Catholicism and Freemasonry

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This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913.

The Roman Catholic Church has long been an outspoken critic of Freemasonry,[1] considering it anti-clerical. Since the early 1700s, the Vatican has issued several papal bulls forbidding Catholics from becoming Freemasons under threat of excommunication. The Church argues that Masonic philosophy discourages Christian dogmatism, and that it is anti-clerical in intent.[2][3]

The 1913 edition of the Catholic Encyclopedia went as far as to argue that some Masonic ceremonies are anti-Catholic.[4] However, this claim does not appear in subsequent editions.

Image:Pope-leo-xiii-02.jpg
Pope Leo XIII was the Pope who wrote Humanum Genus, which forbade Catholics from becoming Freemasons

Contents

[edit] Current Position of the Catholic Church

Confusion in the 1970s and early 1980s called for a clarified position on Freemasonry from the Church. The 1983 Code of Canon Law did not explicitly list Masonic orders among the secret societies it condemns.[5] This contrasted with the 1917 Code of Canon Law, which explicitly declared that joining Freemasonry entailed automatic excommunication. The inconsistency prompted Catholics and Masons to question whether the ban on Catholics becoming Freemasons was still active, especially after the perceived liberalization of the Church after Vatican II.

A number of Catholics became Freemasons, relying on a permissive interpretation of Canon Law and justifying their membership by the belief that Freemasonry does not involve plotting against the Church.[6]

Prompted by these concerns, the Catholic Church restated its stance on Freemasonry in the 1983 document, written by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and approved by Pope John Paul II. This document remains the most current standing reference on the Church's policy on Freemasonry.[7] Quaesitum est states:

"The faithful, who enroll in Masonic associations are in a state of grave sin and may not receive Holy Communion...."

[edit] Freemasonry's position

There has never been Masonic prohibition against Catholics joining the fraternity. Many Freemasons are Catholics.[8]

[edit] Reasoning behind the Catholic position towards Freemasonry

The Catholic Church considers Freemasonry incompatible with Catholicism for a number of reasons:

  • Freemasonry's acceptance of people of any faith in a religious atmosphere minimizes the importance of Catholic religious dogma.
  • The Catholic Church contends that Freemasonry advocates a Deist view of God.[9][10]
  • Some Masonic lodges advocate a radical separation of church and state,[11] this stance being perceived by the Church as true of all Freemasonry. Avowedly anti-clerical groups such as the carbonari in the Papal States are alleged to have followed a Masonic agenda as well as having based their organization on Masonic forms.
  • Freemasonry has characteristics of a secret society, which engenders distrust.
  • Sources such as the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia claim that initiation rituals for Scottish Rite degrees have been anti-Catholic.[12]

[edit] Allegations of Deism

One of the persistent Catholic criticisms of Freemasonry is that it advocates a deist or naturalist view of Creation. While Masonry is not overtly atheist (atheists are not permitted to join mainstream Masonic Lodges), its references to the "Supreme Architect of the Universe" are seen by the Catholic hierarchy as contending that God created the Universe but did not subsequently intervene in the world.[13] This was a common heresy that arose in the Enlightenment.[14]

The prominent role of geometry in rituals of (non-dogmatic) Freemasonry is given as evidence of deism in the Catholic Encyclopedia.[15] The Catholic Church sees this as in opposition to a Naturalistic philosophy.

[edit] Catholic Prohibition on Secret Societies

The Catholic Church regards oath-bound secret societies as being detrimental to the faith and has banned its members from joining them. According to the Church, secret societies compel Catholics to sin. For example, a secret society may require a Catholic to lie in the confessional.[16] Further, secret societies are seen as disruptive to the civil order by creating an atmosphere amenable to criminal conspiracy.[17]

Oaths are also believed to bind people to blind obedience, contrary to the Roman Catholic view of man[18] and to facilitate the manipulation of well-intentioned "lower orders" by less benign "higher orders" (see below).

Other secret societies legislated against by the Church have been the Sons of Temperance, the Order of Odd-Fellows and the Knights of Pythias.[19] Student fraternities are also discouraged.[20]

Freemasonry denies that it is a secret society, instead referring to itself as "private".[21] While this point is widely contested, the German historian Dieter A. Binder tells us “Lodges are closed societies, but not secret societies” and says that the historical correct description would be "discrete society."[22] Grand Lodges provide complete information about their Officers and activities.[23]

[edit] Allegations that Freemasonry is a new religion

Main article: Christianity and Freemasonry

The Catholic Church charges that Freemasonry shows many characteristics of a separate religion,[24] and so the Church forbids those who accept its authority from becoming Freemasons — in the same way that a non-Catholic church would be forbidden.[25]

The United Grand Lodge of England claims that Freemasonry has a non-dogmatic nature and explicitly states that "Freemasonry is not a religion nor substitute for religion."[26]

[edit] Religious Indifferentism

Main article: Religious Indifferentism

The Catholic Church claims Freemasonry's refusal to hold one faith as being superior to any others[27] and its insistence on pseudo-religious rituals[28] indicate an indifference to religion.[27] The Church sees Masonic behavior as a denial of the truth of Christian revelation[29] and what the Catholic Church views as Christ's guarantee of orthodoxy[30] to that Church.[31]

Freemasonry categorically denies that it is a religion (and, in fact, had definitively stated that it is not),[32] but supports its members in their personal faiths.[32] At the same time, it allows members of all faith to participate in its rituals.[33]

[edit] Anti-Catholicism and the Scottish Rite

It is alleged[34] that anti-Catholicism becomes more pronounced in the appendant bodies, commonly called "higher" or "advanced" degrees,[35] of Scottish Rite Masonry. Catholic criticisms of Freemasonry, such as the Catholic Encyclopedia, claim that Freemasons in craft lodges, or "lower" degrees, are deceived as to the authority of the appendant bodies over craft lodges and the power that the appendant lodges have over them.[36] A related allegation is that lower degree initiates could be manipulated into directions—particularly against either Catholicism or Christian belief—of which they are unaware.[37]

The Supreme Councils of the Scottish Rite have stated that the highest degree in Masonry is that of the Third degree of Master Mason,[38] despite the fact that Scottish Rite uses a numbering system that labels its degrees in a higher sequence than Craft or Blue Lodge Freemasonry. In addition, regular Grand Lodges have specifically stated that they are sovereign and do not owe allegiance to any Scottish Rite Supreme Council.[39]

[edit] Knight Kadosh Degree

Particularly controversial is the Knight Kadosh or thirtieth degree, written by Albert Pike and purported to be in use in the Southern Jurisdiction of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite in the United States. The 1913 edition of the Catholic Encyclopedia claims that the papal tiara is trampled[4] during the initiation.[40] This allegation was not repeated in the 1967 New Catholic Encyclopedia,[41] (which, while it discusses Scottish Rite in some depth, does not discuss the Knight Kadosh degree in particular), although it was repeated by Father William Saunders in the Arlington Catholic Herald in 1996.[42]

Neither the Catholic Encyclopedia's nor Father Sauders's account agree with Pike's ritual in The Magnum Opus,[43] which includes neither trampling nor any mention of the papal tiara.

Pike's controversial book Morals and Dogma does mention hostility to the papal tiara by the historical Knights Templar when discussing the Kadosh degree.[44] However this is Pike's personal commentary on the degree and is not part of the degree itself.

An early twentieth century essay, authored under the pen name of "Cato Perpatria", translated from the original Spanish by Edwin Sherman and published in a Masonic magazine, says that the Knight Kadosh initiation ritual commemorates a Papal betrayal of the Knights Templar,[45] while at the same time swearing enmity towards the Church.[46] It is not known if "Cato Perpatria" was a member of the Scottish Rite, and his essay does not specify the symbolic actions of the ritual, nor say if members of the Scottish Rite agreed with his sentiments.

[edit] Catholic Ban, Historically

[edit] Original Prohibition

In 1736 the Florentine Inquisition investigated a Masonic Lodge in Florence, Italy,[47], which was condemned in June 1737. The Lodge had originally been founded by English Masons, but accepted Italian members.

In 1738, Pope Clement XII issued Eminenti Apostolatus Specula, the first Papal prohibition on Freemasonry.

