The Vatican has confirmed to a Filipino bishop that Roman Catholics are not allowed to join Freemasonic lodges.The new document signed by Pope Francis and DDF Prefect Cardinal Victor Fernández on Wednesday was written in response to a bishop from the Philippines. The bishop expressed concern at the growing number of Catholics in his diocese who are taking part in Freemasonry and asked for suggestions for how to respond as a spiritual leader.The response, dated Nov. 13, calls for “a coordinated strategy” involving all of the bishops in the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines to teach “in all parishes regarding the reasons for the irreconcilability between the Catholic faith and Freemasonry.”The Freemasons are the largest worldwide oath-bound secret society. Freemasonry promotes ideas and rituals incompatible with the Catholic faith, including indifferentism. This position holds that someone can equally please God in any religion. Freemasons also hold a deistic concept of a “Great Architect of the Universe.”The Vatican document reaffirms that “those who are formally and knowingly enrolled in Masonic Lodges and have embraced Masonic principles” fall under the provisions of the Catholic Church’s 1983 “Declaration on Masonic Associations.”That declaration, signed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger when he was prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, declared that Catholics who enroll in Masonic associations “are in a state of grave sin and may not receive holy Communion.”Prior to 1983, Catholics who became Freemasons were automatically excommunicated from the Church.The new DDF document says that these measures “also apply to any clerics enrolled in Freemasonry.” The dicastery also invites bishops in the Philippines to make a public statement on the Church’s teaching on Freemasonry.“Membership in Freemasonry is very significant in the Philippines; it involves not only those who are formally enrolled in Masonic Lodges but, more generally, a large number of sympathizers and associates who are personally convinced that there is no opposition between membership in the Catholic Church and in Masonic Lodges,” the document explains.“On the doctrinal level, it should be remembered that active membership in Freemasonry by a member of the faithful is forbidden because of the irreconcilability between Catholic doctrine and Freemasonry.”In an interview with the Catholic TV network EWTN, Father Thomas Petrie, president of the Pontifical faculty of the Immaculate Conception, explained the Catholic Church has had the same stance for almost 300 years.“Freemasonry was started in the early 18th century and within 20 years, Pope Clement the 12th had banned Catholics from organizing or entering Freemason societies or lodges. It's easy to think that Freemasonry is like the Rotary Club or the Kiwanis Club, but it's not. It entails not only fraternity, but also subscription to a certain belief system that is, in fact, counter-Catholic or anti-Catholic at times,” Petrie explained.“[In] the Scottish Rite, which is unique to America, when you get high up into the degrees, there's actually anti-Catholic ceremonies in which members are required to refer to the Pope as an imposter and as a false prophet.”Petrie said suggestions that the Masons had a connection to the Knights Templar and other concepts popularized by Hollywood were more “propaganda” and “urban legend” than “historical.”“Freemasonry basically is a religion of secularism, that religion doesn't matter, that the faith doesn't matter, and the church doesn't matter. And so more people are subscribed to that view, and more people are seeking to be part of something larger than themselves… with other people that seem to subscribe to that view, but Catholics cannot be part of this.”In Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry (1871), pre-eminent American Freemason Albert Pike wrote, “Masonry, like all the Religions, all the Mysteries, Hermeticism and Alchemy, conceals its secrets from all except the Adepts and Sages, or the Elect, and uses false explanations and misinterpretations of its symbols to mislead those who deserve only to be misled; to conceal the Truth, which it calls Light from them and to draw them away from it.”Pike also foresaw a time when “everywhere, the people…will receive the true light through the universal manifestation of the pure doctrine of Lucifer brought finally out into public view. A manifestation which will result from a general reactionary movement which will follow the destruction of Christianity and Atheism; both conquered and exterminated at the same time.”
The Vatican has confirmed to a Filipino bishop that Roman Catholics are not allowed to join Freemasonic lodges.The new document signed by Pope Francis and DDF Prefect Cardinal Victor Fernández on Wednesday was written in response to a bishop from the Philippines. The bishop expressed concern at the growing number of Catholics in his diocese who are taking part in Freemasonry and asked for suggestions for how to respond as a spiritual leader.The response, dated Nov. 13, calls for “a coordinated strategy” involving all of the bishops in the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines to teach “in all parishes regarding the reasons for the irreconcilability between the Catholic faith and Freemasonry.”The Freemasons are the largest worldwide oath-bound secret society. Freemasonry promotes ideas and rituals incompatible with the Catholic faith, including indifferentism. This position holds that someone can equally please God in any religion. Freemasons also hold a deistic concept of a “Great Architect of the Universe.”The Vatican document reaffirms that “those who are formally and knowingly enrolled in Masonic Lodges and have embraced Masonic principles” fall under the provisions of the Catholic Church’s 1983 “Declaration on Masonic Associations.”That declaration, signed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger when he was prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, declared that Catholics who enroll in Masonic associations “are in a state of grave sin and may not receive holy Communion.”Prior to 1983, Catholics who became Freemasons were automatically excommunicated from the Church.The new DDF document says that these measures “also apply to any clerics enrolled in Freemasonry.” The dicastery also invites bishops in the Philippines to make a public statement on the Church’s teaching on Freemasonry.“Membership in Freemasonry is very significant in the Philippines; it involves not only those who are formally enrolled in Masonic Lodges but, more generally, a large number of sympathizers and associates who are personally convinced that there is no opposition between membership in the Catholic Church and in Masonic Lodges,” the document explains.“On the doctrinal level, it should be remembered that active membership in Freemasonry by a member of the faithful is forbidden because of the irreconcilability between Catholic doctrine and Freemasonry.”In an interview with the Catholic TV network EWTN, Father Thomas Petrie, president of the Pontifical faculty of the Immaculate Conception, explained the Catholic Church has had the same stance for almost 300 years.“Freemasonry was started in the early 18th century and within 20 years, Pope Clement the 12th had banned Catholics from organizing or entering Freemason societies or lodges. It's easy to think that Freemasonry is like the Rotary Club or the Kiwanis Club, but it's not. It entails not only fraternity, but also subscription to a certain belief system that is, in fact, counter-Catholic or anti-Catholic at times,” Petrie explained.“[In] the Scottish Rite, which is unique to America, when you get high up into the degrees, there's actually anti-Catholic ceremonies in which members are required to refer to the Pope as an imposter and as a false prophet.”Petrie said suggestions that the Masons had a connection to the Knights Templar and other concepts popularized by Hollywood were more “propaganda” and “urban legend” than “historical.”“Freemasonry basically is a religion of secularism, that religion doesn't matter, that the faith doesn't matter, and the church doesn't matter. And so more people are subscribed to that view, and more people are seeking to be part of something larger than themselves… with other people that seem to subscribe to that view, but Catholics cannot be part of this.”In Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry (1871), pre-eminent American Freemason Albert Pike wrote, “Masonry, like all the Religions, all the Mysteries, Hermeticism and Alchemy, conceals its secrets from all except the Adepts and Sages, or the Elect, and uses false explanations and misinterpretations of its symbols to mislead those who deserve only to be misled; to conceal the Truth, which it calls Light from them and to draw them away from it.”Pike also foresaw a time when “everywhere, the people…will receive the true light through the universal manifestation of the pure doctrine of Lucifer brought finally out into public view. A manifestation which will result from a general reactionary movement which will follow the destruction of Christianity and Atheism; both conquered and exterminated at the same time.”
