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Chesapeake
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Is is permissable for a Catholic to join a collegiate fraternity with a Masonic affiliation? Specifically, I’m talking about the Acacia Fraternity.
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Br.Rich_SFO
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Probably not. However I’m not familiar with the one your listing.
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benedictgal
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The short answer is no. When he was prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the former Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger strongly discouraged this. According to Wikpedia (and I am leery about quoting this source, but it seems legitimate):
Please do not place your soul in danger. No fraternity, no matter how charitable, is worth it.
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benedictgal
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Here is the document, again, from Wikipedia:
Here is the appropriate section from Canon Law (again, from the same source):
Again, please beware. Why not join the Knights of Columbus? Surely there is a council in your area and they would be most helpful.
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Cristiano
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I am not clear what do you mean with Masonic association.
For example if I join a bunch of Muslims do charitable work, that is fine. However, if I were to become part of an Islamic congregation to do works of charity that would be wrong.
You have to assess if the fraternity is a Masonic organization, or if it has in interaction with Masons. That would make quite a bit of difference.
For example if I join a bunch of Muslims do charitable work, that is fine. However, if I were to become part of an Islamic congregation to do works of charity that would be wrong.
You have to assess if the fraternity is a Masonic organization, or if it has in interaction with Masons. That would make quite a bit of difference.
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Dirk_Skene
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Masons acknowledge all “gods” as equal. They are instructed to shield fellow masons even when they commit crimes. In one of the degrees of the Scottish Rite the initiate symbolicly stomps on a paple crown & says “down with the tyrant.” In another degree of the Scottish Rite the initiate renownses the salvation Jesus brought into the world.
A Christian of any flavor should stay away from these groups.
To check out anything I have said read Albert Pikes’ Morals & Dogma. Sorry, but I don’t have the ISBN handy.
And I am NOT just repeating what I have heard. I know 1st hand.
A Christian of any flavor should stay away from these groups.
To check out anything I have said read Albert Pikes’ Morals & Dogma. Sorry, but I don’t have the ISBN handy.
And I am NOT just repeating what I have heard. I know 1st hand.
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japhy
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Allow me to answer, as I am brother #734 of the Rensselaer Chapter of Acacia International Fraternity. I served as the Vice President (Senior Dean) for over two years and was also the Ritual Chairman (Chaplain) for a year prior. I have a unique outlook on this.
First of all, when I went to college, I stopped attending Mass on a regular basis. In hindsight (and some might think I’m crazy to say this), I think God was preventing me from making some terrible mistakes, given the horrendously liberal/progressive nature of the Mass celebrated at the campus chapel (where the priest writes his own Eucharistic Prayers and refuses to celebrate the Eucharist in communion with “Benedict, our Pope” but insists on calling him “Benedict, the Bishop of Rome” in the Eucharistic Prayer). I did not go to Confession during my long college career (I was at RPI from 1999 to 2005). When I would come home, however, I would gladly go to Mass at my childhood parish and (stupidly) present myself for Holy Communion. It was not until I left RPI and moved down to the Princeton area that I started to clean up my act and went to Confession.
What attracted me to Acacia fraternity was its members. It wasn’t until later that I learned (and for a time, was attracted to) its Masonic heritage. It is true that some men who join Acacia fraternity go on to become Masons as well. It is also true that several chapters of the fraternity (mine included) seek out Masonic temples and lodges for use during the final initiation rituals.
However, despite similar-sounding titles (“Venerable Dean”, “Senior Dean”, “Steward”), particular symbols (the right-angled triangle, the sprig of Acacia), and certain philosophical underpinnings (such as what the sides of the 3-4-5 triangle represent), the fraternity is not a Masonic organization. We use the Masonic analogy of the hourglass in one of our initiation speeches (“the hourglass is an emblem of human life…”), but that fact is completely lost on anyone who hasn’t researched it.
Acacia is a college fraternity that was once was college fraternity for Masons. Several decades ago, membership was opened to non-Masons who planned to become Masons; it was also closed to members of other fraternities; since then, the Masonic obligation has been dropped entirely. I would be willing to bet that most of the men who enter the fraternity never give a second thought to the Masonry aspect and are not in the fraternity because of its Masonic heritage.
Acacia’s Masonic heritage is probably more evident and pronounced than in most other college fraternities (most of which share, to varying degrees, elements of Freemasonry), but the fraternity is not a Masonic organization. That being said, the fraternity does choose to affiliate themselves with the Masons in certain ways (such as using their lodges for initiation, like I mentioned).
I would not advocate Catholics joining the fraternity, simply because I think (now) that a Catholic should join a Catholic fraternity (or sorority) whose ritual and ideology is rooted firmly in Scripture, Tradition, and the Magisterium, and whose spirituality is derived from any of the worthy saints who have gone before us. (Update: I would also not recommend it if Acacia fraternity is, in the eyes of the Church, a “Masonic association”.)