[edit] Reiteration of ban on membership

The ban in Eminenti was reiterated by several later popes, notably Pope Leo XIII in the encyclical Humanum Genus (1884).

The 1917 Code of Canon Law explicitly declared that joining Freemasonry entailed automatic excommunication.[48] The 1917 Code of Canon Law also forbid books friendly to Freemasonry.[49]

[edit] Post Vatican II

After Vatican II, the Church seemed to ease its stance towards Masonry. In 1974 Cardinal Seper, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, signed a document that stated, in part, that "The Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith... has ruled that Canon 2335 no longer automatically bars a Catholic from membership of masonic groups... And so, a Catholic who joins the Freemasons is excommunicated only if the policies and actions of the Freemasons in his area are known to be hostile to the Church ..."[50] This advice led some Catholics to believe that the prohibition was no longer in force,[51] and that the Church no longer had many of its traditional objections to Freemasonry.[52]

In 1983, the Church issued a new Code of Canon Law. Unlike its predecessor, Canon 1374 does not explicitly name Masonic orders among the secret societies it condemns. It states in part:

A person who joins an association which plots against the Church is to be punished with a just penalty; one who promotes or takes office in such an association is to be punished with an interdict.

This omission caused some Catholics and Freemasons to believe that the ban on Catholics becoming Freemasons may have been lifted, especially after the perceived liberalization of Vatican II,[53] and caused confusion in the Church hierarchy.[54] Many Catholics joined the fraternity, basing their membership on a permissive interpretation of Canon Law and justifying their membership by their belief that Freemasonry does not plot against the Church.[55] It is claimed that Catholic Freemasons in America ignore the 1983 clarification from the Vatican, looking to the 1974 pronouncement.[56]

[edit] Ratzinger's Reply

However, in the 1981 letter, Clarification concerning status of Catholics becoming Freemasons to the United States Bishops from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith authored by the then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI), the matter was clarified, and the prohibition against Catholics joining Masonic orders remains.

This was followed by the 1983 document Quaesitum est. To quote: "The faithful, who enroll in Masonic associations are in a state of grave sin and may not receive Holy Communion..."[57] This is the authoritative interpretation of the Vatican's position on this subject.

The official Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano went further, claiming that Freemasonry acted as a rival to Catholicism because of the competing symbolic forms and the designation of Catholic non-Masons as outsiders.[58]

[edit] German Bishops Conference

The 1980 German Bishops Conference produced a report on Freemasonry listing twelve points and allegations.[59]

Among the allegations were that Freemasonry denies revelation[60] and objective truth.[61] They also alleged that religious indifference is fundamental to Freemasonry;[62] that Freemasonry is Deist;[63] and that it denies the possibility of divine revelation.[64] so threatening the respect due to the Church's teaching office.[65]

The sacramental character of Masonic rituals was seen as signifying an individual transformation,[66] offering an alternative path to perfection[67] and having a total claim on the life of a member[68]

It concludes by stating that all lodges are forbidden to Catholics,[69] including Catholic-friendly lodges[70] and that German Protestant churches were also suspicious of Freemasonry[71]

[edit] Report of the American Bishops Conference

Main article: Letter to U.S. Bishops Concerning Masonry

In the 1980s, the Bishops' Committee on Pastoral Research and Practices concluded that "the principles and basic rituals of Masonry embody a naturalistic religion, active participation in which is incompatible with Christian faith and practice." This report, together with two others, was sent in a public letter by Cardinal Bernard Law.

Although at least one American bishop has said that Freemasonry is less anti-clerical in the United States than it is among the "Latin" lodges,[72] the view that the Catholic Church was looking at Freemasonry from the perspective of France and Italy was dismissed by the report of the American Bishops.[73]

[edit] Anslow Affair

On 15 September 2000 Rev. Thomas Anslow, Judicial Vicar of the Los Angeles Arch-Diocese wrote a letter to David Patterson, Executive Secretary of the Masonic Service Bureau of Los Angeles. In reply to the question "whether a practicing Catholic may join a Masonic Lodge" he said that "at least for Catholics in the United States, I believe the answer is probably yes".[74] This letter was later publicly retracted with the explanation that the analysis was faulty.[75] He said that Freemasonry fostered a "supraconfessional humanitarian" conception of God replacing faith and revelation.[76]

[edit] Catholic Fraternal Societies

Freemasonry was an important catalyst in the founding of the Knights of Columbus.[77] One of the attractions of Freemasonry is that it provided a number of social services unavailable to non-members (and therefore, devout Catholics).[78] Father Michael J. McGivney, a Catholic priest in New Haven, Connecticut wished to provide Catholic men with an alternative to Freemasonry.[79] He believed that Catholicism and fraternalism were not incompatible and wished to found a society that would encourage men to be proud of their American-Catholic heritage.[80]

[edit] Freemasonry and The Inquisition

In May 1739, Tommaso Crudeli, a physician and freethinker, was taken into custody and questioned under torture about his heretical beliefs and Masonic affiliation. He was released in April 1741 and died in January 1745 from what is believed to be the result of the torture and incarceration he suffered at the hands of church authorities.[81]

Another case involved John Coustos, a Protestant Swiss living in England. He founded a Masonic Lodge in Lisbon and was arrested by the Portuguese Inquisition while traveling on business. After being questioned, he was sentenced to the galley.[82] Three other Portuguese Masons were put to death.[83] Coustos was released in 1744 as a result of the intercession of King George II of England, and after his return to England, wrote a book detailing his experiences at the hands of the Inquisition.[82]

In 1815, Francisco Xavier de Mier y Campillo, the Inquisitor General of Spanish Inquisition and Bishop of Almería, suppressed Freemasonry and denounced the lodges as “societies which lead to sedition, to independence, and to all errors and crimes.”[84] He then instituted a purge during which Spaniards could be arrested on the charge of being "suspected of Freemasonry".[84]

[edit] Sources of Catholic antagonism

The Catholic Church's antagonism towards Freemasonry has historical roots.

[edit] Separation of Church and State

Freemasons are seen by the Church[85] as prominent advocates of a strict separation of church and state,[86] a charge many Freemasons will willingly admit. Such separation of church and state was seen by the Church as a veiled attack on its place in public life,[87] manifesting a Religious Indifferentism, which did not accept any religion as true or revealed.[88]

Freemasonry was accused of promoting state supported secular education in opposition to Church education in both Italy[87] and the United States.[89] In Italy, Freemasonry has been accused of promoting civil marriage[90] and supporting cremation[91] Freemasonry was also accused of being the motivating force behind the forfeiture of Italian church property[92] and ending Papal temporal authority in the Papal States.[93]

The Vatican criticized Freemasonry in this area in 2004.[94]

[edit] Josephinism

Joseph II was the absolutist emperor of Austria. His ecclesiastical policies of measured toleration and national control of the church, known as Josephinism, were aimed at breaking any real control of the Austrian church by Rome.[95] There is no evidence that Joseph II was a Mason. He is fondly remembered today by Masonic historians for being favorably inclined to the Fraternity,[96] and it was speculated in the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia that he had an alliance with Freemasonry.[97] Joseph's father, Francis I, was a Freemason, and patron to the musical arts.[98]

Freemasonry was banned in .Austria-Hungary shortly after Joseph II's death in 1790,[99] a state of affairs that continued until 1867 in Hungary and 1918 in Austria.

[edit] Kulturkampf

Kulturkampf was Bismarck's vigorous campaign of the Prussian nation against the Catholic Church. The Papal encyclical Etsi multa of Pope Pius IX in 1873 claimed that, along with Swiss and Italian Catholics, the German Catholic community was suffering from a "bitter persecution".[100] and claimed that Freemasonry was the motivating force.[101] It condemned Freemasonry, accusing it of being "the Synagogue of Satan".[102]

The Kulturkampf included outlawing the Society of Jesus, state interferance in seminary education and clerical appointments, and the Kanzelparagraph which criminalized political speach by clerics from the pulpit.

The Catholic Encyclopedia claims that the Kulturkampf was instigated by Masonic lodges.[103]

[edit] Anti-Clericalism among the "Latin Lodges"

In many traditionally Catholic countries, the branch of Freemasonry commonly practiced (in what some Masonic scholars refer to as the "Latin Lodges"[104]) has been seen as an outlet for anti-Catholic disaffection, and many particularly anti-clerical regimes in traditionally Catholic countries were perceived as having a strong Masonic element.

