Don’t be a knee jerk reactionary!
I AM Catholic.
However, you can not do a good job DEFENDING the Faith, without, First, UNDERSTANDING the Faith, and History!
The historic resistance of the Catholic Church, towards Masonry, is understandable on many levels.
However, the Church today does NOT have an out right ban on Masonry, simply warnings to keep true to the Catholic Faith and to not water down Catholicism in an attempt at “Fraternity”.
Our own Popes have made apologies about the behavior of the Catholic Church, towards the Eastern Orthodox Church, during the Schism. In fact, I would say that the Catholic Church is READY for full UNION with the Orthodox, it is the Orthodox which resist, for political reasons and a bit of pride in a few of their leaders.
You can be a devout, even Saintly Catholic, and admit that some of our Popes might not have made it into Heaven.
I have defended the Catholic Church during the Third Reich, several times on these threads.
I dare say that I defend Catholic Popes far more often than all but one or two other posters, on these threads.
However, we are NOT required by our Faith to believe that Rome has never made any mistakes.
We have had Catholic Councils which have totally repudiated and reversed previous Catholic Councils, we have had Popes who have reversed previous Popes, on matters of Faith.
We have had Popes that sired countless bastard children.
We have had more than one Pope at the same time, once I think we even had 3 Popes at the same time.
We make mistakes, sometimes.
It is not anti-Catholic to admit as much.
In fact, to “confess our sins” is the HALLMARK OF CATHOLIC TEACHING, is it not?
We do well to acknowledge failings, otherwise we do not correct them or understand where opposition arises. But your statement that the church only opposes freemasonry out of embarrassment of its own history is asserting a sinister motivation to the church’s actions.
I further wonder whether you are confusing the Knights Templar with Freemasons when you imply that the church has done things she’d rather no-one remember.
Well, I would have to disagree with your statement that Popes or the Church have reversed themselves on doctrine. There has been development or unfolding of doctrine, but not reversal.
Also, no intelligent Catholic believes that all popes go to Heaven. Dante depicts numerous popes and bishops in hell, and it was an early saying that “the floor of Hell is paved with the skulls of bishops.”
The distinction is that although some popes were sinners, had illegitimate children, and so forth, they never officially promulgated false doctrine.
Two times in history they came close: when Arian bishop was made pope at the urging of the Emperor—but he then reversed himself and never promulgated Arian doctrine. And when the Spiritual Franciscans argued against the immortality of the soul (as distinguished from the resurrection of the body), and the pope was about to promulgate their heresy when a mission from the University of Paris dissuaded him from doing it.
Sure, the popes often are mistaken on prudential matters and in their personal lives. But not on the basic teachings of the faith, as Jesus promised to Peter.