Sandra Miesel explains why Catholics can't be Masons

No pope has ever been a Mason. The Catholic Church has warily monitored Freemasonry from the time it penetrated Europe. In 1738, Pope Clement XII condemned the Craft for its dependence on mere natural virtue while ignoring Christ's unique role as Savior. He also denounced the rash oaths it demanded of members to protect trivial Lodge secrets.

Catholics who joined the Masons were excommunicated, with reconciliation reserved to the pope. This decree had little effect, however, because it wasn't published in every land, nor was it always taken seriously where it was published. Eight subsequent popes would have to repeat the message, most forcefully Pope Leo XIII in his encyclical Humanum Genus (On Freemasonry).

Denouncing the Lodge as "a deceitful and crafty enemy," Pope Leo declared, "Let no man think that he may for any reason whatsoever join the Masonic sect, if he values his Catholic name and his eternal salvation as he ought to value them." The 1917 Code of Canon Law included these stern prohibitions.

After the Second Vatican Council, however, the long hostility between Lodge and Church seemed to be easing. A reinterpretation of the anti-Masonic canons in 1974 led some Catholics to think that only Masonic groups actively plotting against the Church were forbidden to them.

Even so, some Freemasons had actually been plotting against the Vatican through its bank. In 1981, two of the pope's top financial advisers - known all along as Masons - were unmasked as members of a secret Lodge called Propaganda Due that was plotting a fascist takeover of Italy. Both men later died mysteriously. The Vatican lost $240,000 with the collapse of its bank.

Changing views

Rome's softer view of Masonry was abruptly reversed in 1981 just before the financial scandal broke. Although the current Code of Canon Law issued in 1983 fails to mention the Craft by name, in the same year the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith firmly reiterated the original ban:

"The Church's negative position on Masonic associations therefore remains unaltered since their principles have always been regarded as irreconcilable with the Church's doctrine."

Sandra, by the way, has already finished reading Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol (I'm on page 30 and don't know if I have the strength to continue). I spoke to her yesterday shortly after she had reached the underwhelming conclusion of the novel, and she noted it was a sort of "love poem" to Masonry, with occasional swipes at Christianity. And today she wrote: "I finished THE LOST SYMBOL, which is a tad better than DA VINCI CODE despite being rah rah pro-Masonic propaganda.By no means is it a 'good' book, even for popcorn reading." She is working on a piece about the novel, the Masons, and other esoteric topics for Catholic World Report (so subscribe now!).

What is it about Freemasonry that would cause churches to forbid or openly discourage seventy million Americans from membership? Why have eight popes condemned the Lodge? Why has the relationship between the Catholic Church and the Masonic order been strained for centuries? Christianity and American Freemasonry answers these and many other questions and describes why Christ ianity and Freemasonry are incompatible.

Today over two million American men belong to the Masonic order, the largest and oldest secret fraternal society. In earlier history the Freemasons boasted a prestigious membership, including fourteen American presidents and such founding fathers as Ben Franklin, Paul Revere, and Alexander Hamilton. This is the most complete reference book available on the subject. Chapters discuss the rituals and oaths, the Scottish and York rites, allied organizations such as the Shriners, and the historic antagonism of Christianity toward Masonry. It is thoroughly documented with facts from:

• the three most noted experts on Masonry in America
• Masonic ritual books, encyclopedias, and histories
• three former Masons, now active Catholics, who contributed firsthand knowledge of Masonic ritual and structure.

You wrote:

“In Europe nothing escapes the attention of the Catholic Church hierarchy.”

I only wish. If you were right, then there would have been no scandal connected with the Polish bishops and how some worked for the secret police.

“So they know everything about the Masons ~ and they don’t seem to be particularly excited about it.”

You’re assuming a lot.

“BTW, ever since just after Napoleon plunged Western Europe into what seemed an eternity of war, the Catholics and Protestants have actually been on the same side.”

So?

“Sure, there are quibbles over details, but I’m sure that for every point of doctrine or dogma you can find some Protestant group somewhere that matches up perfectly with the Roman Catholic church.”

Maybe, but if they still disagree on salvation, the sacraments and authority, then their agreements don’t count for much in real terms.