Freemasonry has been commonly claimed[105] to be behind many of the revolutionary movements in these countries.

[edit] France

[edit] French Revolution

Many French revolutionaries were Freemasons, including Voltaire,[106] Condorcet,[107] Mirabeau,[108] Danton,[109] the Duke of Orleans,[110] Hebert[111] and Robespierre (membership disputed).[112]

In some parts of France, the Jacobin Clubs were continuances of Masonic lodges from the Ancien Régime; no clear relationship exists, though, between Radical Republicanism and freemasonry (e.g. freemasonry was rather inactive during Robespierre's Reign of Terror and was active during Napoléon Bonaparte's reign).

The Catholic Encyclopedia alleges that the Masonic book La Franc-Maçonnerie, écrasée in 1746 predicted the program of the French Revolution,[113] and claims to quote documents of the Grand Orient of France where Freemasonry claims credit for the French Revolution.[114] However, the New Catholic Encyclopedia of 1967 says that modern historians see Freemasonry's role in the French Revolution as exaggerated.[115]

[edit] 1905 Separation of Church and State

Catholic sources, quoting Masonic documents from both the United Grand Lodge of England and the Grand Orient of France,[116] saw Freemasonry as the primary force of French anti-clericalism from 1877 onwards.[3] The 1905 separation of Church and State was pushed through largely on the initiative of the interior minister, Émile Combes, an active Freemason.[117] French Masonic publications had gone further than the anti-clericalism of 1905, expressing the hope that religious orders (or congregations) should be expelled from France.[118] The Catholic Encyclopedia claims that French Freemasonry was the inspiration behind the suppression of religious orders, the nationalization of Church resources, measures against Catholic charitable establishments and private Christian schools and the secularization of public education.[119]

[edit] Italy

[edit] Carbonari
Main article: Carbonari

The Carbonari was an Italian secret society that modelled its organization on Masonry.[120] It was concerned with the unification of Italy along the lines of the French revolution, and thus objected not only to the existence of a Papal political entity in Italy, but also the overtly Catholic nature of Italian society. The Papal constitution Ecclesiam a Jesu Christo linked the Carbonari to Freemasonry[121] This was seen by many within the Church to be following a Masonic agenda as well as its organizational model.[122]

The Alta Vendita is a document that purports to be from the highest lodge of the Carbonari in Sicily, and was believed to be true by two nineteenth century popes. It mapped out a takeover of the Catholic church to change it into a more liberal and less exclusive institution.

[edit] Risorgimento

The Italian Unification, or Risorgimento, was opposed by Pope Pius IX because he feared it would result in persecution of Italian Catholics.[123] Prominent Italian nationalists who were Freemasons included Giuseppe Garibaldi,[124] Camillo di Cavour[125] and Giuseppe Mazzini.[125]

The risorgimento ended with the dispossession of the Papal States in 1870.

[edit] Prisoner in the Vatican

In the period between Italian unification (1870) and the Lateran Treaties (1929) there was a cold war between the Papacy and the Kingdom of Italy (see Prisoner in the Vatican). The Papal Encyclical Etsi Nos,[126] complained about the way in which post-unification Italy denigrated the role of the church,[127] which the Vatican blamed primarily on Freemasonry.[128]

The hostility to Freemasonry shaped much of the Catholic church's strategy in regard to the newly established Italian state. For example, in the encyclical Custodi di quella fede Leo XIII warned against Catholics becoming involved with liberal groups[129] and asked Catholics to become more involved in forms of Catholic Action away from the "Masonic" state.[130]

[edit] Mexico

In the nineteenth century, Benito Juárez, who was a Freemason,[131] confiscated a large amount of church land. The Mexican government's campaign against the Catholic Church after the Mexican Revolution coincided with a succession of presidents who were Masons.[132]

President Plutarco Elías Calles, a Freemason, on May 28, 1926 was awarded a medal of merit for his persecution of Catholics. [133] The 1917 constitution contained numerous articles which Catholics considered violative of their civil rights: Article 5 outlawed monastic religious orders; Article 24 forbade public worship outside of church buildings; Article 27 restricted religious organizations' rights to own property; and Article 130 took away basic civil rights of members of the clergy: priests and religious leaders were prevented from wearing their habits, were denied the right to vote, and were not permitted to comment on public affairs in the press. These measures had not been stronly enforced but when the Church publicly condemned these provisions of the constitution, Calles sought to vigorously enforce the provisions and enacted additional anti-Catholic legislation known as the Calles Law. Priests were fined for wearing clerical garb and could be imprisoned for five years for speaking out against the law. Under Calles' rule, entire regions were cleared of priests, priests were forced to marry, and hundreds of them were killed.[citation needed]

On July 12, 1926, the following communique appeared in the press: "International Masonry accepts responsibility for everything that is happening in Mexico, and is preparing to mobilize all its forces for the methodic, integral application of the agreed upon program for this country." [134]

[edit] Spain

In 2004, the president of Spain's Union of Catholic Professional Fraternities blamed the anti-clerical measures of the Socialist government on a "tremendous crusade by Masonry against the Church".[135]

[edit] See also

v • d • e
Topics in Freemasonry

Grand Lodge • Regular Masonic jurisdictions • Masonic Lodge • Appendant bodies • Prince Hall Freemasonry • Masonic Landmarks • Co-Freemasonry • List of Freemasons • Women and Freemasonry • Masonic Youth Organizations • Grand College of Rites • History of Freemasonry • Anti-Masonry • Catholicism and Freemasonry • Christianity and Freemasonry • Masonic conspiracy theories • Anti-Masonic Party • York Rite • Scottish Rite • Shriners • Societas Rosicruciana • Tall Cedars of Lebanon • Mystic Order of Veiled Prophets of the Enchanted Realm • Order of the Eastern Star • Order of the Amaranth • Order of Mark Master Masons • List of Masonic temples • History of Freemasons in Manitoba

