There is nothing inherently contradictory between freemasonry and the catholic church. In fact the obligations a Freemason must make is actually doctrinally conducive to the Catholic faith.
Today, Lodges in europe are largely made up of catholic members. In fact, I know several Seattle Masons at our lodge that are catholic.
Therefore, your illustration of the KKK and the Black Panthers is not accurate, as the church and the craft are not mutually exclusive by their nature. The schism that exists historically began in 1738 when the Pope first issued a constitution against the freemasons, which was the first of a series of unilateral condemnations of the freemasons and similar groups. Freemasonry has never issued a like condemnation of the Church, however natural resentment toward the papacy grew out of it. This caused most Freemasons to become Protestant, and those who were catholic remained Freemasons covertly. This became very common, especially in France.
However, in most recent times the Papacy has revoked such condemnations, and even currently states that "These papal edicts and censures against Freemasonry have often been the occasion of erroneous and unjust charges." While the last of negitive edicts were issued in 1884, the pervasive prejudice against Freemasonry exists residually in Catholic cultures.
However, this might not be a Papist service the Freemasons are shown in. By the look of the Aprons, these are Royal Arch, which is very common in England. There is a possibility that the vestments you see are not Papist by Anglo Catholic, and under the Church of England, which is in fact very pro-freemason. For that matter, my Lodge in Seattle was founded in 1921 by the Rector of an Anglo Catholic church.
For further reading I would read this article published by the Catholic encyclopedia.
This makes the electric guitar/flute mass I had to sit through Saturday afternoon (for my in-laws 50th wedding anniversary) look positively Tridentine by comparison.
I worked for an institution in Philadelphia for a number of years that contracted me to do work for a Masonic retirement home. During my time there, I had plenty of time to talk to residents there.
One thing I learned is that widows of deceased Masons often thought that Freemasonry was entirely compatible with the Christian faith. Some of them were what would be generally recognized as "good Methodists."
The chapel in the retirement home looked almost like any other generically Protestant chapel, with a large KJV Bible prominently visible.
On the face of things, it's very easy for the tyro to conclude that there is nothing in Freemasonry incompatible with the Christian or Catholic faith.
Anyone who has delved deeper into the ideology animating Freemasonry, cannot sustain such ignorance. This goes for Freemasons themselves who advance beyond the lower levels of the cabal.
The commentor above purporting to represent the Queen Anne Lodge links in his own post to an article on the New Advent website, from which he quotes. However, he neglects to relate what the rest of the New Advent article says, which very clearly denies the compatibility of Freemasonry as an ideological sect with the Catholic Faith. In fact, one could call Freemasonry the antithesis, as was ancient Gnosticism.
It may be true that individual members of Masonic lodges often remain ignorant of this occult ideology. I suppose something like "invincible ignorance" might be claimed for some of them, like the widows in the Masonic home whose acquaintance I made. I have read the names of nationally well-known personalities who are ostensibly Masons. I suspect the same is true of at least some of them. But ignorance is no excuse. The evidence is out there. It is the responsibility of anyone rubbing shoulders with Masons to learn the truth about Freemasonry.
@Queen Anne Lodge: "There is nothing inherently contradictory between freemasonry and the catholic church."
That is not what Pope Leo XIII wrote in his famous encyclical On Freemasonry and Naturalism (Humanum Genus). That's also not what all these popes' have written: * Clement XII, Constitution "In Eminenti", 28 April, 1738; * Benedict XIV, "Providas", 18 May, 1751; * Pius VII, "Ecclesiam", 13 September, 1821; * Leo XII, "Quo graviora", 13 March, 1825; * Pius VIII, Encyclical "Traditi", 21 May, 1829; * Gregory XVI, "Mirari", 15 August, 1832; * Pius IX, Encyclical "Qui pluribus", 9 November, 1846; * Pius IX, Allocution "Quibus quantisque malis", 20 April, 1849; * Pius IX, Encyclical "Quanta cura", 8 December, 1864; * Pius IX, Allocution "Multiplices inter", 25 September, 1865; * Pius IX, Constitution "Apostolicæ Sedis", 12 October, 1869; * Pius IX, Encyclical "Etsi multa", 21 November, 1873; * Leo XIII, Encyclical "Humanum genus", 20 April, 1884; * Leo XIII, "Præclara", 20 June, 1894; * Leo XIII, "Annum ingressi", 18 March, 1902 (against Italian Freemasonry); * Leo XIII, Encyclical "Etsí nos", 15 February, 1882; * Leo XIII, "Ab Apostolici", 15 October, 1890.
6 comments:
The KKK are a derivative of Masonry, so it might actually have been less worse were the KKK there instead…
There is nothing inherently contradictory between freemasonry and the catholic church. In fact the obligations a Freemason must make is actually doctrinally conducive to the Catholic faith.
Today, Lodges in europe are largely made up of catholic members. In fact, I know several Seattle Masons at our lodge that are catholic.
