Rotary International in the Big Easy

4th June 2011   ·   0 Comments

By Fr. Jerome LeDoux
The Louisiana Weekly Contributing Columnist

A feature article in Time magazine on Monday, January 22, 1951 startled the world, especially the 7,200 businessmen’s groups called Ro­tary. The Vatican’s Sacred Congre­gation of the Holy Office dropped a bomb, stating that no Roman Catholic priest may henceforth be a member of Rotary or attend Rotary meetings. Further­more, laymen, while not forbidden Rotary membership, must bear in mind Article 684 of canon law.

An excerpt reads, “The faithful … must guard against associations which are secret, condemned, seditious, suspect, or which try to escape legitimate Church vigilance.”

Stunned 342,000 Rotarians in 83 lands in 1951 were doing what they do now, holding weekly luncheon meetings, talking on a first-name basis and fraternizing under the motto “Service Above Self” without considering themselves secret, seditious or suspect. So, what was the root of this Vatican thunderbolt that puzzled Catholic and Protes­tant alike?

The brainchild of attorney Paul P. Harris on February 23, 1905, the world’s first service club, the Rotary Club of Chicago was meant to capture in a professional club the same friendly spirit Harris had felt in the small towns of his youth. The name Rotary grew out of the early practice of rotating meetings among members’ offices.

Paul Harris thought of the Rotary Club as a social club of businessmen with “an especial advantage in each member having exclusive representation of his particular trade or profession. The members would be mutually helpful.”

The blast from the Vatican resurrected 1928-29 specters of Rome’s hard-hitting Jesuit magazine, Civilta Cattolica, that accused Rotary of being too friendly with the Masons and of being dangerously prone to the error of treating all religions as of equal value.

Responding to questions from the media, the Vatican indicated that the ban did not apply specifically to such other groups as Kiwanis, Lions and Elks. Priestly membership in such clubs was merely discouraged because they are “worldly” and a possible source of “distraction from the priestly mission.”

Even laypersons were warned by the Holy Office, “Though in many cases, especially in America, [the clubs] are carrying on the laudable activity of assistance, nevertheless sometimes there is undue devotion to monopolistic capitalism, and monopoly is condemnable, on both Christian and social grounds, as an offence against charity. The fact that non-members of Rotary Clubs are sometimes excluded from the benefits which Providence meant for all men . . . amounts to a condemnable monopoly.”

The nonplussed president of Rotary International, Arthur La­gueux, a Quebec investment broker and a Roman Catholic complained, “Ro­tary is not a secret organization. It does not seek to supplant or interfere with any religious or political organization. It assumes that its program of service is in accord with all religions, and it does not concern itself with a Rotarian’s politics.”

As a huge bubble of troubled waters draining 40 percent of the U.S. in and around the rain-soaked Midwest cascaded down the mighty Mississippi River, a flood of 21,000 Rotarians from 160 countries descended upon New Orleans for the humanitarian service organization’s annual convention.

The colorful Rotary convention is often described as a “Mini-United Nations” because of its global scope and cultural diversity.

Housed in the cavernous Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, Rotary International did what it does best: Serve wherever service is needed. Catastrophes such as the March 11 Japan earthquake/tsu­nami get priority. Katrina is still not forgotten in New Orleans.

There are seminal works like scholarships. Rotary advises that application deadlines for Ambas­sadorial Scholars and Rotary Peace Fellows are rapidly approach­ing. Rotarians are asked to reach out to qualified candidates and have them submit applications to local Rotary Clubs. Deadline for clubs to submit applications to the district is May 23.

The Rotary Foundation sponsors one of the largest International Scholarship programs. Ambas­sadorial Scholars study in a foreign country where they serve as unofficial ambassadors of goodwill. Since 1947, more than 40,000 scholars from over 130 countries have received scholarships at a Rotary cost of more than $532 million.

Because of my near 16-year pastorate at St. Augustine Church in Faubourg Tremé of New Orleans and my collaboration with musicians, Rotarian Julia Woodward Burka notified me that she and celebrated clarinetist Dr. Michael White had discussed asking me to host the musical welcoming program of Rotary International’s 2011 Convention.

Since Rotary had asked Julia to produce the music concert at the Morial Convention Center, which they are calling, “Sounds of the South,” she requested Past District Governor of Rotary International, Subhash Kulkarni, to send me an invitation to host the music concert. Of course, I readily accepted his October 19, 2010 invitation.

Though somewhat ambiguous, Canon 1374 of the Code of Canon Law became effective November 27, 1983, and it did not condemn Rotary by name. “Therefore,” I told the Rotarians gathered in the cavernous Ernest N. Morial Conven­tion Center, “it seems that you folks are not so secretive and dangerous after all!

“So, welcome to the Big Easy, the Crescent City, the Queen City of the South! Laisse les bons temps roulez! Did we hear that someone predicted the world would end today? The correct pre­diction was that the Old World would cross the Atlantic to visit the New World. So here we are, about to celebrate one of the world’s elite benevolent societies.”

Superbly, Dr. Michael White and The Liberty Jazz Band represented New Orleans traditional jazz, Topsy Chapman and Solid Har­mony represented Gospel music, Les Gettrex and the Bluesmasters represented the blues, the Tremé Brass Band represented the New Orleans brass band component, and Bruce Daigrepont represented Cajun music.

A great time was had by the 4,000 folks in sold-out Hall I of the convention center. Much health and happiness to the nondenominational, nonpolitical, worldwide Rota­rians!

This story originally published in the May 30, 2011 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.