Posted on 12/20/2012 6:40:24 AM PST by marshmallow
VATICAN CITY (RNS) The Roman Catholic Church, trade unions and small business associations have joined forces in a bid to save Sundays.
In a bid to spur economic growth, outgoing Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti backed a new law that allows shops to stay open on the Sabbath.
In what may seem an unlikely alliance, the Catholic Church, trade unions and Italian small business associations have joined forces in a bid to save Sundays from shopping and liberalized shopping hours.
But Sunday traditions are strong in the European nation, and the change provoked strong resistance from religious and secular groups.
Last month, an Italian shop owners association and the country’s Catholic bishops’ conference launched a campaign to “free up Sundays.” They aim to gather the 50,000 signatures needed to try to repeal the liberalizing shop law.
Confesercenti, the shop owners association, fears that mom-and-pop stores – the backbone of the Italian retail sector – will be squeezed by large retailers and American-style malls.
The issue extends beyond Italy. In Brussels, dozens of religious groups – including the Catholic Church – unions and business associations from 27 countries have formed the “European Sunday Alliance” to lobby the European Union to keep Sunday as a continentwide day of rest, at least in principle.
Johanna Touzel, the alliance’s spokeswoman, said that setting Sunday aside is not necessarily a religious issue, and not discriminatory towards Jews and Muslims. “We need one day when everyone can rest – this is the origin of Shabbat. And in fact, even Muslim organizations support us.”
For the Catholic Church, keeping Sundays free from shopping and work concerns is of larger consequence than the economy.
The Rev. Marco Scattolon of Camposampiero, Italy, became an instant celebrity when he labeled Sunday shopping a sin and called on his parishioners to.....
(Excerpt) Read more at religionnews.com ...
They had Blue Laws in VA up until the late 80’s.
And in Ontario, Canada until sometime in the 90’s.
“In a bid to spur economic growth, outgoing Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti backed a new law that allows shops to stay open on the Sabbath.”
Sunday isn’t the Sabbath. Great reporting!
When I was a kid in California in the 60’s, I remember very distinctly almost everything being closed on Sunday. Even though I wasn’t raised in a religiously observant family (occasional Easter Catholics), It gave the day a peaceful and restful atmosphere where spending time with your family was really the thing to do.
the problem is not shopping, but that it forces employees to work on a day of rest/Sabbath.
Of course, they could always hire Muslims to work the Sunday shift, and that would help.
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