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ and has continually prohibited members from being Freemasons since In Eminenti Secula in 1739
  2. ^ In Latin countries, the lodges have often attracted freethinkers and anticlerical types; in Anglo-Saxon nations, membership has mostly been drawn from white Protestants. Freemasonry, Concise Britannica; J. Franklin, `Catholics versus Masons', in J. Franklin, Catholic Values and Australian Realities (Connor Court, 2006), ch. 2
  3. ^ a b "French Masonry and above all the Grand Orient of France has displayed the most systematic activity as the dominating political element in the French 'Kulturkampf' since 1877." From Masonry (Freemasonry) from the Catholic Encyclopedia
  4. ^ a b "The Kadosh (thirtieth degree), trampling on the papal tiara and the royal crown, is destined to wreak a just vengeance on these 'high criminals' for the murder of Molay 128 and 'as the apostle of truth and the rights of man' 129 to deliver mankind 'from the bondage of Despotism and the thralldom of spiritual Tyranny'." From the article Masonry (Freemasonry) in the Catholic Encyclopedia
  5. ^ Canon 1374 stated in part: 'A person who joins an association which plots against the Church is to be punished with a just penalty; one who promotes or takes office in such an association is to be punished with an interdict.'
  6. ^ From 1974 to 1981, and even beyond, an undetermined number of Catholic men joined the Lodge, and many presently maintain membership. Articles in the Catholic press ' told readers that under certain circumstances a Masonic membership was allowed. The general public, Catholic and non-Catholic, assumed the Church had softened its stand against membership in Freemasonry. from The Pastoral Problem of Masonic Membership by William A Whalen.
  7. ^ Quaesitum est reinforced Clarification concerning status of Catholics becoming Freemasons which was written in 1981 from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to the Bishops Conference of the United States which clarified the Church's stance by stating that the historic prohibition against Catholics joining Masonic orders remained.
  8. ^ S. Brent Morris, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Freemasonry, Alpha/Penguin Books, ISBN 1-59257-490-4, p.207.
  9. ^ "The nature of the Masonic God is best seen in their favorite title for him: the Supreme Architect. The Masonic God is first of all a deistic God, who is found at the top of the ladder of Masonic wisdom", Jolicoeur and Knowles, pp. 14–15 cited in THE PASTORAL PROBLEM OF MASONIC MEMBERSHIP, sent out as a part of the Letter of April 19, 1985 to U.S. Bishops Concerning Masonry by Cardinal Bernard Law.
  10. ^ Masonic historian S. Brent Morris, however, contends that the term was derived from John Calvin's reference to God as "the Architect of the Universe" in his Institutes of Christian Religion - "This phrase was introduced in Reverend James Anderson's 1723 Constitutions of the Free-Masons, and he no doubt picked it up from John Calvin's Institutes of Christian Religion. God is referred to as The Architect of the Universe and His creation as Architecture of the Universe no less than ten times. In Calvin's commentary on Psalm 19, God is called the Great Architect or Architect of the Universe." (see: S. Brent Morris, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Freemasonry, Alpha/Penguin Books, ISBN 1-59257-490-4, p.212).
  11. ^ "Then came 2000 Freemasons, mainly from the Grand Orient de France, all draped in their well known French colors." Report on a demonstration accompanying the Sixteenth World Humanist Congress. From Defending the 1905 French Law of Separation of Religion and State published by the International Humanist and Ethical Union.
  12. ^ Masonry (Freemasonry) in the Catholic Encyclopedia.
  13. ^ "The nature of the Masonic God is best seen in their favorite title for him: the Supreme Architect. The Masonic God is first of all a deistic God, who is found at the top of the ladder of Masonic wisdom", Jolicoeur and Knowles, pp. 14–15 cited in THE PASTORAL PROBLEM OF MASONIC MEMBERSHIP, sent out as a part of the Letter of April 19, 1985 to U.S. Bishops Concerning Masonry by Cardinal Bernard Law
  14. ^ Deism, in the European Enlightenment Glossary
  15. ^ "Freemasonry teaches through symbols that admit gnostic, deistic, or Christian interpretation. For example, the Masonic symbol "G" can stand for either God or geometry." New Catholic Encyclopedia, 1967 ed, Volume 6, p 133, McGraw-Hill, New York.
  16. ^ "First, the oath of secrecy by which the member binds himself to keep secret whatever concerns the doings of the Order, even from those in Church and State who have a right to know, under certain conditions, what their subjects are doing." From Secret Societies in the Catholic Encyclopedia. This was a condemnation of the Knights of Pythias and illustrates the Catholic attitude towards oaths in general.
  17. ^ "As an apparently harmless and even beneficent association, which in reality is, through its secrecy and ambiguous symbolism, subject to the most different influences, it furnishes in critical times a shelter for conspiracy, and, even when its lodges themselves are not transformed into conspiracy clubs, Masons are trained and encouraged to found new associations for such purposes or to make use of existing associations." From Masonry (Freemasonry) in the Catholic Encyclopedia.
  18. ^ "...this oath binds the member to blind obedience, which is symbolized by a test. Such an obedience is against the law of man's nature, and against all divine and human law." From Secret Societies in the Catholic Encyclopedia. This was a condemnation of the Knights of Pythias and illustrates the Catholic attitude towards oaths in general.
  19. ^ "The decree of the Holy Office concerning the Odd-Fellows, Sons of Temperance, and Knights of Pythias, though not declaring them to be condemned under censure, says: 'The bishops must endeavor by all means to keep the faithful from joining all and each of the three aforesaid societies; and warn the faithful against them, and if, after proper monition, they still determine to be members of these societies, or do not effectually separate themselves from them, they are to be forbidden the reception of the sacraments.' From Secret Societies in the Catholic Encyclopedia.
  20. ^ "The dangerous character and tendencies of secret organizations among students did not escape the vigilance of the Holy See, and Pius VIII (24 May, 1829) raised his warning voice concerning those in colleges and academies, as his predecessor, Leo XII, had done in the matter of universities." From Secret Societies in the Catholic Encyclopedia.
  21. ^ "Is Freemasonry a Secret Society?" page from the United Grand Lodge of England website.
  22. ^ Dieter A. Binder: Die diskrete Gesellschaft, Geschichte und Symbolik der Freimaurer, Innsbruck 2004 ISBN 3-7065-1971-2
  23. ^ It is clearly stated on the [http://www.grandlodge-england.org/masonry/A2 L-secret-society.htm webpage] of the United Grand Lodge of England: "The rules and aims of Freemasonry are available to the public. The Masonic Year Book, also available to the public, contains the names of all national office-holders and lists of all lodges with details of their meeting dates and places. The meeting places and halls used by Freemasons are readily identifiable, are listed in telephone directories and in many areas are used by the local community for activities other than Freemasonry. Freemason's Hall in London is open to the public and 'open days' are held in many provincial centers. The rituals and ceremonies used by Freemasons to pass on the principles of Freemasonry to new members were first revealed publicly in 1723. They include the traditional forms of recognition used by Freemasons essentially to prove their identity and qualifications when entering a Masonic meeting. These include handshakes which have been much written about and c an scarcely be regarded as truly secret today; for medieval Freemasons, they were the equivalent of a PIN number, restricting access only to qualified members. Many thousands of books have been written on the subject of Freemasonry and are readily available to the general public. Freemasonry offers spokesmen and briefings for the media and provides talks to interested groups on request. Freemasons are proud of their heritage and happy to share it."
  24. ^ "The Catholic Church has difficulty with freemasonry because it is indeed a kind of religion unto itself." From Straight Answers: Catholics and Freemasonry by Father William P. Saunders in the Arlington Catholic Herald, 22 September 2005
  25. ^ "The March 11, 1985, issue of L'Osservatore Romano carried an article entitled "Irreconcilability Between Christian Faith and Freemasonry" as a comment on the November 26, 1983, declaration. In part the Vatican newspaper said a Christian "cannot cultivate relations of two types with God nor express his relation with the Creator through symbolic forms of two types." Quoted in the THE PASTORAL PROBLEM OF MASONIC MEMBERSHIP in the Letter of April 19, 1985 to U.S. Bishops Concerning Masonry by Cardinal Bernard Law.
  26. ^ "Basic Statement—Freemasonry is not a religion, nor is it a substitute for religion. It demands of its members a belief in a Supreme Being but provides no system of faith of its own. Freemasonry is open to men of all religious faiths. The discussion of religion at its meetings is forbidden." From freemasonry and religion on the website of the United Grand Lodge of England.
