Another initiative from the Croatian Bishops’ Conference.
The Croatian Bishops’ Conference (HBK) has again launched an initiative to legally forbid working on Sunday. It called on Croatian citizens to support the initiative and contribute to the preservation of Sunday in its historical meaning, as a non-working day which is an opportunity for a family reunion, reports Večernji List on March 1, 2017.
“It is understandable that there are parts of the society, such as healthcare, security, transport and some services that are of general and public interest, which have to work on Sundays and holidays. But, there are also jobs and tasks which do not have to be done on Sundays. We primarily mean those activities in which the workers, due to weaknesses of Croatian legal protections, are forced to work without a weekly rest. They therefore spend Sundays away from their circle of families and children, while other people spend it as a day of rest”, said HBK in a statement released on Wednesday, at the beginning of this year’s Lent. “It is no wonder that for them, due to this obvious discrimination, working Sundays bring certain emptiness and gloom”, added the Bishops’ Conference.
The Croatian Bishops’ Conference therefore urges all parts of Croatian society, “the lay faithful Christians, Catholic organizations and movements, and all societal institutions and organizations that are committed to people and their dignity, to contribute with their actions to the preservation of Sunday in its historical meaning, as a non-working day which provides opportunity for a family reunion.”
Expressing support for the European Sunday Association, which brings together trade unions, political parties, civic organizations and Christian societies throughout the European Union, Croatian bishops pointed out that six years ago the association proposed on the first Sunday in March the public observance of Sundays as a “day of rest from work, a day for family gatherings, a day for cultural and social activities, as well as the Lord’s day”, when Christians remember the victory of Christ’s resurrection.
In 1997, Croatian bishops sent a pastoral letter in which they spoke of Sunday as the Lord’s Day and a day of rest for people. The Commission for Justice and Peace of the Croatian Bishops’ Conference has also repeatedly, in 2000, 2004 and 2012, advocated for the legal determination of Sunday as a non-working day in Croatia, for the promotion of the day as a family holiday, and especially as a liturgical day for “gathering around the table of the Lord”, concluded the Croatian Bishop’s Conference in the statement.