Therefore, your illustration of the KKK and the Black Panthers is not accurate, as the church and the craft are not mutually exclusive by their nature. The schism that exists historically began in 1738 when the Pope first issued a constitution against the freemasons, which was the first of a series of unilateral condemnations of the freemasons and similar groups. Freemasonry has never issued a like condemnation of the Church, however natural resentment toward the papacy grew out of it. This caused most Freemasons to become Protestant, and those who were catholic remained Freemasons covertly. This became very common, especially in France.
However, in most recent times the Papacy has revoked such condemnations, and even currently states that "These papal edicts and censures against Freemasonry have often been the occasion of erroneous and unjust charges." While the last of negitive edicts were issued in 1884, the pervasive prejudice against Freemasonry exists residually in Catholic cultures.
However, this might not be a Papist service the Freemasons are shown in. By the look of the Aprons, these are Royal Arch, which is very common in England. There is a possibility that the vestments you see are not Papist by Anglo Catholic, and under the Church of England, which is in fact very pro-freemason. For that matter, my Lodge in Seattle was founded in 1921 by the Rector of an Anglo Catholic church.
For further reading I would read this article published by the Catholic encyclopedia.
Our reply is on Seattle Masons Blog: http://queenannemasoniclodge.com/Seattle_Masons_Blog/Entries/2012/8/31_Catholic_Masons.html
This makes the electric guitar/flute mass I had to sit through Saturday afternoon (for my in-laws 50th wedding anniversary) look positively Tridentine by comparison.
I worked for an institution in Philadelphia for a number of years that contracted me to do work for a Masonic retirement home. During my time there, I had plenty of time to talk to residents there.
One thing I learned is that widows of deceased Masons often thought that Freemasonry was entirely compatible with the Christian faith. Some of them were what would be generally recognized as "good Methodists."
The chapel in the retirement home looked almost like any other generically Protestant chapel, with a large KJV Bible prominently visible.
On the face of things, it's very easy for the tyro to conclude that there is nothing in Freemasonry incompatible with the Christian or Catholic faith.
Anyone who has delved deeper into the ideology animating Freemasonry, cannot sustain such ignorance. This goes for Freemasons themselves who advance beyond the lower levels of the cabal.
The commentor above purporting to represent the Queen Anne Lodge links in his own post to an article on the New Advent website, from which he quotes. However, he neglects to relate what the rest of the New Advent article says, which very clearly denies the compatibility of Freemasonry as an ideological sect with the Catholic Faith. In fact, one could call Freemasonry the antithesis, as was ancient Gnosticism.
It may be true that individual members of Masonic lodges often remain ignorant of this occult ideology. I suppose something like "invincible ignorance" might be claimed for some of them, like the widows in the Masonic home whose acquaintance I made. I have read the names of nationally well-known personalities who are ostensibly Masons. I suspect the same is true of at least some of them. But ignorance is no excuse. The evidence is out there. It is the responsibility of anyone rubbing shoulders with Masons to learn the truth about Freemasonry.
@Queen Anne Lodge: "There is nothing inherently contradictory between freemasonry and the catholic church."
That is not what Pope Leo XIII wrote in his famous encyclical On Freemasonry and Naturalism (Humanum Genus). That's also not what all these popes' have written:
* Clement XII, Constitution "In Eminenti", 28 April, 1738;
* Benedict XIV, "Providas", 18 May, 1751;
* Pius VII, "Ecclesiam", 13 September, 1821;
* Leo XII, "Quo graviora", 13 March, 1825;
* Pius VIII, Encyclical "Traditi", 21 May, 1829;
* Gregory XVI, "Mirari", 15 August, 1832;
* Pius IX, Encyclical "Qui pluribus", 9 November, 1846;
* Pius IX, Allocution "Quibus quantisque malis", 20 April, 1849;
* Pius IX, Encyclical "Quanta cura", 8 December, 1864;
* Pius IX, Allocution "Multiplices inter", 25 September, 1865;
* Pius IX, Constitution "Apostolicæ Sedis", 12 October, 1869;
* Pius IX, Encyclical "Etsi multa", 21 November, 1873;
* Leo XIII, Encyclical "Humanum genus", 20 April, 1884;
* Leo XIII, "Præclara", 20 June, 1894;
* Leo XIII, "Annum ingressi", 18 March, 1902 (against Italian Freemasonry);
* Leo XIII, Encyclical "Etsí nos", 15 February, 1882;
* Leo XIII, "Ab Apostolici", 15 October, 1890.
Pope Leo XIII highly recommended Msgr. George F. Dillon's book on this subject: Grand Orient Freemasonry Unmasked (a.k.a. War of Anti-Christ with the Church and Christian Civilization).
You can't be Catholic and a Freemason. Then-Card. Ratzinger recently affirmed this in his "Declaration on Masonic Associations (Nov. 26, 1983)."
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