  27. ^ a b "The peculiar, "unsectarian" (in truth, anti-Catholic and anti-Christian) naturalistic character of Freemasonry, by which theoretically and practically it undermines the Catholic and Christian faith, first in its members and through them in the rest of society, creating religious indifferentism and contempt for orthodoxy and ecclesiastical authority." From Masonry (Freemasonry) in the Catholic Encyclopedia.
  28. ^ "The six-year study of Masonry by the German bishops and the study of American Masonry by Professor William Whalen (commissioned by the Pastoral Research and Practices Committee) confirm that the principles and basic rituals of Masonry embody a naturalistic religion active participation in which is incompatible with Christian faith and practice." Letter of April 19, 1985 to U.S. Bishops Concerning Masonry by Cardinal Bernard Law.
  29. ^ "No one can come to the Father except through me" (John 14:6)
  30. ^ "And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Matthew 16:18
  31. ^ "Masonry propagates no creed, except its own most simple and sublime one taught by Nature and Reason. There has never been a false Religion on the world." Albert Pike quoted in Masonry (Freemasonry) in the Catholic Encyclopedia.
  32. ^ a b UGLE freemasonry and religion from United Grand Lodge of England's web page.
  33. ^ Why Do People Join? from UGLE web page.
  34. ^ "If the American Blue Lodges are not especially anti-Catholic, the religious neutrality of an organization such as the Southern jurisdiction of the Scottish rite, which enrolls 600,000 Masons in thirty-three Southern and Western states, is another matter. The hostility of this group to parochial schools remains unabated and readers of the New Age magazine are well aware of the attitude of the Southern jurisdiction to Roman Catholicism." The Pastoral Problem of Masonic Membership, William A. Whalen, 1985, Report For The Bishops' Committee For Pastoral Research And Practices, Hosted on catholicculture.org
  35. ^ "One of my reasons for writing this book is to encourage Brethren to take these "Advanced Degrees." The Higher Degrees Handbook by J.S.M. Ward, hosted by the Pietre-Stones Review of Freemasonry.
  36. ^ "It should be noted, that the great majority of Masons are far from being "initiated" and "are groveling in Egyptian darkness". Masonry (Freemasonry) in the Catholic Encyclopedia.
  37. ^ "If those who are admitted as members are not commanded to abjure by any form of words the Catholic doctrines, this omission, so far from being adverse to the designs of the Freemasons is more useful for their purposes. First, in this way they easily deceive the simple-minded and the heedless, and can induce a far greater number to become members. Again, as all who offer themselves are received whatever may be their form of religion, they thereby teach the great error of this age—that a regard for religion should be held as an indifferent matter, and that all religions are alike." Paragraph 16, Humanum Genus, Encyclical of Pope Leo XIII 20 April 1884.
  38. ^ Supreme Council Northern Masonic Jurisdiction "Scottish Rite shares the same belief of all Masonic organizations that there is no higher degree than that of Master Mason. The Supreme Councils and their subordinate bodies acknowledge the Masonic supremacy of the Symbolic Grand Lodges and Grand Masters within their jurisdictions. Scottish Rite degrees are in no way higher than the degrees of the Symbolic lodges. The work of the Scottish Rite serves to elaborate on and amplify that of the Symbolic lodge."
  39. ^ http://www.grandlodge-england.org/pdf/cr-rule-update2-141205.pdf page xv Basic Principles for Grand Lodge Recognition] "That the Grand Lodge shall have sovereign jurisdiction over Lodges under its control; i.e. that it shall be a responsible, independent, self-governing organization, with sole and undisputed authority over the Craft or Symbolic degrees (Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft and Master Mason) within its Jurisdiction; and shall not in any way be subject to, or divide such authority with, a Supreme Council or any other power claiming any control or supervision over those degrees."
  40. ^ One Catholic writer, Paul Fisher, has claimed that a skull with a papal tiara is stabbed during the initiation ceremony On Freemasonry and Other "Paranoid Fantasies", though few sources give this specific allegation much credence. Pike's ritual for the Knight Kadosh Degree (see citation below) does not contain any reference to stabbing a skull.
  41. ^ New Catholic Encyclopedia, 1967 ed., Volume 6, p.132–139, McGraw-Hill, New York. The most recent edition (2002) does not contain any article on Freemasonry.
  42. ^ "When one reaches the 30th degree in the masonic hierarchy, called the Kadosh, the person crushes with his foot the papal tiara and the royal crown, and swears to free mankind 'from the bondage of despotism and the thralldom of spiritual tyranny.' "Catholics and the Freemason 'Religion'" by Father William Saunders, The Arlington Catholic Herald, May 9, 1996, hosted by the Eternal Word Television Network.
  43. ^ Pike, Albert; The Magnum Opus or Great Work; Facsimile of 1857 Ed edition (the First Revision) (March 1997); Kessinger Publishing Co.; ISBN 1-56459-245-6 This is a reprint of Pike's of the ritual for the Scottish Rite, which was adopted by the AASR U.S. Southern Jurisdiction and used until the year 2000.
  44. ^ "Thus the Order of Knights of the Temple was at its very origin devoted to the cause of opposition to the tiara of Rome"; Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma, 1871, XXX KNIGHT KADOSH
  45. ^ "THE mystic ladder pertains particularly to us as Knights Kadosh, as the type of our order. It is composed of two ascents or supports that remind us of the compact which took place between Philip the Fair and Pope Clement the V, and the strength of that union which was given against our predecessors." From The Mystic Ladder, translated by Edwin Sherman in The Builder Magazine, July 1915 - Volume I - Number 7.
  46. ^ "And so you likewise complete your obligations and swear implacable hatred to the enemies of that Order which was the pattern of all the virtues; and we now have the obligation of employing all our forces for the total ruin of evil and priestly tyrants, upon whose heads must fall the blood of Jacques de Molay and his martyred companions." From The Mystic Ladder, translated by Edwin Sherman in The Builder Magazine, July 1915 - Volume I - Number 7.
  47. ^ From the biography of Tommaso Crudeli on the website of the Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon
  48. ^ "Those who join a Masonic sect or other societies of the same sort, which plot against the Church or against legitimate civil authority, incur ipso facto an excommunication simply reserved to the Holy See." Canon 2335, 1917 Code of Canon Law, quoted in Canon Law regarding Freemasonry, 1917-1983, excerpted from Canon Law, A Text and Commentary, by T. Lincoln Bouscaren, S.J. and Adam C. Ellis, S.J., hosted on the website of the Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon, retrieved on 9 April
  49. ^ "Books which hold dueling, suicide or divorce licit, or which, treating of Masonic sects and other such societies, contend that they are useful and not harmful to the Church and civil society are forbidden", Section 8, Canon 1399, quoted in Canon Law regarding Freemasonry, 1917-1983, extracted from Canon Law, A Text and Commentary, Fourth Revised Edition, Bouscaren, Ellisand, Korth, 1963. Hosted on the website for the Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon, extracted 9 April 2006.
  50. ^ The Miter and The Trowel by William G. Madison, A page about Freemasonry
  51. ^ Cardinal Franjo Seper, then prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, sent a letter dated July 19, 1974, to Cardinal John Krol, which concluded that "Canon 2335 regards only those Catholics who join associations which plot against the Church." from The Pastoral Problem of Masonic Membership 1985 by William J Whalen, distributed by the American Bishop's Conference
  52. ^ Cardinal Seper's letter made no reference to the traditional objections to Freemasonry, namely, its religious naturalism and its oaths. Nor did the letter suggest a methodology by which a bishop might conduct his investigation, in view of the fact that the members of the Lodge, like members of the Irish Republican Army, the Mafia and other secret organizations, were sworn to secrecy. from The Pastoral Problem of Masonic Membership 1985 by William J. Whalen, distributed by the American Bishop's Conference.
  53. ^ "Some brethren and some Catholics believe that since the Second Ecumenical Council, which was conducted from 1962 to 1965 and is informally known as "Vatican II", the attitude of the church has been to regard Freemasonry as an acceptable sphere for fraternal interaction." From ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH LAW REGARDING FREEMASONRY by Reid McInvale, Texas Lodge of Research.
  54. ^ "Since many bishops stated in their reply to an earlier survey that confusion had been generated by a perceived change of approach by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith" From Introduction to Letter of April 19, 1985 to U.S. Bishops Concerning Masonry
