Chile To Consider Moving July 16 Public Holiday

Sources: Terra Networks (Valparaíso) and Chile public holidays (qppstudio.net). A draft law has been submitted for review to Chile's Comisión de Gobierno Interior by the parliamentarians Enrique Accorsi, Germán Becker, Francisco Chahuán, Gonzalo Duarte and Marco Enríquez-Ominami. This law would make the day of the observance of the recently declared Día de la Virgen del Carmen (July 16) move to the following Monday if it occurs on mid-week weekday (as is the case for other public holidays, such as the October 12 public holiday).

Currently, the July 16 public holiday, which replaced the Corpus Christi public holiday, beginning in 2007, remains on the exact date of July 16, as it is considered a religious holiday. But the proponents of the current bill have argued that observing the Día de la Virgen del Carmen is not part of the Catholic church's precepts, and thus it can be considered a civil holiday whose observance can be moved.

Parliamentarians of all parties had earlier written a letter to the president of the Conferencia Episcopal de Chile, Monseñor Alejandro, asking him for his official position on the matter, but to this date no reply has been received.