Rome s War With Rotary

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 601, 1 March 1929, Page 9

Rome s War With Rotary

PEACE CONFERENCES HELD Hopes of Rapprochement a * Rotary’s aims liave anything to do with i rC '7 l ? n ’ Lead of the organisation has gone to Rome if F XP a T ed w^*°^e siting to Rotai'y’s assailants there, tie hopes thus to have made an end to all the misunderstanding ivith the Vatican. (bnited l'.A — By Telegraphs — Copyright) (Australian ,».,d X.Z. Press Association)

Received 9 a.m. MONTREAL, Thursday. Aboarcl the steamship Berengaria, Mr. R. B. Sutton, president of the Rotary International, gave the Australian and New Zealand Press Association the following exclusive statement: The recent attack on Rotary in an article in the Vatican organ ‘Osservatore Romano’ is merely a reprint of the last article in ’Civilita Cattonek. published on February 16. "Since it was written, I have held numerous conferences at Rome with the director of ‘Civilita Cattoliea,’ I '. a Vl er Enrico Rosa, S.J.. and many or the highest Church authorities, as i am a Roman Catholic myself, explaining and clarifying doubts and misunderstandings, and presenting a formal statement.

veligious faith of its membership; that Rotary’s meetings, activities and records are public, and there are no vows or secrets of any kind; that there is an absolute respect for the religious faith of all members; that Rotarians do not attribute to themselves any private moral code, nor do they intend to create any sect or natural 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 to be unauthorised, and furthermore deplore any act contrary to these fundamental principles of our organisation. “The ‘Civilita Cattoliea’ will publish my formal statement in its issue of March 15, with its observations, which I believe should end all further controversy, and terminate the previous misunderstanding.”

Rotary has no connection with Masonry or any other organisation; that religious and political discussion is positively forbidden; that Rotary has no record whatever of the