Freemasonary not being warned about?

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Can someone cite a particular example in history of the Masons plotting aginst the Church?
 
So far as the term GAOTU: it is used ONCE in Masonic ritual and is far more prominent in anti-Masonic circles than in Masonic. Be aware that one Leo Taxil is almost single-handedly responsible for nearly every canard that one can pick up about Freemasonry. He actually forged an entire assortment of quotes from Albert Pike, a rather well-known Freemason of the Civil War era. He may even have influenced a Papal encyclical on the subject of Freemasonry. Ironically, Taxil held what amounted to a press conference (in 1890, I believe) after some twenty years of publishing anti-Catholic stuff in which he ADMITTED what he had been doing, holding the members of the press in attendance to scorn for their gullibility. Nonetheless, one can readily find much of Taxil’s misinformation replicated in–for instance–Chick tracts. I’m certain that Roman Catholics place tremendous regard in any of Jack Chick’s source material, seeing he has written so brilliantly about Roman Catholicism:nope: .

A 33rd degree Mason is a person who has been honored by the Masonic Fraternity for some service to the Fraternity or to society at large. One is never told for precisely what they were given the award. My grandfather was made a 33rd degree Freemason after he rescued some coworkers from an industrial accident at a gunpowder plant near Carthage Missouri in the 1960’s. Most 33rd degree Masons are Scottish Rite members but this isn’t always the case.

One needs to distinguish carefully between official Freemasonry and the private speculations about Freemasonry by Masons. The ‘official’ material is limited to the Standard Work on the Ritual, issued by the state Grand Lodge, the Lodge Charter, and some ancient documents which are sometimes referred to as the ‘landmarks’ of the Lodge. Albert Pike believed Freemasonry would be a vehicle for unification of humankind and his well-known work “Morals and Dogma” is an attempt at syncretism. Other famous Masonic writers have dabbled in esotericism. These are the speculations and opinions of individual Freemasons who had NO authority to speak for the organization as a whole. Individual Freemasons are at liberty to hold whatever religious beliefs they choose and are discouraged from discussing religious or political topics in-lodge only because they are divisive and undermine the goal of the Lodge: fraternal cooperation between good men of good will for the betterment of one another and the society at large.

And no: Albert Pike was not the ‘Supreme Pontiff’ of Freemasonry: no such office ever existed. Pike was once a leader in the Southern jurisdiction (only!) of the Scottish Rite. Bear in mind: the Blue Lodge is a separate organization from the Scottish Rite, York Rite, or Shrine. These are four SEPARATE fraternitites, though they have overlapping memberships. Each have their own elective offices and officers, each keeps separate budgets, each has separate headquarters. The York rite stresses it’s Christian roots; the Shrine is clearly a parody of the pretentions of it’s sister fraternities.
 
Certain renegade Masonic organizations in France may have fed the French Revolution. Grand Orient Freemasonry was declared ‘clandestine’ by the Grand Lodge of Britain because it permitted atheists to join, and because it inveigled itself in politics heavily. Apparently, Grand Orient Freemasonry in France provided a refuge and melting-pot for all sorts of liberal ideas–many of them repugnant to the Church but admired by Americans. Among other things, it championed the idea of separation of Church and State and the ideal of a democratically-elective government. It was this link to liberal ideas that led some Pope or the other to publish the aforementioned encyclical. The name of the Pope involved–or his encyclical–elude me.

I should note that anticlericalism was also a hallmark of the French Revolution and this too was blamed upon the Grand Orient lodges. Finally: the long-reigning anti-clerical government in Mexico also had some links to Freemasonry, I’m told. I have no details, sorry. These at least explain the historical roots of the antipathy between the Catholic Church and the Freemasons, though the condemnation of all Lodges based upon the deeds of one renegade branch seems to be painting with far too broad a brush.

The citations from the Lutheran Church are of interest to me. I’d heard they had taken up the topic. I have to say I find their conclusions puzzling: though I have demitted (resigned) from the Lodge for lack of time, I cannot say I ever felt Christ was relegated to any position unbeffiting Him. I perfectly understood the ban against controversial conversations in-Lodge–NOT just about faith but also politics, recall–and would point out that one was NOT prevented from befriending Lodge members and then evangelizing them outside of the Lodge.

