Dr. Pablo Rodriguez may have the last word on the Warwick Country Club's rejection a few months back of his application for membership. Informed sources say a vote of the club's general membership was recently taken on whether to permit all members, not just the board of directors, to vote on new applications. Among the 88 votes, the status quo was maintained by only four votes, supporting former mayor Joseph Walsh's view that the general membership wasn't strongly against Rodriguez becoming a member.

Still, not everyone's happy. Shortly after being spurned by the club's board because he provides abortions, Rodriguez drew unfriendly words from a priest at a nearby church. On Sunday, November 18, the day after a Providence Journal story detailed the membership situation, the Reverend Robert Marciano of the Church of Saints Rose and Clement delivered a scathing attack on Rodriguez during a lengthy homily.

The priest spared no harsh words, referring to Rodriguez as "infamous," taking care not to use the word "doctor," Marciano said later in an interview, because a physician "does not murder children." Defending the country club's rejection, Marciano says he was infuriated by Rodriguez's likening of the board to the Taliban, suggesting a small minority imposing their view on the general membership of a population.

Marciano says he acted on his own in speaking out after receiving complaints from some parishioners who are club members. He praised the club's board for having "moral courage" in denying admission to Rodriguez. Marciano also had kind words for two defenders of the decision, former Warwick mayor Frank Flaherty and former governor Phil Noel. But the priest described Walsh as "shameful" because he sponsored Rodriguez's application.

Walsh, a popular lawyer-lobbyist, has said he recommended the doctor for membership because Rodriguez wanted his kids to be able to swim at the club with their friends. Marciano says Rodriguez "violates his Hippocratic oath as a doctor to save lives." At the conclusion of the homily, the priest got an ovation from a clear majority of the congregation. Rodriguez, though, says he's used to priests attacking him and holds to his view that the country club's board practiced religious bigotry by penalizing him for his moral and political beliefs.

Issue Date: January 18 - 24, 2002