The national Commission of “Justice and Peace”, which works under the Swiss Episcopal Conference, supports the referendum being organized by the trades unions in favour of the maintenance of Sunday as a day of rest. A communiqué issued by the Commission on 25 January declares that “Sunday as a rest day is a social and cultural benefit whose human and economic utility is evident. Almost all cultures are familiar with a day of rest or of interruption from work. Human beings have found in Sunday a measure of joy, because work, service and commerce are not the measure of everything”. According to the Commission, “a living society does not nourish itself solely on economic activities but also has a need for scope for freedom to be shared with family, friends, groups and associations as well as a community life that permits the cultivation of human relations”. For these reasons, ends the communiqué, “we support the referendum against the sale of goods and services on Sundays throughout the year”.