Lat point: the Masonic Lodge is a dying institution. The average age of it’s membership is already well above that of the population at large, and it is estimated that two-thirds or so will expire within the next decade or so. The death ratio alone will exceed it’s current recruitment rate Add in this to normal attrition of dropouts and the organization is widely believed to be soon destined to cease functioning as a viable organization. The various charities it supports will sooner or later have to be suspended or find other means of support. The lodges and other meetng places will have to be closed and/or consolidated. Far from a menacing organization, the Freemasonic Lodge is largely seen as an irrelevant one.
 
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SPOKENWORD:
When you encourage someone to read about satanic activity thats encouraging them to find out more about satanic practices. Thats like me encouraging you to read about fortune telling to find out how satan works through the spirit world. Get the picture? :eek:
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The more you can learn about your adversary, the devil, the better armed you may hope to be against his attacks
 
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SPOKENWORD:
dead bishop, You tell me what clearer insight I need to know about an organization that is run and controlled by satanic influences.Your kind advice is cunning to those who are spiritually blind. Im not attacking you personally and I appoligize if I came across that way. I am attacking the spirit behind it.Tell me about your signiture name,its interesting? :eek:
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My signiture name is borrowed from Apocalypse 3: vs 1-4 :hmmm:
 
What is the Catholic Church’s official position on Freemasonry? Are Catholics free to become Freemasons?

Freemasonry is incompatible with the Catholic faith. Freemasonry teaches a naturalistic religion that espouses indifferentism, the position that a person can be equally pleasing to God while remaining in any religion.

Masonry is a parallel religion to Christianity. The New Catholic Encyclopedia states, “Freemasonry displays all the elements of religion, and as such it becomes a rival to the religion of the Gospel. It includes temples and altars, prayers, a moral code, worship, vestments, feast days, the promise of reward and punishment in the afterlife, a hierarchy, and initiative and burial rites” (vol. 6, p. 137).

Masonry is also a secret society. Its initiates subscribe to secret blood oaths that are contrary to Christian morals. The prospective Mason swears that if he ever reveals the secrets of Masonry–secrets which are trivial and already well-known–he wills to be subject to self-mutilation or to gruesome execution. (Most Masons, admittedly, never would dream of carrying out these punishments on themselves or on an errant member).

Historically, one of Masonry’s primary objectives has been the destruction of the Catholic Church; this is especially true of Freemasonry as it has existed in certain European countries. In the United States, Freemasonry is often little more than a social club, but it still espouses a naturalistic religion that contradicts orthodox Christianity. (Those interested in joining a men’s club should consider the Knights of Columbus instead.)

The Church has imposed the penalty of excommunication on Catholics who become Freemasons. The penalty of excommunication for joining the Masonic Lodge was explicit in the 1917 code of canon law (canon 2335), and it is implicit in the 1983 code (canon 1374).

Because the revised code of canon law is not explicit on this point, some drew the mistaken conclusion that the Church’s prohibition of Freemasonry had been dropped. As a result of this confusion, shortly before the 1983 code was promulgated, the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a statement indicating that the penalty was still in force. This statement was dated November 26, 1983 and may be found in Origins 13/27 (Nov. 15, 1983), 450.

newadvent.org/almanac/thisrock93.htm
 
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Andyz:
How come the church does not not talk about dangers of being a member of the Freemasons? Why is this not being adressed?

AndyZ
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Because… to put it in plain and simple english… many of the Church’s prelates ( Cardinals, Archbishops, priests… etc. ) ARE Freemasons… !! 😦
 
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flameburns623:
So far as the term GAOTU: it is used ONCE in Masonic ritual and is far more prominent in anti-Masonic circles than in Masonic. Be aware that one Leo Taxil is almost single-handedly responsible for nearly every canard that one can pick up about Freemasonry. He actually forged an entire assortment of quotes from Albert Pike, a rather well-known Freemason of the Civil War era. He may even have influenced a Papal encyclical on the subject of Freemasonry. Ironically, Taxil held what amounted to a press conference (in 1890, I believe) after some twenty years of publishing anti-Catholic stuff in which he ADMITTED what he had been doing, holding the members of the press in attendance to scorn for their gullibility. Nonetheless, one can readily find much of Taxil’s misinformation replicated in–for instance–Chick tracts. I’m certain that Roman Catholics place tremendous regard in any of Jack Chick’s source material, seeing he has written so brilliantly about Roman Catholicism:nope: .

