacity of the nations of the world to
deal with pressing economic and social priorities
which have become a paramount political issue of our
times;
2) counter the trend to characterize those of other
nations and ideologies as the "enemy" through
the promotion of hatred and prejudice;
3) assist in de-mythologizing current doctrines of
national security and elaborate new concepts of security
based on justice and the rights of peoples;...
Commends the work of a large number of peace and
disarmament groups and movements, old and new, around
the world, in several of which large numbers of Christians
actively participate in obedience to the demands of
the Gospel...
Urges the churches, in the context of the preparations
for the
Sixth Assembly, whose theme is "Jesus Christ,
the Life of the World," to make commitment to
peace-making a special concern and to give emphasis
to studies on issues related to pee, paying special
attention to the underlying theological issues.
Minutes of the WCC Central Committee,
Dresden, 1981, in op. cit. pp 45ff.
In November 1981, the WCC convened an International
Public Hearing on Nuclear Weapons and Disarmament at
the Free University in Amsterdam. A hearing panel of
17 church leaders, theologians and ethicists from all
the world's region heard testimony from 38 expert witnesses,
including former US national security advisors, USSR
foreign policy experts, senior diplomats in the field
of disarmament, political leaders including Swedish
Prime Minister Olof Palme, leading nuclear scientists
and leaders of anti-nuclear peace movements in several
parts of the world. Its extensive report was submitted
to the WCC Central Committee and widely distributed.
It contained, inter alia, the following affirmations:
We believe the time has come when the churches must
unequivocally declare that the production and deployment
as well as the use of nuclear weapons are a crime
against humanity and that such activities must be
condemned on ethical and theological grounds. ...
We recognize that nuclear weapons will not disappear
because of such and affirmation by the churches. But
it will involve the churches and their members in
a fundamental examination of their own implicit or
explicit support of policies which, implicitly or
explicitly, are based on the possession and use of
those weapons.
Before It's Too Late: The Challenge
of Nuclear Disarmament, WCC, Geneva, 1983, pp 3ff.
Dr. Philip Potter took these affirmations and the
rising concern of the ecumenical movement back to
the United Nations the following year when he addressed
the plenary session of the Second Special Session
of the General Assembly devoted to Disarmament.
...Compared with the public mood in 1978 when you
last met, the growing massive strength of movements
of people of every walk of life and ideological position
gives us hope that the political will to take concrete
steps to disarmament will emerge, and that governments
will respect and act on this will. ...
During the last four years after the First Special
Session on Disarmament the economic crisis has worsened
throughout the world with grave consequences for the
poor nations resulting in tensions within and among
nations. The continuing stalemate in the North-South
discussions on global issues has been accompanied
by policies of confrontation and an attempt to divide
the South. The present global military order is inextricably
ties up with the economic and social system and therefore
the quest for disarmament can in no way be isolated
from the struggle for justice and human dignity. Consequently,
there is deep distrust among the peoples of the Third
World about the postures of the nuclear weapon states
on deterrence and non-proliferation. Their struggles
for social and political change are often distorted
by the security considerations and economic interests
of the major powers. ...
"Choose Life!" (Deut.30:15,19) Choose what
is good, that is, what expresses our inner being as
made in God's image to be shared with others. Choose
the blessing, that is, what communicates our vitality
to others, what enables us to put what we are and
have at the disposal of others that they might become
their true selves and share their lives also with
others. That is God's purpose revealed in creation
and in men and women made in his image to participate
in his life and communicate that life to one another
according to his commandments and promises of good.
That is life. That is true security and peace.
Statement by WCC General Secretary
Philip Potter to the Second Special Session of the
UN General Assembly devoted to Disarmament, NY, June
1982, in The Churches in International Affairs 1979-82,
pp 49ff.
At this same meeting of the UN General Assembly, Patriarch
Pimen of the Russian Orthodox Church presented the report
of the World Conference of Religious Workers for Saving
the Sacred Gift of Life from Nuclear Catastrophe he
convened in Moscow in May 1982.
