On May 2, 1983, 284 Roman Catholic bishops gathered in the Palmer House and adopted a pastoral letter calling for an immediate bilateral halt to the nuclear arms race. Entitled "The Challenge of Peace," its primary author was Chicago's archbishop Joseph Bernardin. Thousands of Chicagoans added their voices to the Catholic bishops' call with a Mother's Day Peace Festival in Grant Park on May 8. This action echoed mass demonstrations throughout Europe protesting the Untied States' deployment of nuclear weapons on the continent and President Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative.

Source: Chicago Tribune