A 33rd degree Mason is a person who has been honored by the Masonic Fraternity for some service to the Fraternity or to society at large. One is never told for precisely what they were given the award. My grandfather was made a 33rd degree Freemason after he rescued some coworkers from an industrial accident at a gunpowder plant near Carthage Missouri in the 1960’s. Most 33rd degree Masons are Scottish Rite members but this isn’t always the case.

One needs to distinguish carefully between official Freemasonry and the private speculations about Freemasonry by Masons. The ‘official’ material is limited to the Standard Work on the Ritual, issued by the state Grand Lodge, the Lodge Charter, and some ancient documents which are sometimes referred to as the ‘landmarks’ of the Lodge. Albert Pike believed Freemasonry would be a vehicle for unification of humankind and his well-known work “Morals and Dogma” is an attempt at syncretism. Other famous Masonic writers have dabbled in esotericism. These are the speculations and opinions of individual Freemasons who had NO authority to speak for the organization as a whole. Individual Freemasons are at liberty to hold whatever religious beliefs they choose and are discouraged from discussing religious or political topics in-lodge only because they are divisive and undermine the goal of the Lodge: fraternal cooperation between good men of good will for the betterment of one another and the society at large.

And no: Albert Pike was not the ‘Supreme Pontiff’ of Freemasonry: no such office ever existed. Pike was once a leader in the Southern jurisdiction (only!) of the Scottish Rite. Bear in mind: the Blue Lodge is a separate organization from the Scottish Rite, York Rite, or Shrine. These are four SEPARATE fraternitites, though they have overlapping memberships. Each have their own elective offices and officers, each keeps separate budgets, each has separate headquarters. The York rite stresses it’s Christian roots; the Shrine is clearly a parody of the pretentions of it’s sister fraternities.
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Flamesburns, Are you a Mason? :confused:
 
Ken, Masonry’s anti-Catholicism is quite old. Consider the Mexican martyrs, like Miguel Pro, who were executed by Masons. It really is indisputable.
 
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cestusdei:
Ken, Masonry’s anti-Catholicism is quite old. Consider the Mexican martyrs, like Miguel Pro, who were executed by Masons. It really is indisputable.
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What is mean by Masons being anti-Catholic? Does anyone who opposed the Church in hundreds of years of the Church’s political intrigue qualify as anti-Catholic? The Church was an active player in secular politics, and can’t complain if others played the same game.

If it is indisputable, then what was the plot?
 
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SPOKENWORD:
Flamesburns, Are you a Mason? :confused:
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I was once a travelling-man but have demitted for lack of time: to demit means to discontinue or resign, btw. I was a member of the Blue Lodge and the York Rite.

I note that I left a thought unfinished: “Duncan’s Masonic Ritual” is a quasi-authorised paraphrase of Masonic ritual and is a good way to get some sense of what Masons study prior to initiations. Please note that this is a paraphrase, from before the turn of the 20th century, and is oriented towards the York Rite: it actually includes rituals for some of the York Rite degrees. These appear to have been ‘variant’ rituals which were extant in some parts of Europe
 
Wasn’t the mayor of Fatima a Freemason? I was under the impression that he was trying to “stamp out” Catholicism because of Freemasonry or was he a Fascist also?
 
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flameburns623:
I was once a travelling-man but have demitted for lack of time: to demit means to discontinue or resign, btw. I was a member of the Blue Lodge and the York Rite.

I note that I left a thought unfinished: “Duncan’s Masonic Ritual” is a quasi-authorised paraphrase of Masonic ritual and is a good way to get some sense of what Masons study prior to initiations. Please note that this is a paraphrase, from before the turn of the 20th century, and is oriented towards the York Rite: it actually includes rituals for some of the York Rite degrees. These appear to have been ‘variant’ rituals which were extant in some parts of Europe
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So youve left the lodge physically but have you left spiritually. Have you renounced all your oaths, rituals, and curses involved with freemasonry? If not you have not left Masonry :eek: .
 
TEN REASONS CATHOLICS CANNOT BE MASONS

Freemasonry, contrary to public perception, is a secret society rather than a fraternity. Its principles are fundamentally contrary to the Catholic faith and explicitly deny key tenets of Christianity. Below are ten reasons why Catholics cannot be Masons or participate in their activities.