Update: I would also add that God used my experience in Acacia to His glory. The time I spent away from the Church’s liturgy (i.e. college) was time I spent immersed in my fraternity’s rituals (international and local). I became enthralled by it, and sought to educate my fellow brothers as to what the ritual meant and how to perform it properly. That fervor has since been carried over to the true ritual, the liturgical worship of God in His Church. I am quite sure that if I had spent my college years attending a potentially phony Mass week after week, I would not be the faithful Catholic I am today. I am also quite sure had I not become absorbed in my fraternity’s ritual (no matter its origin) I would not have my present desire for liturgical excellence.
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Seatuck
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My son was “rushed” by Acacia. After doing some research and talking with our priest I advised him against it since it is a Masonic organization.
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Chancellare
Guest
It is a psycho-social fact that people join organizations for varied reasons. They range from pure motives to simple ignorance. Some join fraternities because of personal inadequacies which they thought could be filled up by a powerful association, just like a mouse sitting on a lion’s shoulders. For some, it gives them a chance to dominate others in a regimented sphere of relationship, which they could not do in an open society. For others, it allows them to commit certain acts that are not appreciated in a standard peer-group. For some it is simply an ego trip. But there is a specific group that have authentic search for meaning in life which they could not find in an ordinary circumstance like in the CC. It is this group that we need to correspond with and provide sensible (name removed by moderator)uts based on facts and principles- in the hope illuminating their understanding. The rest needs professional help.
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japhy
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You could have at least offered a single pure motive.
A properly functioning fraternity should help a student get accustomed to the college campus (and environment as a whole), assist them scholastically, provide appropriate social interaction and build social skills, and introduce the member to an alumni network that provide professional opportunities and personal friendship for years to come.
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Chancellare
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Thanks Japhy for your (name removed by moderator)uts. An alumni association is an excellent group to do that. Not a fraternity.
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Chesapeake
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Japhy, are you still an Acacian?
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japhy
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Yes; I have not renounced or resigned membership in the fraternity. Seeing as how the Acacia fraternity does not plot against the Church and they are not actually linked to the Freemasons, I don’t think I am in violation of Canon Law.
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AndyF
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No.
The Masonic system and the Catholic system are not reconcilable and no Catholic may join the Lodge without
renouncing the Church. Pope Clement XII issued the first formal prohibition in 1738.
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YipYupYep
Guest
There was a one hour program on EWTN entitled “The Lodge.” I think it was in the “Abundant Life” series.
The main speaker was a younger man who had been a Mason and had gone through all the Chairs. In his first initiation he was instructed to remove all of his clothes, down to his underwear. Including his wedding ring and his Crucifix around his neck. It went down hill from there. The program was about his journey into darkness and his finding his way back home. The Lodge is absolutely, positively, no place for a Catholic. The Shriners are just as bad, if not worse.
Maybe on the EWTN web site, you can view of purchase the Video.
The main speaker was a younger man who had been a Mason and had gone through all the Chairs. In his first initiation he was instructed to remove all of his clothes, down to his underwear. Including his wedding ring and his Crucifix around his neck. It went down hill from there. The program was about his journey into darkness and his finding his way back home. The Lodge is absolutely, positively, no place for a Catholic. The Shriners are just as bad, if not worse.
Maybe on the EWTN web site, you can view of purchase the Video.
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mangy_dog
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A lot of good answers here…but - the bottom line is that Masonry or Freemasonry is the “black beast” named in the Apocalypse.
Keep it simple.
If you are a catholic - stay away from these and other similar cults. Yes it is a cult. Luciferian in origin and content. Paganistic and satanic in ritual.
Stay away and instead pray the Rosary- daily.
Attend Confession and Communion - weekly.
Wake up. Jesus is the way the truth and the life.
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Chancellare
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Many people condemn Catholicism for ‘paganist traditions’ and its rituals. But many of the same people didn’t see it in Masonic rituals. Selective or hypocritical?
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YipYupYep
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ROME, 6 FEB. 2007 (ZENIT)
Answered by Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum university.
Q: A member of the RCIA program was told by another member of the parish that if they were going to become Catholic they needed to terminate their involvement with the Masonic lodge before they could join. Is this still the case in the United States? — T.N., Howard City, Michigan
A: This question is more canonical than liturgical. The Church’s position with respect to membership of Masonic lodges, even though canon law no longer explicitly mentions the Masons, has not substantially changed.
This incompatibility resides in some aspects of Masonic ritual, but more importantly in elements regarding the question of truth.
In its effort to bring together people of different provenances, Masonry requires that its members adhere to a minimal belief in a supreme architect of the universe and leave aside all other pretensions of truth, even revealed truth.
It is thus basically a relativistic doctrine, and no Catholic, nor indeed any convinced Christian, may ever adhere to a group that would require him, even as a mere intellectual exercise, to renounce the affirmation of such truths as Christ’s divinity and the Trinitarian nature of God.
Of course, for many people active in Masonic lodges, the conversations and activities are more social in nature and rarely veer toward the realm of philosophical speculation. A Catholic, however, cannot ignore the fundamental principles behind an organization, no matter how innocuous its activities appear to be.
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Il_Cattivo
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you’re scaring me
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mangy_dog
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If I had a penny for every time someone made a rediculous comparison like this…
Be that as it may.
Tha Catholic church is the one, true church that Christ intended to exist after His ascension into heaven and of which He left Peter as its first Pope…263 popes later to Pope Bendict XVI.
The comparison is moot!
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