NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- In a new apostolic letter, to be released July 7, Pope John Paul II calls upon the faithful to preserve the Sunday Sabbath.

      The new papal letter, entitled Dies Domini, will be introduced at a press conference on that date, chaired by Cardinal Jorge Arturo Medina Estevez, the prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship.

      During his recent trip to Austria, the Holy Father offered a preview of his thoughts on the topic, when he urged the Catholics of Vienna to "do everything possible to protect the Sabbath! Show that that day cannot be a day of work, because it is celebrated as the Lord's Day."

      On several other occasions the Pope has made the same point, insisting that Sunday should be a day not only for worship, but also for "physical and mental rest" and "the building of family ties."

      The episcopal conferences of all the world's nations were consulted in the process of drafting the new apostolic letter. The text will be available in Italian, French, English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and Polish.