ROTARY

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XIX, Issue 63, 1 March 1929, Page 5

ROTARY

A REPLY TO CRITICISM NO VOWS OK SECKETS. DENIAL OF RELIGIOUS BIAS. (United Preu Association—By Cable— Copyright.) (Australian and N.Z. Press Association.) (Received 1,10.35 a.m.) Ottawa, Feb. 28. On the steamship Berengana at Montreal, Mr R. B. Sutton, president of the Rotary International, gave the Australian Press Association tne fob lowing exclusive statement: “The recent attack in an article in “Osseivatore Romano” is merely a reprint of the last article in “Civilita Cattolica,” published on February 16. Since it was written I have had numerous conferences at Rome with the director of “Civilita Cattolica,” Father Enrico Rosa, S.J., and many of the highest Church authorities. “As 1 am a Roman Catholic myself I am explaining and clarifying doubts and misunderstandings and presenting the formal statement that Rotary has no connection with Masonry or any other organisation; that religious and political discussion is positively forbidden and that Rotary has no record whatever of the religious faith of its membership. PUBLIC RECORDS. That Rotary meetings, activities and records are public and there are no vows or secrets of any kind; that there is absolute respect for the religious faith of all members; that Rotarians do not attribute to themselves any private moral code nor intend to create any sect of national religion, much less do anything contrary to the dogma of the Catholic faith; that, in particular with reference to some few actions or statements attributed to individual members throughout our vast international organisation which are seemingly contradictory to the foregoing, the directive authority of Rotary must declare the same unauthorised and, furthermore, deplore any act contrary to these fundamental principles of our organisation. ‘Civilita Cattolica’ will publish my formal statei ment in its issue on March 15th, with its observations, which I believe should end all further controversy and terminate the previous misunderstanding.”