Slovaks Told to Stop Sunday Shopping

ASSOCIATED PRESS, Jan. 20— Catholics should keep the Sunday Mass obligation and spend time resting and enjoying family meals rather than shopping, Slovakia's Catholic bishops said in a letter read in the nation's churches.

The bishops said that supermarkets, entrepreneurs and other institutions do not observe the commandment to keep the Lord's Day holy, and “our society, our families and individuals suffer because of it.”

Believers should “stand up against such a trend, which makes us only tools and slaves of [businessmen's] financial interests,” said the letter, which was also released to the media in the predominantly Catholic country of 5.4 million people.

Archbishop Jan Sokol of Bratislava told Associated Press that many people are “slaves” of the shopping chains, as they have to work over the weekend and thus are deprived of the possibility of going to Mass and of a work-free Sunday. He said the Church has sought support among political leaders for a law banning Sunday shopping.

Separately, the Slovak news agency TASR reported that a new labor law, which takes effect April 1, states that employers should ensure two days of rest a week and that these should be Saturday-Sunday or Sunday-Monday.

New Archbishop Concerned About Scottish Sectarianism

THE INDEPENDENT, Jan. 16— Pope John Paul II appointed Bishop Mario Conti of Aberdeen, Scotland, to succeed the late Cardinal Thomas Winning as head of the Glasgow Archdiocese. Archbishop Conti, 67, has often spoken out against abortion and cloning, the London daily reported.

The archbishop said he believed his rural experience in Aberdeen could be of value in Glasgow, Scotland's largest diocese, particularly in attempting to combat religious sectarianism.

Archbishop Conti also said that his main challenge would be to address the crisis of faith within the Church, and to encourage Catholics to return to regular attendance at Mass.

Church Stands Up for Maids in Hong Kong

SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST, Jan. 17— The Catholic Church in Hong Kong has said that a cut in the minimum wage of foreign domestic helpers would be “unfair and unjust,” the Hong Kong daily reported.

The Hong Kong Employers of Overseas Helpers Association has asked the government to lower the minimum salary for maids by 14% to help employers in the economic downturn.

“During an economic downturn, it is so shameful if we do not protect the interest of laborers who live on low incomes, but make their problems even worse,” said a Catholic Commission for Labor Affairs spokesman.

About 67% of the 235,000 maids in the Chinese special administrative region of Hong Kong are Filipinos, most of whom are Catholic.

Some employers have been extending the contracts of their domestic helpers for a maximum of three months in anticipation of a wage cut, according to a Filipino counseling office.

The Catholic commission also criticized a rule that requires domestic helpers to leave Hong Kong 14 days after their contracts are terminated. He said maids have to pay up to $3,850 to recruitment agencies to find another job.