1970s: Liguorian Takes a Stand Against a Divisive War While Promoting Justice

1970s: Liguorian Takes a Stand Against a Divisive War While Promoting Justice

By Fr. Byron Miller, CSsR, President and Publisher of Liguori Publications

Bell-bottom jeans and love beads. Catch my drift? Pet rocks and mood rings. Can you dig it? Polyester leisure suits and disco fever. What some people remember fondly about the 1970s, others prefer to forget! But the decade is also notable for the continuation of social activism from the sixties, with a particular focus on political and economic equality for minorities and women, along with efforts to improve the environment that spawned the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970.

Importantly, the right-to-life movement was galvanized in 1973 to advocate for a constitutional ban on abortions after the US Supreme Court struck down laws in forty-six states that limited a woman’s access to abortion in the first three months of pregnancy.

The US Catholic Church responded to these new battlefronts in unprecedented ways. Bishops began to take a stand and issue statements on important but polarizing matters of public concern. Fr. Louis Miller, CSsR, Liguorian editor in the 1970s, wrote, “In 1971 [the bishops] recommended amnesty for Vietnam war selective conscientious objectors. At about the same time they advocated a strong and effective action to control handguns. They supported Cesar Chavez and the farm workers’ efforts to form unions. They defended the principle of a guaranteed minimum wage for the poor. In November 1974, they issued a statement opposing capital punishment. In November 1976, they favored a new Panama Canal treaty.” (In 1978, the US Senate voted to return the canal to Panama.)

According to Fr. Miller, editors at Liguori Publications “were convinced that the bishops, speaking for the Church, and publications calling themselves Catholic have the responsibility to promote justice by encouraging Catholics to take part in political action aimed at achieving justice, and by supporting programs aimed at helping the poor, the weak, and the oppressed both at home and abroad.” 

After all, promoting justice and taking the side of the oppressed are approaches consistent with the Scriptures, the message of Jesus Christ, and the charism of the Redemptorist mission at Liguori Publications “to preach the Good News to the most abandoned.”

Thus, during the divisive Vietnam War, Liguorian’s editor asked and responded to the following questions in the June 1971 issue: “Is modern warfare so destructive that the traditional ‘conditions for a just war’ are no longer applicable? Is it possible to defend warfare today on moral grounds? A growing number of thoughtful people think the answer to both these questions is an unequivocal no!” Continuing his response, he said “the war in Vietnam, in the range of its destructiveness of natural resources, in its extremely high rate of civilian casualties, and in its corrupting effect in all sectors, has made a mockery of the ‘principle of proportionality.’ We should immediately withdraw.”

The magazine’s stand on this controversial issue prompted letters from readers in support and it provoked letters in anger, along with requests for subscription cancellations. That’s to be expected—both then and now. I’ve heard and agree with the axiom of an activist model that states a variation of the following: While the one who takes a stand is often wrong, the one who fails to take a stand is always wrong. Neutrality is safer, of course, but as Archbishop Desmond Tutu wisely said, “If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.”

Next: Liguori Publications embraces the digital explosion of the 1980s.