_WORLD WATCH______________________________
________________Argentina_______________
Protests “culture of efficiency”
Bishops see loss of Sabbath rest
The replacement of the true sense of Sundays by a so-called “culture of efficiency” is killing not only religious practice but life, the Argentine bishops’ conference has argued.
As the bishops held their annual meeting at a retreat house outside Buenos Aires, Archbishop Mario Cargnello told journalists that the bishops’ statement would issue a strong call for a return to the tradition of respect for the Sabbath. “Many believe that this problem concerns only the Catholic Church, but it has deep negative effects on the family and even in the way economy and life are integrated,” the archbishop explained. “In the past, the sense of Sunday was implicit, a natural assumption for society, but now we have to claim the right of the Sunday rest, for the good of the person, the family, and society,” he added.
The archbishop said that the bishops’ conference believes that “the culture of efficiency and the production of material goods is deeply affecting the sense of time, which is now at the service of ferocious competition.” He said, “This has a negative effect in the time parents can give to children and, as a consequence, in the way children perceive themselves. We believe that recovering the sense of Sunday is something we have to work seriously on, for the good of the Church and society.”