“The big worry is about Orthodoxy. Those guys seem pretty beaten down by the Islamofascists and need recharged in some way. Maybe we could get them to join a secret society with special gold rings, little funny cars, motorcycles, and parades.”

Masonry is growing in the Muslim world.

The Knights of Columbus is just a pious society, originally a burial and mutual aid society for Catholic men in the US, that has no idependent creed or beliefs of its own. Knights believe what the Church believes, and in fact its rules and practices have to be approved by the Church, and it has Catholic priests as its chaplains. One of the reasons it has “grand knights” and things like that is because it was intended to give upwardly mobile Catholic men an alternative to Masonry.

Freemasonry has an entirely different set of beliefs that actually have very little to do with Christianity. Freemasons are deists and also believe in having a small, select group of those “in the know” who get admitted to their “mysteries.”

In the case of mainstream Protestantism, many of the members of these churches are little more than deists, anyway, and see Jesus basically as a prophet; their beliefs wouldn’t be inconsistent with Freemasonry or even Islam, for that matter. Note, I’m not saying anyone on this thread is like this, simply that mainstream Protestantism as a whole barely qualifies as Christian anymore.

Freemasonry in the US does not have to be aggressive because there is really not much a faith system that would present it with any opposition, at any rate, among the social classes it usually targets. It’s basically just a social club for Protestants who are seeking status in smaller towns and communities.

However, in Europe, many Freemasons are Communists or Communist supporters, and they are all radically opposed to the Catholic Church. And they take their odd beliefs and rites very seriously and usually insist, for example, on being buried with Masonic rites and not from a church, if they happen to be members of one.

You wrote:

“I’m sure somewhere some non-Catholic group also has the Pope as their Pope ~ aren’t they in California?”

No. There are only two churches I know of with a pope - a legitimate pope that is - the Catholic Church and the Coptic Church. All the others are pretenders and there aren’t any in California. There are anti-popes in Quebec, Montana, Kansas, Australia, England, Italy, Spain, and a few other countries.

“Made those funny movies about Australia and the end of the world or something.”

? I have no idea what you’re talking about there.

You wrote:

“Mel Gibson’s group ~ they recognize the Pope as Pope, right?”

Mel Gibson’s father doesn’t. I think Mel kind plays back and forth on that point. He used to have his family attend an SSPX chapel in Los Angeles. For several years now, however, he has had his own chapel. I have no idea who the priest is who says Mass there.

re post 56...you cannot be a member of the ku klux klan nor a member of the Masons and still consider yourself a Catholic...You’d better check back with your pastor and he’d best seek the opinion of someone who knows what they’re talking about...Masonry and Catholocism are not compatable....one or the other....not both. Good luck, when you figure that out. You will be welcomed home with open arms...just like the prodigal son...get your act together and get right with the church.

You have a very narrow idea of things. All that Protestants reject is the continuation of the "Church Mission" model ~ it played a role in the early Christianization of the brutal Roman Empire and later on in the less developed parts of the world (Northern Europe, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, South Africa, etc.)

At some point the parish matures, the people mature in their faith, knowledge increases, and it's time to bring them into the fold.

You find the Protestant Reformation happening right at the time when the last dregs of the Dark Ages were being overcome and Europe was entering into a modern economic model. The Protestant urge in France started at THE TOP with the King's own family ~ and spread to the Royals at large, and then into the Nobility. These were the educated people of power and wealth and they thought they were quite cable of doing their Pater Nosters on their own, and not necessarily in a nearby church where they'd be led in every subtle nuance of analysis of Scripture by a priest who had no more education than had they.

The Counter Reformation took note of a great deal of this although I'd suggest they may have overdone some things because today they've not only lost attendance at church sponsored services, they've lost "interest" in the whole body of belief.

It's not too late to come over to the Protestant model and use diversity of form to bring the people to a unity of belief.

Quite true. I myself am a Mason, and an evangelical Christian. My wife has pointed out to me that her objection to the Craft has nothing to do with symbolic penalties but rather with taking an oath before God. I can understand this position.

However, the charge to the candidate before the obligation has always handled this issue from my point of view.

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