  1. *] The Holy See on Nov. 26, 1983, at the direction of the Pope, issued a “Declaration on Masonic Associations” restating the Church’s position condemning the basic principles of Freemasonry. It also states that Catholics who join Masonic organizations are in a state of grave sin and are automatically denied Holy Communion.

    *] God as described in Masonic works is an impersonal “Great Architect of the Universeî,” not the personal God of the Patriarchs, the One True God of Revelation, the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit.

    *] Masonic writings specifically deny that God has revealed Himself and His truths to us, or that He ever established a Church.

    *] In Masonry Jesus Christ is portrayed as merely a man, a great teacher, on a par with Buddha or Mohammed and His Divinity is denied.

    *] The Trinity is denied and compared to the "trinitiesî"of pagan religions. The Holy Spirit is blasphemed by Masonry’s denial of the Divine Inspiration of Scripture.

    *] Christianity is considered a derivative of ancient pagan religions and like all religions deliberately ladens itself with error. God is portrayed as a deceiver who leads many men away from truth as not all are worthy of it.

    *] All truth is relative according to Masonry, thereby rejecting objective, absolute truth and therefore the dogmas of the Catholic faith.

    *] Freemasonry is portrayed as the foundation of all religion and it is built on Naturalism, a system of belief that makes human nature and human reason supreme in all things.

    *] At the various degrees when an oath is sworn, even the initial ones, it is a blood oath swearing for example, “binding myself by no less penalty than that of having my throat cut from ear to ear, my tongue torn out by its roots, and buried in the sands of the sea…” This is a real oath sworn with one’s hand on the Bible or Torah, etc.

    *] One can easily be deceived by Masonry’s rituals and symbols that an objective transformation of man is being carried out. This will lead one away from the workings of God’s grace especially manifested in the Sacraments instituted by Christ. Remember, Masonry denies Christís Divinity and therefore His role as our Savior.
    For further information the book "Freemasonry: Mankind’s Hidden Enemy"can be obtained from TAN BOOKS, Rockford,IL., ($8.00 retail). Your local bookstore can order it for you.
 
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SPOKENWORD:
So youve left the lodge physically but have you left spiritually. Have you renounced all your oaths, rituals, and curses involved with freemasonry? If not you have not left Masonry :eek: .
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No “curses” involved. Masonic ritual is essentially a collection of formal rules of order regarding the conduct of meetings, proper address of officers of the lodge, etcetera. The oaths are formed in the stilted language of ancient British legalities and readily misunderstood: they are an oath and a prayer addressed to God, which petition Him (and Him alone) to oversee the faithfulness of the Mason in maintaining as private the internal matters of the Lodge. The oaths are taken with the prior admonition of the Worshipful Master of the Lodge that nothing contained in the oaths or taught by by Lodge at any time will ever or can ever conflict with any duty or obligation owed by the candidate to his family, his country, or his God. If such a conflict arose–it would necessarily negate the terms under which the oath were contracted. No ‘renunciation’ would be obligatory.

By the bye: I am not a Roman Catholic. Neither am I commending to Roman Catholics that they flout their church or their consciences and join the Lodge. I have simply pointed out that virtually every secular reason, and most theological reasons tendered for not joining, are based upon false pretences. The Lodge is NOT a surrogate religious movement and one is NOT asked to believe things contrary to one’s faith, as noted above. Freemasonry is not a conspiratorial institution manipulating history from the shadows. It’s worst aspect was the long-established (and long-renounced, in the Grand Lodges of the USA) practice of ‘preferment’. This was the committment of Lodge-members to ‘prefer’ to buy goods of equal value sold by both Masonic and non-Masonic retailers from the Masoninc retailer; to vote–where other issues were not at stake–for the Masonic candidate over the non-Mason; to promote among candidates of equal talent and ability the Freemason. This practice became problematic for American Freemasons long ago and was disavowed (the British faced scandals rooted in ‘preferment’ as late as the 1980’s and early 90’s).

What WASN’T resolved very quickly in American Freemasonry was a split in the Lodges based along racial lines: Blacks had their own Lodges from colonial times, recognized by the Grand Lodge of England but not by any of the 50 Grand Lodges of the USA until the late 1990’s and early 21st century. Before that time, very few Lodges accepted Blacks at all, and most which did were extremely selective about the matter. At the time that I joined, the “Prince Hall” (Black) Lodges were in rapprochment with White Grand Lodges in my home state, and each now gives full recognition to the other.
 
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