Zagreb, October 15, 2003 (IKA) – By a large majority of votes, the Croatian Parliament (Sabor) passed amendments to the Commerce Act on October 14 according to which work on Sunday is prohibited or regulated. According to the amendments, stores are prohibited to operate on Sunday. Only one designated store per five thousand inhabitants, that shall not be larger than 200 square meters and must sell mainly foodstuffs, shall be permitted to operate on Sundays. The act also forbids any worker employed by such a store to work on more than one Sunday per month. This act goes into effect on January 1, 2004. Much of the credit for this amendment to the Commerce Act and the regulation of work on Sunday goes to the Catholic Church, via a campaign initiated by Croatian Caritas and the Franciscan Institute for Peace, by which 300,000 signatures were collected against work on Sunday.