Papal encyclicals advocating legislation
Rerum Novarum (1891)
Page 18.
“The first duty, therefore, of the rulers of the State should be to make sure that the laws and institutions, the general character and administration of the commonwealth, shall be such as to produce of themselves public well-being and private prosperity ….. And the more that is done for the working population by the general laws of the country, the less need will there be to seek for particular means to relieve them.”
The encyclical then makes clear what the ‘general laws’ should include:
Page 23.
“…. for it is not man's own rights which are here in question, but the rights of God, most sacred and inviolable.
From this follows the obligation of the cessation of work and labor on Sundays and certain festivals.”
Page 32.
“Let the working man be urged and led to the worship of God, to the earnest practice of Religion, and, among other things, to the sanctification of Sundays and festivals.”
Dies Domini (1998), section 67
“…in the particular circumstances of our own time, Christians will naturally strive to ensure that civil legislation respects their duty to keep Sunday holy….”
Laudate Deum (2023) section 35
"35. It is not helpful to confuse multilateralism with a world authority concentrated in one person or in an elite with excessive power: “When we talk about the possibility of some form of world authority regulated by law, we need not necessarily think of a Personal authority”. We are speaking above all of “more effective world organizations, equipped with the power to provide for the global common good, the elimination of hunger and poverty and the sure defence of fundamental human rights”. The issue is that they must be endowed with real authority, in such a way as to “provide for” the attainment of certain essential goals. In this way, there could come about a multilateralism that is not dependent on changing political conditions or the interests of a certain few, and possesses a stable efficacy."