The Central Committee in July 1982 commended the report
of the International Public Hearings, highlighting its
recommendations and calling upon the churches to take
clear positions on them. It also issued a statement
lamenting the lack of progress at the UN Special Session
and renewed its call to the churches and governments
to promote peace and disarmament.
In this same period, two volumes were published by
the CCIA in the context of the Program for Disarmament
and against Militarism and the Arms Race, entitled The
Security Trap I and II (WCC, Geneva, and IDOC, Rome,
1979 and 1982), that provided in-depth analysis and
theological perspectives on militarism and the nuclear
arms race. Peace and Disarmament, A compendium of major
documents of the WCC and the Roman Catholic Church,
was also published jointly by the CCIA and the Pontifical
Commission "Justitia et Pax" (Rome and Geneva,
1982).
The Sixth WCC Assembly in Vancouver, 1983, was held
at a time when massive public protests were being held
around the world against the nuclear arms race, many
of them inspired or led by the churches. This Assembly
was particularly marked by this concern. It said:
Humanity is now living in the dark shadow of an arms
race more intense, and of systems of injustice more
widespread, more dangerous and more costly than the
world has ever known. Never before has the human race
been as close as it is now to total self-destruction.
Never before have so many lived in the grip of deprivation
and oppression.
Under that shadow we have gathered here...to proclaim
our common faith in Jesus Christ, the Life of the Word,
and to say to the world:
- fear not, for Christ has overcome the forces of evil;
in him are all things made new;
- fear not; for the love of God, rise up for justice
and for peace;
- trust in the power of Christ who reigns over all;
give witness to him in word and in deed, regardless
of the cost...
The churches today are called to confess anew their
faith, and to repent for the times when Christians have
remained silent in the face of injustice or threats
to peace. The biblical vision of peace with justice
for all, of wholeness, of unity for all God's people
is not one of several options for the followers of Christ.
It is an imperative in our time...
We call upon the churches, especially those in Europe,
both East and West, and in North America, to redouble
their efforts to convince their governments to reach
a negotiated settlement and to turn away now, before
it is too late, from plans to deploy additional or new
nuclear weapons in Europe, and to begin immediately
to reduce and then eliminate altogether present nuclear
forces.
We urge the churches as well to intensify their efforts
to stop the rapidly growing deployment of nuclear weapons
and support systems in the Indian and Pacific Oceans,
and to press their governments to withdraw from or refuse
to base or service ships or airplanes bearing nuclear
weapons in their regions...
...(I)n the spirit of the Fifth Assembly's appeal to
the churches "to emphasize their readiness to live
without the protection of armaments," we believe
that Christians should give witness to their unwillingness
to participate in any conflict involving weapons of
mass destruction or indiscriminate effect.
Gathered for Life, Official Report of the VI. Assembly
of the WCC, Vancouver, 1983, WCC, Geneva, pp 131ff.
The Vancouver Assembly also called on the churches
to engage in a "conciliar process of mutual commitment
(covenant) to justice, peace and the integrity of all
creation" and to make this a priority for all WCC
programs.
The period following the Vancouver Assembly provided
no new policy statements on nuclear weapons, but was
one in which the WCC encouraged a number of international
disarmament initiatives and pressed on the major nuclear
powers their responsibilities to disarm. WCC General
Secretaries encouraged the initiatives of the "Middle
Power Coalition," the signatories of the Delhi
Declaration, the Groupe Bellerive and others. Letters
were written to President Reagan and General Secretary
Gorbachev on the occasions of their summit meetings
in Geneva and Iceland, encouraging them to take more
rapid steps toward nuclear disarmament. On the eve of
the meeting of the same leaders in Geneva in January
1987, the Central Committee welcomed the resumption
of the earlier talks and appealed to the two nations:
- to declare a moratorium on nuclear tests as a provisional
measure that would enable negotiations towards a comprehensive
test ban treaty;
- to negotiate agreements on substantial reduction of
strategic weapons and elimination of medium range missiles,
with a definite time-table;
- to take all necessary steps to present the development
of space weapons and to strengthen the terms of the
Anti-Ballistic Missiles Treaty.
