Photo: Ill. Robert L. Goldsmith, Representative of
our Supreme Council to the Supreme Council of Slovenia, confers
with Ill. Veljko Varicak, 33°, Sovereign Grand Commander,
during the establishment of the Supreme Council of Slovenia on
March 25, 2000, in Medvode, a suburb of Ljubljana, the capital
of Slovenia.
Scottish
Rite Masons rejoice at the creation of new Supreme Councils. On
March 25, 2000, I had the wonderful opportunity not only to be
present at but also to participate in the installation ceremonies
of the new Supreme Council of Slovenia. This act was the end result
of a careful process that followed the recognition of the Grand
Lodge of Slovenia by the Conference of Grand Masters of North
America in February of this year.
On March 15, my wife, Joan, and I traveled from Jacksonville, Florida, to Atlanta, Georgia, where we met up with Ill. David A. Eschrich, 33°, and his wife, Helena. From there we flew to Vienna, Austria, arriving the following day. Ill. Friedrich Drapal, 33°, Grand Secretary General of the Supreme Council for Austria, graciously arranged for transportation to our hotel. Meeting him for lunch, we discussed plans for the Installation of the Officers for the Supreme Council of Slovenia. The creation of this new Supreme Council was made possible through the organizational efforts of the Supreme Councils for Austria and the Supreme Council of Italy and by the actions of our Sovereign Grand Commander, Ill. C. Fred Kleinknecht, 33°, who accepted the first two Slovenian Brethren in the Scottish Rite as early as June 1991, when he was visiting the city of Prague in the Czech Republic.
On Monday, March 20, we traveled by train to Prague and, after three days of sightseeing, to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. On Friday, March 24, I, along with other delegates, attended a reception and dinner at the beautiful Grand Lodge of Slovenia located in Ljubljana.
The following day, Saturday, March 25, was the day we had awaited. In the morning, we met with Ill. Robert W. Woodward, 33°, Deputy of the Supreme Council, American Military Scottish Rite Bodies, NATO Bases, and Ill. Mario Martin Guia, 33°, Lieutenant Grand Commander of the Supreme Council for Portugal, who provided some background on the proceedings and circumstances in general. In the afternoon, we boarded a bus and traveled to Medvode, approximately 15 miles from Ljubljana, where we enjoyed a delicious meal in a private hall and witnessed the Installation of the Officers of the new Supreme Council.
At the proper time during the ceremony, I had the privilege, as the representative of Grand Commander Kleinknecht, of placing a Sovereign Grand Commander's cap upon the head of Ill. Veljko Varicak, 33°, who became the new Sovereign Grand Commander of the Supreme Council of Slovenia. This is a moment I will never forget, as it symbolized the diffusion of the Scottish Rite's moral influences and teachings in yet another country.
Following the installation, I was granted the courtesy of offering the first comments on the proceedings, which I gladly accepted. As part of my comments, I was pleased to read a letter from Grand Commander Kleinknecht, which was received with hearty applause. The last to speak was the new Sovereign Grand Commander, Ill. Veljko Varicak, 33°, who commented that liberty of thought helped grant his Brethren the necessary strength and confidence to labor according to the spirit of the high principles of the Masonic tradition. Following photographs of the gala event, we returned to our hotel at about 11:00 pm.
Throughout my trip, our European Brethren afforded us the greatest courtesies, and we understood first-hand what fraternity can really mean in that we were made to feel like members of one large family. Also, we were repeatedly told of the great respect our European Brethren maintain for the Mother Supreme Council of the World and of how Grand Commander Kleinknecht's efforts and influences have helped the progress of Supreme Councils worldwide.