Many of our nation’s founding fathers, like George Washington were Freemasons.
True.
Only one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence was a Catholic. Charles Carol of Carolton.
Maryland law forbid him from holding office because he was a Catholic but was sent to the Continental Congress anyway and led the effort to declare independence. He was one of the richest men in the colonies.
The first papal condemnation of Freemasonry came from Pope Clement XII in 1738. So, the ban on Freemasonry was fairly new in 1775.
Since he was the only Catholic it is not surprising that there were a lot of Masons in the Founding Father generation. At the time being a Mason in the Colonies was almost a necessity to doing business.
Many historians believe even many of the signers of the Declaration that were not openly Masons were Masons.
George never went to a meeting. Besides, Freemasons were not the same as the ones of today.