  55. ^ In good faith many of these men had asked their pastors and/or bishops for permission to join the Lodge. Some converts were received into the Church during these years and were not asked to relinquish their Masonic affiliation. The Pastoral Problem of Masonic Membership, William Whalen, 1986.
  56. ^ "As a result many Catholics are basing their actions vis-a-vis Freemasonry on the 1974 pronouncement, ignoring the 1983 "clarification"." The Miter and The Trowel by William G. Madison, A page about Freemasonry
  57. ^ "The faithful, who enroll in Masonic associations are in a state of grave sin and may not receive Holy Communion..." Quaesitum est, 1983
  58. ^ The March 11, 1985 issue of L'Osservatore Romano carried an article titled "Irreconcilability Between Christian Faith and Freemasonry" as a comment on the November 26, 1983 declaration. In part, the Vatican newspaper said a Christian "cannot cultivate relations of two types with God nor express his relation with the Creator through symbolic forms of two types. That would be something completely different from that collaboration, which to him is obvious, with all those who are committed to doing good, even if beginning from different principles. On the one hand, a Catholic Christian cannot at the same time share in the full communion of Christian brotherhood and, on the other, look upon his Christian brother, from the Masonic perspective, as an 'outsider.'" ,. The Pastoral Problem of Masonic Membership, William H Whalen, 1986
  59. ^ From ""The Evolution of the Church's Prohibition Against Catholic Membership in Freemasonry" by Mgr Ronny Jenkins in The Jurist, quoted in Free Masons by Rev. Mark J. Gantley, JCL on Eternal World Television Network
  60. ^ "1. The Masonic World View. The Masons promote a freedom from dogmatic adherence to any one set of revealed truths. Such a subjective relativism is in direct conflict with the revealed truths of Christianity." From ""The Evolution of the Church's Prohibition Against Catholic Membership in Freemasonry" by Mgr Ronny Jenkins in The Jurist, quoted in Free Masons by Rev. Mark J. Gantley, JCL on Eternal World Television Network
  61. ^ "2. The Masonic Notion of Truth. The Masons deny the possibility of an objective truth, placing every truth instead in a relative context. " From ""The Evolution of the Church's Prohibition Against Catholic Membership in Freemasonry" by Mgr Ronny Jenkins in The Jurist, quoted in Free Masons by Rev. Mark J. Gantley, JCL on Eternal World Television Network
  62. ^ 3. The Masonic Notion of Religion. Again, the Masonic teaching holds a relative notion of religions as all concurrently seeking the truth of the Absolute. " From ""The Evolution of the Church's Prohibition Against Catholic Membership in Freemasonry" by Mgr Ronny Jenkins in The Jurist, quoted in Free Masons by Rev. Mark J. Gantley, JCL on Eternal World Television Network
  63. ^ "4. The Masonic Notion of God. The Masons hold a deistic notion of God which excludes any personal knowledge of the deity. " From ""The Evolution of the Church's Prohibition Against Catholic Membership in Freemasonry" by Mgr Ronny Jenkins in The Jurist, quoted in Free Masons by Rev. Mark J. Gantley, JCL on Eternal World Television Network
  64. ^ "5. The Masonic Notion of God and Revelation. The deistic notion of God precludes the possibility of God’s self-revelation to humankind. " From ""The Evolution of the Church's Prohibition Against Catholic Membership in Freemasonry" by Mgr Ronny Jenkins in The Jurist, quoted in Free Masons by Rev. Mark J. Gantley, JCL on Eternal World Television Network
  65. ^ "6. Masonic Toleration. The Masons promote a principle of toleration regarding ideas. That is, their relativism teaches them to be tolerant of ideas divergent or contrary to their own. Such a principle not only threatens the Catholic position of objective truth, but it also threatens the respect due to the Church’s teaching office. " From ""The Evolution of the Church's Prohibition Against Catholic Membership in Freemasonry" by Mgr Ronny Jenkins in The Jurist, quoted in Free Masons by Rev. Mark J. Gantley, JCL on Eternal World Television Network.
  66. ^ "7. The Masonic Rituals. The rituals of the first three Masonic grades have a clear sacramental character about them, indicating that an actual transformation of some sort is undergone by those who participate in them. " From ""The Evolution of the Church's Prohibition Against Catholic Membership in Freemasonry" by Mgr Ronny Jenkins in The Jurist, quoted in Free Masons by Rev. Mark J. Gantley, JCL on Eternal World Television Network
  67. ^ "8. The Perfection of Humankind. The Masonic rituals have as an end the perfection of mankind. But Masonry provides all that is necessary to achieve this perfection. Thus, the justification of a person through the work of Christ is not an essential or even necessary aspect of the struggle for perfection. " From ""The Evolution of the Church's Prohibition Against Catholic Membership in Freemasonry" by Mgr Ronny Jenkins in The Jurist, quoted in Free Masons by Rev. Mark J. Gantley, JCL on Eternal World Television Network
  68. ^ "9. The Spirituality of the Masons. The Masonic Order makes a total claim on the life of the member. True adherence to the Christian faith is thereby jeopardized by the primary loyalty due the Masonic Order." From The Evolution of the Church's Prohibition Against Catholic Membership in Freemasonry by Mgr Ronny Jenkins in The Jurist, quoted in Free Masons by Rev. Mark J. Gantley, JCL on Eternal World Television Network.
  69. ^ 10. The Diverse Divisions within the Masons. The Masons are comprised of lodges with varying degrees of adherence to Christian teaching. Atheistic lodges are clearly incompatible with Catholicism. But even those lodges comprised of Christian members seek merely to adapt Christianity to the overall Masonic world-view. This is unacceptable." From ""The Evolution of the Church's Prohibition Against Catholic Membership in Freemasonry" by Mgr Ronny Jenkins in The Jurist, quoted in Free Masons by Rev. Mark J. Gantley, JCL on Eternal World Television Network
  70. ^ "11. The Masons and the Catholic Church. Even those Catholic-friendly lodges that would welcome the Church’s members as its own are not compatible with Catholic teaching, and so closed to Catholic members." From ""The Evolution of the Church's Prohibition Against Catholic Membership in Freemasonry" by Mgr Ronny Jenkins in The Jurist, quoted in Free Masons by Rev. Mark J. Gantley, JCL on Eternal World Television Network
  71. ^ "12. The Masons and the Protestant Church. While a 1973 meeting of Protestant Churches determined that individual Protestants could decide whether to be members of both the Christian Church and the Freemasons, it included in its decision the caveat that those Christians must always take care not to lessen the necessity of grace in the justification of the person."" From ""The Evolution of the Church's Prohibition Against Catholic Membership in Freemasonry" by Mgr Ronny Jenkins in The Jurist, quoted in Free Masons by Rev. Mark J. Gantley, JCL on Eternal World Television Network.
  72. ^ "...In the historical view, Freemasonry in Europe and Latin America has opposed the Catholic Church and has been virulent in its anti-clerical attitude. To a great extent, however, this mentality is not typical of Freemasonry in the United States... There is a concern that certain Freemasonry groups display all the elements of a religion, but forbid the mention of Jesus Christ within the lodge. This, too, is not exemplified in masonic groups in the United States but is found in other parts of the world. Most Masons in this country join for social and business reasons. In general, there has been no conflict between Freemasonry and the Catholic Church in this country. Both organizations have existed in harmony in the United States....", 10 June 1991, Bishop Fiorenza, Houston-Galveston diocese, in a letter to Reid McInvale, quoted in ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH LAW REGARDING FREEMASONRY by Reid McInvale, Texas Lodge of Research
  73. ^ Although the 1981 clarification by the Sacred Congregation came shortly after the exposure of the P2 conspiracy, nothing in the statement indicated that its intent was limited to Italian or continental Masonry. An estimated 30,000 Masons belong to five hundred lodges within three jurisdictions in Italy. Everyone knows that the Grand Orient Lodges of Europe and Latin America have been anti-clerical from the start. For the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to advise Catholics against joining these Grand Orient Lodges would be like the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People advising blacks against applying for membership in the Ku Klux Klan. Those who say that the Church really directs her condemnation against the Grand Orient Lodges must assume that the Vatican does not know that Freemasonry is English in origin and overwhelmingly English-speaking in membership. The Pastoral Problem of Masonic Membership
  74. ^ MAY CATHOLICS BECOME FREEMASONS?
  75. ^ May a Roman Catholic join a Masonic lodge?