The WCC specially appeals to the US government to respond
positively to the initiatives of the USSR on moratorium
on nuclear testing, to review its decision to exceed
the SALT II ceilings and to reconsider its Strategic
Defense Initiative. The WCC also appeals to the USSR
government to reinstate and continue the moratorium
on nuclear testing.
The Central Committee renews its appeal to the French
government to stop forthwith nuclear weapon testing
in Polynesia…
We urge the churches in the context of the call to strengthen
their commitment to justice, peace and the integrity
of creation:
- to intensify their engagement in efforts for peace
by specifically working for an end to nuclear testing
as an immediate priority;
- to engage in bilateral and multilateral discussions
among churches with a view to promoting common understandings
and developing common strategies;
- to join other forces of peace for public education
and efforts to influence policies of governments and
inter-governmental bodies;
- to support the Six Nations Initiative and that of
the South Pacific Forum.
Minutes of the Central Committee, Geneva, January 1987,
in The Churches in International Affairs, 1987-1990,
WCC, Geneva, 1990, pp 44ff.
Later that year, the WCC Officers welcomed the conclusion
of the agreements at the USA-USSR Summit in Washington
DC, saying that
The agreement to eliminate intermediate nuclear forces
and thus an entire class of nuclear weapons is a significant
achievement especially with the elaborate system of
verification which augurs well for further steps in
nuclear disarmament. The initiative already taken for
making proposals for reducing strategic nuclear weapons
is reassuring.
WCC Officers' Statement on the Washington Summit, 14
December 1987, op. cit., p 47.
In a statement presented by Dr. Lamar Gibble, a CCIA
Commissioner, the WCC told the Third Session of the
UN General Assembly devoted to Disarmament (1988):
In the limited time given for this testimony, among
many concerns, we choose the following for emphasis.
Firstly, even in the aura of a historic agreement to
reduce intermediate range nuclear weapons the awful
risk of nuclear war remains. We are painfully aware
that this agreement can only reduce the nuclear arsenal
by 3%. We would, therefore, urge the pursuit of every
possible effort to further reduce and ultimately eliminate
these weapons of mass destruction. We reiterate the
declaration of our most recent Assembly that "the
production and deployment of nuclear weapons as well
as their use constitute a crime against humanity, and
therefore there3 should be a complete halt in the production
of nuclear weapons and in weapons research and development
in all nations, to be expeditiously enforced through
a treaty…" Only if such a comprehensive approach
is taken to nuclear disarmament and complemented and
reinforced by mutually accepted verification procedures
and by the new technology available for verification
can the possibility of nuclear holocaust be significantly
reduced. We w2ould encourage this session to establish
a multilateral mechanism under the auspices of the United
Nations to perform such verification functions for our
global community.
Secondly, while we recognize the possibility of significant
steps in the reduction of nuclear weapons, we cannot
overlook the significant new dynamics in the arms race.
We view with alarm the development of "star wars"
technology, chemical weapons, and the ever more deadly
capacity of conventional weapons which blur the distinction
between conventional and nuclear, and defensive and
offensive weapons. Only through multilateral agreements
banning the research, development and testing of these
new weapons can we effectively end this process….
op. cit. pp 48ff
The WCC addressed a letter in 1987 to President Bush
and General Secretary Gorbachev on the occasion of their
summit meeting in Malta, reiterating appeals addressed
earlier. But this was the last initiative on nuclear
weapons before the VII. Assembly in Canberra (1991).
