04-10-2013, 09:42 AM
For at least a decade, my father has been working with a group called Serra International. The aim of SI is to foster vocations and support priests. As is my father's wont, he rose through the organization from club president to now where he is President of the United States Council. Serra International is made of up of different Councils with the United States Council being the largest. The group looks to Father Serra as their inspiration and this will be a big year for them as it is the 300th anniversary of his birth in Majorca, Spain.
Being the President of USAC is a thankless job. It's like herding a pack of rabid cats to get them to do anything. Plus, it is a completely unpaid position and none of his expenses are covered. As part of his duties, he is required to travel all across the country to visit the various Serra chapters. All the charges for those lovely Southwest Airline flights come out of his pocket.
But my father has taken on this job because he feels compelled by his faith to do so.
Every year Serra International has a convention to gather all their members together. Since there are chapters all over the world, they have the conventions all over the world. I was especially disappointed when I was invited to join my parents in Thailand for that years convention. Especially when there was a side trip to Angor Wat in Cambodia. Since this it the birth year anniversary for Father Serra, it seems to be a natural choice for this years convention to be in Majorca, Spain. My father became President this year to make that happen. That was his one big goal. The only reason to go through all these hassles was to be in Petra with his fellow Serrans celebrating Father Serra's life.
To give you an idea of the kind of thinking going on at the highest level of Serra International, they originally decided to go to Barcelona. They figured there wouldn't be enough hotel space in Majorca to hold such a big convention as Serra International. SI could bring anywhere from 500 to 1000 people. Majorca is probably one of the biggest tourist destinations in Europe. They have their own International Airport. My father eventually convinced SI to hold their convention in Majorca.
While the debate on where to hold the convention was going on, an even bigger crisis was also going on. The United States Council was formed back in 1994 to better serve the United States. Every region around the globe has it's own council so why shouldn't the United States have a council, too went the thinking. But from the moment it was formed, SI wanted to get rid of USAC. And it all comes down to one thing, the usual thing, money. USAC has the most members. This means it has the most money. SI has not been good with their money. For instance, they spend 40K a year on their Joomla based website. Joomla is a free open source website much like Wordpress. They also have a few paid positions including a Business Agent, a highly paid business agent. His trips across the country are paid for by SI.
One of the reasons SI wants to get rid of USAC is so it can take it's assets and use that to pay off SI's own debt. The only problem is that USAC, like SI, is a LLC. Things got so ugly this year, that SI took USAC to court in order to dissolve USAC. The judge couldn't believe what he was hearing. He didn't know of a single case where one company in the United States could simply take over another company. It would be like McDonald's saying it wanted all of Burger King's money. But the judge agreed to hear the arguments. Meanwhile the Bishop liasons have all told SI to knock it off. Votes have been taken from all the members of SI to stop the lawsuit. But the board and it's Business Agent remain firm in their decision to get rid of USAC. According to them, the members and the Bishops don't know what they are doing.
In December, an agreement was reached for SI and USAC to start sharing some of their assets to relieve the burden on SI. The lawsuit was to be dropped. The Business Agent was to be fired.
That was what SI was supposed to do. But they haven't. USAC decided that if SI didn't do as they said they were going to do, there wouldn't be any international convention. They had until April 6 to make good on their promises.
For some reason, I am on the email list for the USAC correspondence. Today I got the email about the Resolution of Separation. My father's dream of a Majorca celebration seem to be in ashes.
I am looking for people to punch.
Being the President of USAC is a thankless job. It's like herding a pack of rabid cats to get them to do anything. Plus, it is a completely unpaid position and none of his expenses are covered. As part of his duties, he is required to travel all across the country to visit the various Serra chapters. All the charges for those lovely Southwest Airline flights come out of his pocket.
But my father has taken on this job because he feels compelled by his faith to do so.
Every year Serra International has a convention to gather all their members together. Since there are chapters all over the world, they have the conventions all over the world. I was especially disappointed when I was invited to join my parents in Thailand for that years convention. Especially when there was a side trip to Angor Wat in Cambodia. Since this it the birth year anniversary for Father Serra, it seems to be a natural choice for this years convention to be in Majorca, Spain. My father became President this year to make that happen. That was his one big goal. The only reason to go through all these hassles was to be in Petra with his fellow Serrans celebrating Father Serra's life.
To give you an idea of the kind of thinking going on at the highest level of Serra International, they originally decided to go to Barcelona. They figured there wouldn't be enough hotel space in Majorca to hold such a big convention as Serra International. SI could bring anywhere from 500 to 1000 people. Majorca is probably one of the biggest tourist destinations in Europe. They have their own International Airport. My father eventually convinced SI to hold their convention in Majorca.
While the debate on where to hold the convention was going on, an even bigger crisis was also going on. The United States Council was formed back in 1994 to better serve the United States. Every region around the globe has it's own council so why shouldn't the United States have a council, too went the thinking. But from the moment it was formed, SI wanted to get rid of USAC. And it all comes down to one thing, the usual thing, money. USAC has the most members. This means it has the most money. SI has not been good with their money. For instance, they spend 40K a year on their Joomla based website. Joomla is a free open source website much like Wordpress. They also have a few paid positions including a Business Agent, a highly paid business agent. His trips across the country are paid for by SI.
One of the reasons SI wants to get rid of USAC is so it can take it's assets and use that to pay off SI's own debt. The only problem is that USAC, like SI, is a LLC. Things got so ugly this year, that SI took USAC to court in order to dissolve USAC. The judge couldn't believe what he was hearing. He didn't know of a single case where one company in the United States could simply take over another company. It would be like McDonald's saying it wanted all of Burger King's money. But the judge agreed to hear the arguments. Meanwhile the Bishop liasons have all told SI to knock it off. Votes have been taken from all the members of SI to stop the lawsuit. But the board and it's Business Agent remain firm in their decision to get rid of USAC. According to them, the members and the Bishops don't know what they are doing.
In December, an agreement was reached for SI and USAC to start sharing some of their assets to relieve the burden on SI. The lawsuit was to be dropped. The Business Agent was to be fired.
That was what SI was supposed to do. But they haven't. USAC decided that if SI didn't do as they said they were going to do, there wouldn't be any international convention. They had until April 6 to make good on their promises.
For some reason, I am on the email list for the USAC correspondence. Today I got the email about the Resolution of Separation. My father's dream of a Majorca celebration seem to be in ashes.
I am looking for people to punch.
So much for the flickr badge idea. Dammit