Christian Soldiers vs. the Navy

Christian Soilders vs. the Navy

If the Third Commandment forbids using the Lord's name in vain, can his name be used for a nuclear-powered fast attack submarine? At its annual meeting in Washington this fall, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops voted no. They wrote an elaborately polite letter to Navy Secretary John Lehman, saying that naming a sub Corpus Christi--Latin for body of Christ--"is very nearly sacrilegious."

The Navy has so far resisted the request to change the name. The sub is not named after a sacred mystery of the faith but, the Navy says, the Texas city (pop. 332,000) where the Corpus Christi Naval Air Station is the largest employer. Besides, a World War II Navy ship was called Corpus Christi, and vessels today are named, indirectly, after saints. For instance, the Santa Barbara carries the name of the patroness of artillery men. Last April at the sub's christening--yes, christening--Secretary Lehman, a Roman Catholic, argued that the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) "not only did not condemn nuclear deterrence weapon systems, but said that deterrence had made a specific contribution to peace."

The protests do not exactly add up to a groundswell of indignation. Thomas Drury, the Bishop of Corpus Christi, who introduced the resolution of disapproval, has received about 200 messages of support. Drury, 73, a former Air Force chaplain, is new to such activism. Says he hopefully: "The bishops having made a decision on the thing, they are naturally going to stand by it. I dislike that it's causing all this trouble, but I'm afraid it won't die."

In Corpus Christi the residents seem to like the name just fine. Says Chamber of Commerce Executive Vice President Jimmy Lyles: "We use the English language here and not the Latin language." Meanwhile, the controversy seems likely to go on ad infinitum.

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