In Canberra the agenda was radically shifted in the
direction of post Cold War armed interventions and internal
conflicts. That assembly, meeting as the Gulf War was
raging, gave strong clues that this would be a period
of divided views and sometimes contentious relationships
among the churches as they wrestled with new challenges.
The VII. Assembly adopted a major policy statement on
the implications of the use of armed force by the Gulf
Coalition led by the USA, and another on internal conflicts.
The attention of the Central Committee was fixed for
most of the ensuing decade on the implications of such
challenges and by renewed debates and efforts to address
the churches' positions on violence.
The war in Bosnia/Herzegovina again led to contentious
debates in the Central Committee on the old tension
between the Christian traditions of pacifism and the
just war. In 1994, on the basis of a background document,
"Overcoming the Spirit, Logic and Practice of War,"
the Central Committee created the Program to Overcome
Violence. In the course of the international campaign,
"Peace to the City," carried out in the context
of the POV, the focus turned especially to the issue
of small arms and light weapons, and this has continued
as a part of the new ecumenical Decade to Overcome Violence
established by the VIII. Assembly in Harare (1998).
The disarmament agenda shifted more to the area of
conventional arms, following the line traced earlier
in consultations on militarism and disarmament. The
CCIA Commission held a consultation in 1993 on the conventional
arms trade (cf. The Arms Trade Today, CCIA Background
Information, 1993/1, WCC, Geneva, 1993) and adopted
a statement on the subject.
Soon after the Harare Assembly, the following document
was issued, and it was the last major policy statement
devoted particularly to nuclear weapons to date.
Nuclear weapons, whether used or threatened, are grossly
evil and therefore morally wrong. As an instrument of
mass destruction, nuclear weapons slaughter the innocent
and ravage the environment...
(Therefore) we ask the delegates to call resolutely
upon the nuclear weapons states to embark upon a series
of steps along the road leading to nuclear abolition.
There is broad consensus...on what these steps should
be. They include:
- declare a policy of no first use among themselves
and non-use in relation to non-nuclear weapons states;
- cease all research, development, production, and deployment
of new nuclear weapons;
- refrain from modernizing the existing nuclear arsenal
and increasing the number of deployed nuclear weapons;
- take all nuclear forces off alert and remove warheads
from delivery vehicles;
- achieve faster and deeper bilateral reduction of nuclear
weapons by the United States and Russia.
...We ask the delegates to take the lead in commencing
the process of developing a nuclear weapons convention
to outlaw and abolish all nuclear weapons...We appeal
to the delegates...to consider what is best for the
whole Earth and its in habitants when they vote on issues
of nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament. Loyalty
to all humankind exceeds that of loyalty within political
blocs of nations. We urge delegates to act now, decisively
and courageously for the benefit of all the peoples
of the earth.
Joint statement of WCC General Secretary Konrad Raiser
and Cardinal Daneels, President of Pax Christi International
to the NPT Review Conference Preparatory Committee,
Geneva, April 1998.
At its first meeting (Morges, Switzerland, January
2000), the newly elected Commission of the Churches
on International Affairs adopted guidelines for programmatic
work in the field of disarmament which stressed the
need for the WCC and its member churches to turn their
attention back the continuing threat of nuclear weapons.
So, concern about nuclear weapons has not disappeared
from the WCC agenda. However, it has been dropped to
the lowest levels of priority of many churches, including
those in nuclear weapons states. There is an urgent
need for the ecumenical movement to remember its history
and to reassert leadership at what is in fact a very
critical moment of new challenges to the international
disarmament regime and the ever more dangerous legacy
of the decaying products of the decades-long US-USSR
nuclear arms race. Statements alone will not be enough.
The statements reviewed here were often backed by movements
in the churches working to bring official church assemblies
with them in action and conviction. If we are to be
effective again, attention will have to be paid during
the forthcoming ecumenical Decade to Overcome Violence
to the strengthening, regeneration re-connection of
such movements.
Geneva, 4 October 2000
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