The Cross The Flag and The Bomb: American Catholics Debate War and Peace 1960-1983: 12 (Contributions to the Study of Religion)

This is an uncommonly good book on an unusually rich subject. A Baltimore priest and scholar Au analyzes the radical changes that have overtaken American Catholicism during the past generation in terms of attitudes toward questions of war and peace. He focuses on the main strands within the Church debate: realism nuclear pacifism pacifism and resistance. Along the way he also provides capsule intellectual biographies of such prominent Catholic war/peace thinkers as Thomas Merton and John Courtney Murray. Finally he recounts the intellectual and moral struggles at the center of the recent pastoral letter issued by the Catholic bishops on ``The Challenge of Peace. Clear and comprehensive Aus study represents the most concise and compelling overview to date of this complex topic. Charles DeBenedetti History Dept. Univ. of Toledo