  76. ^ "The key point in the argument is that the system of symbols common to Freemasons around the world (centering on the Architect of the Universe and given added weight by the rule of secrecy) tends to foster a 'supraconfessional humanitarian' way of conceiving the divine that neutralizes or replaces the faith dimension of our relationship with God. Even though given lodges may abstain from endorsing any particular position, including one that considers religious faith to be a matter of indifference (i.e., nothing more than a matter of personal preference), the contemporary world's social atmosphere of moral and religious relativism creates a climate in which a merely humanitarian symbol system works to undermine the religious faith by which we receive God's revelation." May a Roman Catholic join a Masonic lodge?
  77. ^ The organization was also intended to provide an alternative for Catholics to membership in a Masonic lodge History of the Knights, Somerville Council # 1432
  78. ^ American Catholics found themselves unable to participate in the many fraternal organizations that offered insurance benefits because the Church had condemned so-called "secret societies." A New Haven, Conn., parish priest, Michael J. McGivney, organized the Knights of Columbus as an alternative to proscribed organizations., Many Fraternal Groups Grew From Masonic Seed (Part 2 -- 1860-1920), by Barbara Franco, The Northern Lights, November 1985
  79. ^ In the official history entitled The Knights of Columbus in Peace and War, by Maurice Francis Egan and John B. Kennedy (New Haven; Conn; 1920) it is stated that Michael Joseph McGivney, an assistant in St. Mary's Church, New Haven, "sometimes had the painful experience of seeing young Catholics enter fraternal societies either frowned upon or actually forbidden by the Church. " From ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FREEMASONRY AND ITS KINDRED SCIENCES (K) by ALBERT C. MACKEY, hosted on Phoenixmasonry, Inc
  80. ^ Christopher Kaufman, Faith and Fraternalism, Harper and Row, 1982, p.17.
  81. ^ "He was imprisoned and not released until April, 1741. His health was ruined as a result of the experience. He died on January 27, 1745." From the biography of Tommaso Crudeli on the website of the Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon
  82. ^ a b John Coustos: The Sufferings of John Coustos for Freemasonry and for His Refusing to Turn Catholic in the Inquisition, Kessinger Publishing, ISBN 1-4179-4187-1
  83. ^ "Three members of the same lodge, Damaio de Andrade, Manoel de Revehot and Christopher Diego, were hanged on 8 March, 1743." John Coustos from the website of the Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon, citing Coil's Masonic Encyclopedia, Henry Wilson Coul. Richmond, Virginia : Macoy Publishing & Masonic Suppy Co., Inc., 1996. p. 56
  84. ^ a b William R. Denslow, Harry S. Truman: 10,000 Famous Freemasons, ISBN 1-4179-7579-2: "In 1815, when Ferdinand VII reestablished the Inquisition in Spain and suppressed the Masonic lodges, Xavier denounced the lodges as "societies which lead to sedition, to independence, and to all errors and crimes." … Many of the most distinguished persons of Spain were arrested and imprisoned in the dungeons of the Inquisition on the charge of being 'suspected of Freemasonry'.
  85. ^ 'It is held also that the State should be without God; that in the various forms of religion there is no reason why one should have precedence of another; and that they are all to occupy the same place. Paragraph 22, Humanum Genus
  86. ^ "Freemasonry Does Not Support any particular political position. It has long stood for separation of Church and State, and has been a champion of Free Public Education." From a speech given by Bill Jones Grand Master of Arkansas, 1996
  87. ^ a b Pope Leo XIII ETSI NOS (On Conditions in Italy), Item 2
  88. ^ "If the Bloc has been established, this is owing to Freemasonry and to the discipline learned in the lodges. The measures we have now to urge are the separation of Church and State and a law concerning instruction. Let us put our trust in the word of our Bro. Combes" from quoted as footnote 158 in the article Masonry (Freemasonry) in the Catholic Encyclopedia.
  89. ^ [1] In a 1978 article in the Review of Religious Research, two (non-Catholic) scholars examined "Fraternal Associations and Civil Religion: Scottish-rite Freemasonry." Among many observations the authors noted: "In their support of civil religion, the Masons are militantly "anti-particularistic," to use Sidney Mead's term. They vigorously denounce parochial schools for challenging the public school system and, implicitly, the unifying civil religion. Sectarian religion has positive values, but it is relegated to the sphere of private morality and private faith. (Pamela M. Jolicoeur and Louis L. Knowles, Vol. 20, No. 1, Fall 1978, pp. 13-14)." from The Pastoral Problem of Masonic Membership by William J Whalen
  90. ^ "marriages contracted in despite of the laws and without the rites of the Church" Pope Leo XIII ETSI NOS (On Conditions in Italy), Item 2
  91. ^ "Consider the support Garibaldi gave to the movement to spread, in Italy, the idea and the practice of cremation: a movement that was directly promoted by the masonic lodges and that had many prominent figures of Freemasonry among its most important leaders." From Giuseppe Garibaldi Massone translated by the Grand Lodge of British Columbia
  92. ^ "Religious houses suppressed, the goods of the Church confiscated" Pope Leo XIII ETSI NOS (On Conditions in Italy), Item 2
  93. ^ "For, despoiled of his Civil Princedom, he has of necessity fallen into the hands of another Power." Pope Leo XIII ETSI NOS (On Conditions in Italy), Item 2
  94. ^ Contrarily, a certain cultural hostility is being spread against religions, especially Christianity and Catholicism in particular, notably through the means of social communication, and is promoted by Masonic sources active in different organizations. Introduction, Section 3, note 2. Where is Your God?, Responding to the Challenge of Unbelief and Religious Indifference Today, CONCLUDING Document OF THE PLENARY ASSEMBLY, Pontifical Council for Culture.
  95. ^ "Austria, especially, violent measures were taken to assert the royal supremacy. Joseph II was influenced largely by the Gallican and liberal tendencies of his early teachers and advisers. He dreamed of making Austria a rich, powerful, and United Kingdom, and becoming himself its supreme and absolute ruler. During the reign of his mother, Maria Theresa, he was kept in check, but after her death in 1780, in conjunction with his prime minister, Kaunitz, he began to inaugurate his schemes of ecclesiastical reform." THE AGE OF ABSOLUTISM AND UNBELIEF (b) Febronianism and Josephism in HISTORY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH From the Renaissance to the French Revolution by Rev. James MacCaffrey, S.J., 1914]
  96. ^ "The Emperor Joseph II (1780-90) was favorably inclined to the Fraternity" BROTHER MOZART AND "THE MAGIC FLUTE" by Newcomb Condee]
  97. ^ "In Germany and Austria, Freemasonry during the eighteenth century was a powerful ally of the so-called party, of "Enlightenment" (Aufklaerung), and of Josephinism" from the article Masonry (Freemasonry) in the Catholic Encyclopedia
  98. ^ "In Mozart's Vienna, Freemasonry had flourished under the Hapsburgs mainly due to the influence of Francis Stephen, Duke of Lorraine, who, himself, was a Freemason." Wolfgang Amedeus Mozart - Master Mason.
  99. ^ "Then came the French Revolution. The Freemasons were regarded with suspicion. The Austrian Lodges voluntarily closed in 1792, and those in Bohemia during the following year. Masonry in Hungary had a somewhat longer life, but by an Edict of 1795, all secret societies in the Austrian dominions were ordered to dissolve." From THE SUPPRESSION OF MASONRY IN AUSTRO-HUNGARY in March 1929 - Volume XV - Number 3, The Builder Magazine
  100. ^ "This noble constancy of the faithful Swiss is emulated with no less commendation by the clergy and faithful in Germany, who themselves follow the illustrious example of their ecclesiastical leaders. The Germans, assuming the shield of Catholic truth and the helms of salvation, fight the battles of the Lord and are a wonder to the world, to the angels, and to men who look on them from every side. All the more is their fortitude of spirit and unbroken constancy admired and extolled with outstanding praise as the bitter persecution set in motion against them in the German Empire and especially in Prussia increases with each day." Para 11, Etsi Multa
  101. ^ "Some of you may perchance wonder that the war against the Catholic Church extends so widely. Indeed each of you knows well the nature, zeal, and intention of sects, whether called Masonic or some other name. When he compares them with the nature, purpose, and amplitude of the conflict waged nearly everywhere against the Church, he cannot doubt but that the present calamity must be attributed to their deceits and machinations for the most part. For from these the synagogue of Satan is formed which draws up its forces, advances its standards, and joins battle against the Church of Christ." Para 28, Etsi Multa
  102. ^ Para 28, Etsi Multa
  103. ^ "They also instigated the "Kulturkampf". The celebrated jurisconsult and Mason, Grandmaster Bluntschli, was one of the foremost agitators in this conflict; he also stirred up the Swiss "Kulturkampf"." From Masonry (Freemasonry) in the Catholic Encyclopedia and "German Freemasons fostered the Kulturkampf and helped further the dominance of the Prussian state." "Freemasonry", New Catholic Encyclopedia, 1967 ed, Volume 6, p 135, McGraw-Hill, New York.
