May 6, 1981

The Mormon Church, saying church pioneers had chosen Utah as a ''base from which to carry the gospel of peace to the peoples of the earth,'' today announced its opposition to deployment of the MX missile system here and in Nevada. The message was wired to the Utah and Nevada Congressional delegations and to President Reagan, whose Administration is reviewing options on how to deploy the multibillion-dollar nuclear weapons system. The statement was issued by the church's president, Spencer W. Kimball, and his two counsellors, N. Eldon Tanner and Marion G. Romney, at the headquarters here of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The decision is expected to have profound influence on public opinion in predominantly Mormon Utah as well as in Nevada and among the Mormon population at large. There are one million Mormons in Utah, which has a population of 1,460,000, and 56,000 Mormons in Nevada, which has a population of about 800,000.

''Our fathers came to the Western area to establish a base from which to carry the gospel of peace to the peoples of the earth.

International NATO de-emphasized detente and portrayed the Soviet Union as increasingly lacking in restraint and responsibility. A communique issued at the end of a two-day meeting of the Atlantic Alliance foreign ministers in Rome constituted a step by Western Europe in the direction of the Reagan Administration's position on Soviet goals and conduct. (Page A1, Column 1.) Britain affirmed its policy on Northern Ireland, saying it would not be changed despite the death of Robert Sands on the 66th day of his hunger strike and the street violence that followed. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said during questioning in Parliament that granting demands by Irish Republican Army prisoners for political status would ''give a license to kill.'' (A1:3-4.)

Crime and the economy are the two topics most frequently discussed by the New Jersey gubernatorial candidates in their primary election campaigns. Traditionally, candidates in a primary try to present themselves as the persons best able to carry their party's banner in the November general election, without being too specific on issues. The idea is to size up the general-election opposition and then adopt stands on the issues that will appeal to the greatest number of voters and place the opponents at a disadvantage. However, the large fields in the New Jersey primary, 13 Democrats and eight Republicans, have prompted some candidates to try to separate themselves from the pack by taking bold positions early and trying to make the competition look unexciting by comparison. This has become an issue in the Republican primary.

The dollar surged in value against other currencies in European trading today following yesterday's one-point increase in the Federal Reserve's discount rate to a record 14 percent. Although the dollar eased in later New York trading, the strong showing in Europe raised widespread fears among European bankers and monetary officials that other countries would also be forced to increase rates to defend their currencies against the dollar, further depressing Europe's recession-gripped economy and creating more unemployment. Contributing to those fears, France's central bank today raised its discount rate for seven-day Treasury bills a full percentage point, to 13.5 percent, in an effort to bolster the sagging franc. The franc has been depressed by the fast-climbing dollar and fears that President Valery Giscard d'Estaing may lose next Sunday's Presidential election to his Socialist opponent, Francois Mitterrand.