Could the recent apostolic letter revive historic precedent and lead to enforcement of Sunday worship?
On May 31, 1998, Pope John Paul II issued an apostolic letter about Sunday keeping, titled “The Lord’s Day,” which has important implications for Sabbath observers. In his papal letter, John Paul appealed to the authority of the Fourth Commandment, which sanctifies the Sabbath day, to give legitimacy to Sunday keeping. He also advocated civil enforcement for a Sunday rest. Seventh-Day Adventist historian, Samuel Bacchiocchi, comments on the papal letter: “Historically, the Catholic Church has taught that Sunday observance is an ecclesiastical institution different in meaning and function from the Sabbath. John Paul departs from the traditional Catholic distinction between Sabbath and Sunday in order to make Sunday observance a moral imperative mandated by the Decalogue itself” (Endtime Issues #2: Sabbath under Crossfire, January 1999, page 3). John Paul writes, “It is the duty of Christians therefore to remember that, although the practices of the Jewish Sabbath are gone, surpassed as
