Papal documents relating to Freemasonry

There are many papal pronouncements against Freemasonry;[1] the most prominent include:

Before Pius IX

Pius IX

Leo XIII

References

  1. From Masonry (Freemasonry) by Hermann Gruber in the Catholic Encyclopedia (1910). Accessed 2011-10-14. and Roman Catholic Church Law Regarding Freemasonry by Reid McInvale, Texas Lodge of Research paper
  2. "This encyclical does not mention Masonry, but religious indifferentism is one of the charges often leveled against Freemasonry in papal pronouncements. Some Roman Catholic authorities identify this pronouncement as anti-Masonic." Roman Catholic Church Law Regarding Freemasonry by Reid McInvale
  3. "While not mentioning Masonry directly, it criticizes those it does not identify for those same faults that the previous papal pronouncements imputed to Freemasonry, and is regarded as an anti-Masonic pronouncement by some Catholic sources." Roman Catholic Church Law Regarding Freemasonry by Reid McInvale, Texas Lodge of Research
  4. "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)