  104. ^ For example, the The Miter and the Trowel says "the Latin Grand Lodges" and "the Latin version of Freemasonry" and "unique to Latin Masonry".
  105. ^ "See Congrés Intern. of Paris, 1889, in "Compte rendu du Grand Orient de France", 1889; Browers, "L'action, etc."; Brück, "Geh. Gesellsch. in Spanien"; "Handbuch"; articles on the different countries, etc." Footnote 152 of the article Masonry (Freemasonry) in the Catholic Encyclopedia
  106. ^ What is Freemasonry? by Tejinder Singh Rawal.
  107. ^ "And it is a fact that most of the authors of that epoch-making Encyclopedia — Diderot, D'Alembert, Condorcet, the famous Swiss philosopher Helvetius, etc. — were Freemasons." History of Freemasonry hosted by Arcadia Lodge#249, Ames, Iowa
  108. ^ "En France, dans les dernières années de l'Ancien Régime, Mirabeau (qui était Maçon, affilié à la loge parisienne "Les Neuf Sœurs") et l'abbé Henri Grégoire (qui était peut-être Maçon)" Transl. "In France, during the final years of the Ancien Régime, Mirabeau (who was a Mason, belonging to the Parisian lodge "The Nine Sisters") and the Abbe Henri Gregoire (who may have been a Mason)" Le Prince de Ligne Franc-Maçon by Paul Delsemme, Volume 10, Bon-A-Tirer
  109. ^ From Denslow, 10,000 Famous Freemasons
  110. ^ "Louis Philippe Joseph, Duke of Orleans, better known in history by his revolutionary name of Egalite, meaning Equality, was the fifth Grand Master of the Masonic Order in France." ORLEANS, DUKE OF, Letter O, ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FREEMASONRY AND ITS KINDRED SCIENCES, by ALBERT C. MACKEY M. D.
  111. ^ Hebert, Andre Chenier, Camille Desmoulins and many other "Girondins" of the French Revolution were Freemasons. The American Mercury Newspaper, 1941, Sven Lunden
  112. ^ Lefranc, Conjuration centre la religion catholique, cited in Roots of twentieth century conspiracy theory by John M. Roberts. Robespierre's membership is disputed
  113. ^ "Already in 1746 in the book La Franc-Maçonnerie, écrasée, an experienced ex-Mason, who, when a Mason, had visited many lodges in France and England, and consulted high Masons in official positions, described as the true Masonic programme one which, according to Boos, the historian of Freemasonry (p. 192), in an astonishing degree coincides with the programme of the great French Revolution of 1789." From Masonry (Freemasonry) in the Catholic Encyclopedia
  114. ^ "Masonry, which prepared the Revolution of 1789, has the duty to continue its work", Circular of the Grand Orient of France,2 April 1889, Cited as Footnote 163 in the article Masonry (Freemasonry) in the Catholic Encyclopedia. The most recent edition (2002) does not contain any article on Freemasonry.
  115. ^ "Modern historians agree that the role of Masonry in the French Revolution has usually been exaggerated." New Catholic Encyclopedia, 1967 ed, Volume 6, p. 135, McGraw-Hill, New York.
  116. ^ The Freemason's Chronicle, 1889, I, 81 sq and Bulletin du Grand Orient de France 1890, 500 sq - cited as footnotes 157 and 158 Masonry (Freemasonry) from the Catholic Encyclopedia.
  117. ^ Bigots united in the Guardian, October 9, 2005
  118. ^ "The Republic must rid itself of the religious congregations, sweeping them off by a vigorous stroke. The system of half measures is everywhere dangerous; the adversary must be crushed with a single blow" Massé in the Compte rendu du Grand Orient de France, 1903, cited in Nourrisson, "Les Jacobins", 266-271 and then Masonry (Freemasonry) in the Catholic Encyclopedia
  119. ^ "In truth all the "anti-clerical" Masonic reforms carried out in France since 1877, such as the secularization of education, measures against private Christian schools and charitable establishments, the suppression of the religious orders and the spoliation of the Church, professedly culminate in an anti-Christian and irreligious reorganization of human society, not only in France but throughout the world." From Masonry (Freemasonry) from the Catholic Encyclopedia. Less specific allegations are made in the 1967 New Catholic Encyclopedia. "From the fall of the MacMahon government in 1877 to the start of World War II, Masonic politicians controlled the French government. They passed anticlerical laws designed to restrict the Church's influence, especially in education." New Catholic Encyclopedia, 1967 ed, Volume 6, p. 135, McGraw-Hill, New York. The most recent edition (2002) does not contain any article on Freemasonry.
  120. ^ "The similarity between the secret society of the Carbonari and Freemasonry is evident. Freemasons could enter the Carbonari as masters at once." from Carbonari from the Catholic Encyclopedia.
  121. ^ "It also links Freemasonry with the Society of the Carbonari, known as the "Charcoal Burners", who at that time were active in Italy and were believed to be a revolutionary group." ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH LAW REGARDING FREEMASONRY by REID McINVALE, Texas Lodge of Research
  122. ^ "Similarly, Freemasonry, together with the Carbonari, cooperated in the Italian revolutionary movement of the nineteenth century" from Masonry (Freemasonry) in the Catholic Encyclopedia. This claim does not appear in subsequent editions of the Catholic Encyclopedia, although it does mention the Carbanaros Giuseppe Garibaldi and Giuseppe Mazzini as anti-clerical Masons.
  123. ^ "It was certainly true that Pope Pius became far less sympathetic to the cause of Italian unification after 1848. Wherever revolutions occurred, widespread violence and attacks on the Church took place. He had been shown clearly what revolution meant in this period of European history, with a priest shot dead next to him. The revolutionary Roman government was decidedly opposed to the Church and vowed to eliminate the Catholic impact on civil society. Pius had seen revolution and found it dangerous." Pope Pius IX, Robert P. Lockwood, Catholic League.
  124. ^ Garibaldi — the mason Translated from Giuseppe Garibaldi Massone by the Grand Orient of Italy, the article argued that Garibaldi's politics derived from his Freemasonry.
  125. ^ a b "After the Popes began their crusade against it with the Bull by Clement XII in 1738, it had an honorable though checkered career, and in the Regiment numbered such Masons in its membership as Cavour, Mazzini, and Garibaldi, the last named a Grand Master." WAR II, WORLD, AND FREEMASONRY IN EUROPE from Mackey's Freemasonry Encyclopedia
  126. ^ Etsi Nos (On Conditions in Italy), promulgated by Pope Leo XIII in 1882
  127. ^ "If ever these perils were menacing in Italy they are surely so now, at a time when the condition of the Civil State itself disastrously imperils the freedom of religion." Paragraph 1, Etsi Nos (On Conditions in Italy)
  128. ^ "It is even reported that this year it is about to receive the deputies and leaders of the sect which is most embittered against Catholicism, who have appointed this city as the place for their solemn meeting. The reasons which have determined their choice of such a meeting place are no secret; they desire by this outrageous provocation to glut the hatred which they nourish against the Church, and to bring their incendiary torches within reach of the Roman Pontificate by attacking it in its very seat." Paragraph 3, Etsi Nos (On Conditions in Italy).
  129. ^ "Every familiarity should be avoided, not only with those impious libertines who openly promote the character of the sect, but also with those who hide under the mask of universal tolerance, respect for all religions, and the craving to reconcile the maxims of the Gospel with those of the revolution. These men seek to reconcile Christ and Belial, the Church of God and the state without God." Para 15, Custodi di Quella Fede
  130. ^ "Masonry has confiscated the inheritance of public charity; fill the void, then, with the treasure of private relief." Para 18, Custodi di Quella Fede
  131. ^ Simon Bolivar was one of the most active of Masonry's sons, and so were San martin, Mitre, Alvear, Sarmiento, Benito Juarez — all hallowed names to Latin Americans. The American Mercury Newspaper, 1941 by Sven G. Lunden
  132. ^ "After the defeat and exile of the dictator in the 1910 revolution, a succession of Presidents who were Masons and strongly anticlerical ruled the country under the 1917 Constitution that maintained substantially the same liberal principles of 1857." From MEXICAN MASONRY- POLITICS & RELIGION by Oscar J. Salinas E., Senior Grand Warden-York/Mexico, on the Official Home Page of the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of the Republic of Mexico.
  133. ^ The Cristeros: 20th century Mexico's Catholic uprising, from The Angelus, January 2002 , Volume XXV, Number 1 by Olivier LELIBRE
  134. ^ La Tribuna, July 12, 1926, quoted by F. M. Algoud, " 1600 Young Saints, Young Martyrs," 1994.
  135. ^ "The president of the Union of Catholic Professional Fraternities, Luis Labiano, said this week a “tremendous crusade by Masonry against the Church” exists in Spain." [http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=2055 Spanish Catholic organization blames Masons for “tremendous crusad e” against Church], September 27, 2004, Catholic News Agency.
This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913.
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