Why Has The Catholic Church
Opposed Freemasonry?
Before we go into depth on this subject let
me state that the Catholic Church of today is not same as the Catholic Church
was prior to 1960. Several sweeping changes have taken place in Vatican I and
II, which has brought about change in theology and operation in the Church.
While the Catholic Church no longer threatens excommunication to Masons, it
does not give official permission or approval for its members to join
Freemasonry.
EITHER ROMAN CATHOLICISM WILL LIFT US UP AGAIN TO THE LEVEL OF CHRISTIAN CIVILIZATION OR ELSE JUDEO-MASONRY WILL DRAG US DOWN THE PATH OF BARBARISM AND DECADENT PAGANISM. The whole world oscillates between the two: CHRISTIANISM and PAGANISM. On December 8th, 1892, Pope Leo XIII wrote to the Italian Episcopal Hierarchy: "It is necessary to fight Freemasonry with those weapons of divine faith which in past ages vanquished paganism." Moreover the Papacy and Judeo-Masonry are both so fully conscious of the diametrically opposed parts that they are playing that they assume that from it must issue the political, economic, intellectual and religious future of individuals as well as of nations. It is a fact and the better proof of it is their irreducible antagonism toward each other.
In his encyclical "HUMANUM GENUS" Pope Leo XIII wrote: "There exists in the world a certain number of sects which although seemingly different one from another as to name, ritual, form and origin are, however, similar due to the analogy of their aim and chief principles. Indeed, they are identical to Freemasonry which is, for them all, the central point from which they proceed and toward which they converge." Further, in his letter to the Italian people dated December 8, 1892, Pope Leo XIII writes: "Let us remember that CHRISTIANITY and Freemasonry are essentially incompatible, to such an extent, that to become united with one means being divorced from the other. Let us, therefore, expose Freemasonry as the enemy of God, of the Church and of our Motherland "
Pope Clement XII 1730-1740 Founded in 1717, modern speculative Masonry took on its actual form following the publication by Anderson, a clergyman, of the "CONSTITUTIONS" in 1723. Fifteen years later, on April 28, 1738, Pope Clement XII in his Pontifical Constitution "In Eminenti" condemned Freemasonry as being Counter-Church and Counter-State.
However, not only is the condemnation by Pope Clement XII extended to Masonic Sects, but it applies also to all the laymen who, although they are not members of Societies called Freemasonic, favor them, in any manner, thus: "WE COMMAND TO THE FAITHFUL TO ABSTAIN FROM INTERCOURSE WITH THOSE SOCIETIES . . . IN ORDER TO AVOID EXCOMMUNICATION, WHICH WILL BE THE PENALTY IMPOSED UPON ALL THOSE CONTRAVENING TO THIS, OUR ORDER. NONE, EXCEPT AT THE POINT OF DEATH, COULD BE ABSOLVED OF THIS SIN EXCEPT BY US OR THE THEN EXISTING ROMAN PONTIFF
Six reasons which drove Pope Clement XII to strike Secret Societies; they are 1) the Interconfessonalism (or Interfaith) of Freemasons; 2) their secret; 3) their oath; 4) their opposition to Church and State; 5) the interdiction pronounced against them in several States by the Heads of such countries; and, 6) their immorality which the Pope characterizes thus: "Those Societies, according to men who are prudent and honest, are ill-famed, and to become a member thereof, would lead to evil and perversion." From the outset, before the 18th century, under the efforts of Masonry which sank us into the horrors of the French Revolution, the Sect had been unmasked by the Popes and exposed before the eyes of the Catholics with its odious triple shame of Counter-Morality, Counter-State, and above all, Counter-Church.
WHAT OF THE SITUATION TODAY? Pope Pius VII 1800-1823 Let us now enter into the 19th century. The wars of the French Revolution and of the Empire spread and favored the creation of Masonic lodges (mostly Military lodges ) and the rapid European expansion of Masonic subversive ideas. Pope Pius VII became one of its glorious victims. It was therefore, in full knowledge of the subject, that on September, 1821, in his Encyclical "Ecclesiam a Jesu-Cristo the Pope applied to the Carbonari the following text: "THEY COME UNDER THE GUISE OF SHEEP ALTHOUGH THEY ARE, IN TRUTH, NONE BUT RAVENING WOLVES." Thus, the Pope reiterated against the Freemasons the condemnations pronounced by Clement XII and Benedict XIV because they propagandize "RELIGIOUS INDIFFERENCE WHICH IS, OF ALL, THE MOST PERNICIOUS"; They also grant to everyone full liberty to inaugurate for himself his own religion according to his ideas and inclinations; to also profane and sully Our Savior's Passion in some of their odious ceremonies; to hold in contempt the Sacraments of the Church to which in a horrible sacrilegious manner they substitute sacraments of their own invention and they treat with derision the Mysteries of the Catholic Religion.
Let us note that Pope Leo XII was afraid of the MASONIC PENETRATION IN PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHING and seemed to foresee the devastation that the "One School" would rapidly inflict upon both the Church and society at large.
Following Leo XII, Pius VIII most particularly mentions the Sect called "Unitsersitaire," saying: "ITS AIM IS TO CORRUPT YOUTH IN SCHOOLS
(Papacy and Freemasonry Speech made by the late Monseigneur Jouin on December 8, 1930 )
In the Encyclical of Pope Leo XIII on Freemasonry published in December 8, 1892 the following was summarized:
Reiterates urgent necessity of combating evils of Freemasonry; condemns claim that State is superior to Church and can control property and functions of Church; entreats bishops to work for conversion of victims of sect, to arouse in clergy and people zealous love for religion.
