A Protestant minister proposed in a sermon yesterday that Catholics and Protestants join Jews in making Saturday an all-faith day of rest. He suggested that the move to universalize Saturday as the Sabbath for all the major faiths be initiated by Pope Paul VI.
The proposal was made by the Rev. Dr. Ernest R. Palen, pastor of the Middle Collegiate Church. Using as his text the Fourth Commandment, which enjoined upon the Jews that they keep the Sabbath holy on the seventh day, Rev. Palen suggested that Pope Paul take the initiative by designating “the seventh day, the historical and Biblical Sabbath, as a day to keep holy. ” He noted that some Christian groups, notably the Seventh Day Adventists and the Seventh Day Baptists, already observe the Sabbath on Saturdays.
A spokesman for the National Council of Churches, the organization of Protestants and Greek Orthodox churches, said that universal observance of Saturday as the Sabbath “would not be catastrophic and might be healthy. ” A representative of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York agreed that the Palen proposal was interesting and predicted it would cause considerable debate in Christian circles.
In his sermon, Dr. Palen said: “One day of the week really kept holy by Catholics, Protestants and Jews would give an uplift to the moral tone of our day. ” Such a move, he said, “would place a stamp of greater sincerity on our plans for ecumenicity. ” He pointed out that Jesus kept Saturday as the Sabbath day.
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