I’ve read somewhere that it is permissible (in the US?)
to be up to a third degree Mason and remain in communion
however beyond that you essentially self ex-communicate
something to do with the higher degrees and blood oaths but
don’t rely on my advice check with your local bishop or pastor
I believe that most US lodges(temples?) are benign towards the Church
7
"Eight popes over 200 years in a barrage of 20 legal interdicts have condemned Freemasonry, pronouncing automatic excommunication against any Catholic who becomes a member of a masonic lodge. "
No Lodges are "benign towards the Church".
Just because its not on the meeting agenda doesn't mean the purpose is "benign".
The most basic oath is a blood oath.
Here are the basis of the oaths. You can determine yourself if it is worthy of Christian acceptance. In the first three initiate degrees (Blue Lodge), the initiate asks for Light, then for further light, then more light, and recites these as their oath:
Apprentice: “To all of which I do most solemnly and sincerely promise and swear, without the least equivocation, mental reservation, or self evasion of mind in me whatever; binding myself under no less penalty than to have my throat cut across, my tongue torn out by the roots, and my body buried in the rough sands of the sea at low water-mark, where the tide ebbs and flows twice in twenty-hours; so help me God, and keep me steadfast in the due performance of the same.”
Fellow Craft: “To all which I do most solemnly and sincerely promise and swear without the least hesitation, mental reservation, or self evasion of mind in me whatever; binding myself under no less penalty than to have my left breast torn open and my heart and vitals taken from thence and thrown over my left shoulder and carried into the valley of Jehosaphat, there to become a prey to the wild beasts of the field, and vulture of the air, if ever I should prove willfully guilty of violating any part of this my solemn oath or obligation of a Fellow Craft Mason; so help me God, and keep me steadfast in the due performance of the same.”
Master: “Furthermore do I promise and swear that if any part of my solemn oath or obligation be omitted at this time, that I will hold myself amenable thereto whenever informed. To all which I do most sincerely promise and swear, with a fixed and steady purpose of mind in me to keep and perform the same, binding myself under no less penalty than to have my body severed in two in the midst, and divided to the north and south, my bowels burnt to ashes in the center, and the ashes scattered before the four winds of heaven, that there might not the least track or trace of remembrance remain among men. or Masons, of so vile and perjured a wretch as I should be, were I ever to prove willfully guilty of violating any part of this my solemn oath or obligation of a Master Mason. So help me God, and keep me steadfast in the duo, performance of the same.”
>https://jimdukeperspective.com/freemason-initiation-oath/
I believe you were misinformed, probably by a "catholic" freemason, clerics not excluded.
“I believe that most US lodges(temples?) are benign towards the Church...”
I’m a master Mason, and a Past Master, and a member of three lodges in Washington State. Religion is not an issue we deal with, we offer membership to anyone that has a belief in a deity. In the lodges I attend there is a representation from almost all recognized religions. And the Craft encourages attendance at each member’s chosen church. We are neither a religious organization, or a cult. Just a group of men trying to help the world through Charities and service.
Don’t believe everything you’re told. The Catholic Church ordered its members not to join the Freemasons in the year 1738. And their animosity has not changed.
In the early 60’s President John Kennedy, a celebrated Catholic, ordered all the lodges off all military installations.
The military goes back a long way with the Craft and our country’s history. 24 of the 56 signers of the Declaration and 13 of the 39 who signed the Constitution were Masons. Names like George Washington, Ben Franklyn, Paul Revere, William Dawes, and many others. It is commonly believed that the lodge rooms of a Boston Masonic Lodge served as the dressing room for the so-called Indians who threw the Boston Tea Party. Masonic Presidents include George Washington, James Munroe, Andrew Jackson, James K. Polk, James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, James A. Garfield, William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, Warren G. Harding, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, and Gerald Ford. Evidence exists to suggest that James Madison and Thomas Jefferson were also Masons.
We don’t attack the church anymore than we attack this great country. They attack us. And we pray for them.
rwood
There was a change in the Code of Canon Law.
In 1917 it was clear that a Catholic who joined Freemasonry was automatically excommunicated.
In JPII’s 1983 Code, it does not mention excommunication, but that such an action would constitute a grave sin.
So, yes, there was a change...which shouldn’t be a surprise since JPII’s Code includes other departures from the Catholic Faith prior to Vatican II.