Pope Leo XIII condemned Freemasonry in his Encyclical Humanum (1884):
But the war wages more ardently against the Apostolic See and the Roman Pontiff. He was, under a false pretext, deprived of the temporal power, the stronghold of his rights and of his freedom; he was next reduced to an iniquitous condition, unbearable for its numberless bur- dens until it has come to this, that the Sectarians say openly what they had already in secret devised for a long time, viz., that the very spiritual power of the Pope ought to be taken away, and the divine institution of the Roman Pontificate ought to disappear from the world. If other arguments were needed for this, it would be sufficiently demonstrated by the testimony of many who often, in times bygone and even lately, declared it to be the real supreme aim of the Free-Masons to persecute, with untamed hatred, Christianity, and that they will never rest until they see cast to the ground all religious institutions established by the Pope.
Once again the Pope condemns Masonry because they insist on children
being taught by the clergy:
The sect of the Masons aims unanimously and steadily also at the possession of the education of children. They understand that a tender age is easily bent, and that there is no more useful way of preparing for the State such citizens as they wish. Hence, in the instruction and edu- cation of children, they do not leave to the ministers of the Church any part either in directing or watching them. In many places they have gone so far that children's education is all in the hands of laymen: and from moral teaching every idea is banished of those holy and great duties which bind together man and God.
(Encyclical of Pope Leo XIII on Freemasonry published in December 8, 1892)
The next issue that the Pope condemns is "Civil Rights", or personal freedoms, and freedom of religion:
The principles of social science follow. Here naturalists teach that men have all the same rights, and are perfectly equal in condition; that every man is naturally independent; that no one has a right to command others; that it is tyranny to keep men subject to any other authority than that which emanates from themselves. Hence the people are sovereign; those who rule have no authority but by the commission and concession of the people; so that they can be deposed, willing or unwilling, according to the wishes of the people. The origin of all rights and civil duties is in the people or in the State, which is ruled according to the new principles of liberty. The State must be godless; no reason why one religion ought to be preferred to another; all to be held in the same esteem. (Ibid)
It would appear that the Catholic Church of the l9th century believed that the goal of Masonry was to overthrow Christianity and allow the common people to have power:
Free-Masons, insinuating themselves under pretence of friendship into the hearts of Princes, aim to have them powerful aids and accomplices to overcome Christianity, and in order to excite them more actively they calumniate the Church as the enemy of royal privileges and power. Having thus become confident and sure, they get great influence in the government of States, resolve yet to shake the foundations of the thrones, and persecute, calumniate, or banish those sovereigns who refuse to rule as they desire. (Ibid ,20th of April, 1884)
The Catholic Church's opposition to
Freemasonry has had a lot to do with politics
In some countries, politics plays an important part in the condemnation of the fraternity. This is a primary reason behind the Roman Catholic Church's opposition to the fraternity. A Mason, Giuseppe Garibaldi, led the successful effort to crush the temporal power of the Pope in Italy, reducing the Roman Catholic Church's holding in Italy to the 109-acre Vatican City. This successful effort was a main catalyst for Pope Leo XII's infamous encyclical, Humanum Genus, in 1884. It condemned Freemasonry as a "wicked force" and a "contagious disease" because Freemasons:
("The fundamental reason for the Current Criticism of Freemasonry- a paper by Bro. Gary Leazer)
Has the Catholic Church changed its stance on Freemasonry? Not according to this 1983 statement of faith:
DECLARATION ON MASONIC ASSOCIATIONS
Issued by the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on November 26, 1983.
It has been asked whether there has been any change in the Church's decision in regard to Masonic associations since the new Code of Canon Law does not mention them expressly, unlike the previous Code.
This Sacred Congregation is in a position to reply that this circumstance is due to an editorial criterion which was followed also in the case of other associations likewise unmentioned inasmuch as they are contained in wider categories.
Therefore the Church's negative judgment in regard to Masonic associations remains unchanged since their principles have always been considered irreconcilable with the doctrine of the Church and therefore membership in them remains forbidden. The faithful who enroll in Masonic associations are in a state of grave sin and may not receive Holy Communion.
It is not within the competence of local ecclesiastical authorities to give a judgment on the nature of Masonic associations which would imply a derogation from what has been decided above, and this in line with the Declaration of this Sacred Congregation issued on 17 February 1981 (cf. AAS 73 [1981] pp. 240-241).
In an audience granted to the undersigned Cardinal Prefect, the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II approved and ordered the publication of this Declaration which had been decided in an ordinary meeting of this Sacred Congregation.
Is it true that Freemasons have been anti-Catholic? They have probably not been any more anti-Catholic than the society that they lived in:
For nearly 200 years, the US was unwilling to elect a President who was of the Catholic faith because of fears which, in the light of day in the year 2000, seem preposterous. Freemasons - particularly in the United States - mirrored the angst of the entire country and were neither immune from nor unrepresentative of the prevailing sentiments. (From the website- www.Masonicinfo.com)
Do Catholics join Masonry?
The answer is yes. While many Catholics prefer to join the Knights of Columbus, they are perfectly welcome to become a Mason. The Catholic Church is America has been more lenient on the issue of Catholics becoming members of the Masonic Lodge. Many Catholics see no conflict between their faith and Masonry. Since Freemasonry is not a religion it is not an issue for the Lodges. As long as the Catholic candidate expresses a belief in God and an after-life he is qualified to join. The Lodge leaves it up to the candidate and his church to resolve any perceived moral issues.