Renting a masonic temple

[Too_Blest_x3]

My parents are looking to rent a masonic temple for a bingo fundraiser. They are Catholic and have checked into several options, including our local parish. The parish won’t allow it for some technical reason and the others places I am not sure about. Would it be alright to rent out the hall and this not be considered scandolous or against church teaching?

Thnk you for your responses and God bless.

In Christ,

Joshua

 

[gurneyhalleck1]

Make sure you know the secret handshake!

 

[IHeartAquinas]

I can’t speak authoritatively on the Church’s stance, but contacting your priest or Bishop for clarification will go miles in getting the appropriate answer.

Because of the way the Masonic hall is structured, there is no chance that you would be renting the space used for their ritual, so scandal would be minimal unless a scrupulous public saw a Catholic bingo event in a Masonic hall and assumed collusion.

Again, the people you SHOULD ask are the priest or Bishop. Especially if a dispensation will be needed (not sure why one would be needed, but it’s there for consideration) you will need permission from the Church.

 

[1ke]

My parents are looking to rent a masonic temple for a bingo fundraiser. They are Catholic and have checked into several options, including our local parish.

You aren’t clear. Is this fundraiser actually for your parish? Or is it a fundraiser for some other charity or purpose?

The parish won’t allow it for some technical reason and the others places I am not sure about.

Um, those “technical reasons” would be the gambling laws and licensure requirements in order to run bingo games in your state. You cannot simply run a bingo game any time you want. There are laws governing gambling.

Would it be alright to rent out the hall and this not be considered scandolous or against church teaching?

It would be scandalous to rent a masonic lodge for any sort of fundraiser for the Catholic Church or its missions/charities.

Catholics are forbidden from Masonic membership, and having a Catholic event at a Masonic lodge would certainly give scandal and cause confusion for Catholics who are not well formed in their faith.

If this fundraiser is not associated with the Church in any way, and your parents are doing this as private citizens and in no way linking it to the Catholic Church, I would call it *imprudent *rather than scandalous. (Unless your parents are **so **well known in the community as Catholics and public figures that one cannot help but associate their fundraising with the Catholic Church-- then it would be scandalous).

 

[gamewell45]

I’m sure since it involves the raising of funds which will benefit the church, they’ll most likely have no problem with it. We’ve rented out our masonic ball room to various religious groups over the years including RC and there has never been an issue with it as far as I know.

 

[Too_Blest_x3]

For clarificton purposes, it is in no way associated with the Catholic church and is for my little brother’s baseball team. They are raising funds for a tournament across the country in New York. My parents are not public figures just normal citizens. Thanks all for your responses.

 

[mflorence]

My parents are looking to rent a masonic temple for a bingo fundraiser. They are Catholic and have checked into several options, including our local parish. The parish won’t allow it for some technical reason and the others places I am not sure about. Would it be alright to rent out the hall and this not be considered scandolous or against church teaching?

Thnk you for your responses and God bless.

In Christ,

Joshua

My mother was Catholic and my father was a Mason. They were married in the Catholic Church. I am neither a Catholic or a Mason, but I learned a lot from the two of them. They overcame human-made barriers and saw each other as God saw them - as His creations. God made everyone and everything. People name them this thing and that, form groups, recite creeds, make flags and so on. These things define who they are in their minds and more dangerously they define who is not them, which has a dehumanizing effect on their thinking about other people. It makes things like wars and prejudice possible. Without flags and crosses and stars of David, think about how many people’s lives might have been spared. I can think of about six million in just the past seventy years. My personal take on the matter is this: Jesus would not be averse to a Masonic Hall or a Catholic Church. Both are full of living reflections of Himself. See Him in them and you start to really see Him.

 

[Theophorus]

God made everyone and everything. People name them this thing and that, form groups, recite creeds, make flags and so on. These things define who they are in their minds and more dangerously they define who is not them, which has a dehumanizing effect on their thinking about other people. It makes things like wars and prejudice possible. Without flags and crosses and stars of David, think about how many people’s lives might have been spared. I can think of about six million in just the past seventy years.

I know it’s off topic but, Wow, that strand of argument seems to suggest that the holocaust is the fault of the Jews for being Jewish

 

[mflorence]

I know it’s off topic but, Wow, that strand of argument seems to suggest that the holocaust is the fault of the Jews for being Jewish

Read it again. To the contrary, I was saying that it was the result of people seeing differences in one another rather than the commonality they have by virtue of the God within them. In this case, the Jews were the victims as they often have been. The holocaust was one of the most disgusting and horrifying events in human history. It is made possible by the same sort of sectarianism ingrained in the human psyche by clerics that makes people worry about whether or not it’s okay to be in someone else’s church. I have happily worshiped with Jews, Catholics, Protestants, Hindus and would happily do so with anyone.Point is, I have been in all sorts of churches and Masonic lodges and I have not caught on fire or anything the next time I touched some holy water. If that creates a scandal in the minds of people who see differences in one another, then good. Maybe it’ll make them start thinking.

 

[IHeartAquinas]

I think this is pulling the thread dangerously off topic. If you want to debate the causes of the Holocaust, it should be done elsewhere.

To the OP: Because the fundraising is not for a parish or other Catholic group, association, or charity, there should be no scandal involved. Hope it all goes well, and good luck to the boys on the tournament!

 

[mflorence]

I think this is pulling the thread dangerously off topic. If you want to debate the causes of the Holocaust, it should be done elsewhere.

To the OP: Because the fundraising is not for a parish or other Catholic group, association, or charity, there should be no scandal involved. Hope it all goes well, and good luck to the boys on the tournament!

Hi HeartAquinas: The point is that worrying about your autonomy as a group and whether or not you can use a Mason lodge for an event if you are hosting Catholic event is very pertinent in my thinking in relation to the dangers of an exaggerated sense of group identity and the harm it can sometimes do. I didn’t want to use examples from Church history to illustrate that point, so I was being polite. But I clumsily forgot that the holocaust might also strike a sore note in Church history as well, and and I am sorry for that. I am sometimes rather innocent and blunt, and that can sometimes stir up certain sensitivities.