May Catholics be Masons?

by Rev Joseph I. Malloy, C.S.P.

© 1996 Acacia Press, Incorporated.
MONTAGUE, MASSACHUSETTS.

Originally Published:
1927
Paulist Press

FREEMASONRY, as we know it, began in the first quarter of the eighteenth century. The first Grand Lodge was organized in England in 1717. Twenty-one years later Pope Clement XII issued a Bull of excommunication entitled "The Condemnation of the Society of Conventicles de Liberi Muratori, or of the Freemasons." [1] The reasons for the condemnation may be summarized as follows:

1. Freemasonry has a peculiar "unsectarian," naturalistic character, by which theoretically and practically it undermines the Christian faith, first in its members and through them in the rest of society, creating religious indifferentism and contempt for orthodoxy and ecclesiastical authority.

2. The inscrutable secrecy, and the oaths of secrecy and fidelity to Masonry and Masonic work, cannot be justified in their scope, their object, or their form, and cannot, therefore, induce any obligation.

3. Such societies involve a grave danger for the security and tranquillity of the state and for the spiritual health of souls. From the time of Clement XII seven Supreme Pontiffs of the Catholic Church have repeated the condemnation of Freemasonry for substantially the same reasons.[2]

It is worth noting that other Christian churches also object to Masonry. In fact up to sixty years ago most of them did. Even at the present day "between orthodox Lutheranism and the large rationalistic section of Germanic Masonry the mutual antipathy is strong, not to say bitter, as represented, for instance, by the radical 'Humanitarian' Grand Lodges and the aggressive Verein deutscher Freimauer."[3]

The first article of the "Old Charges" incorporated in the "Constitutions" (text of 1738,—the very year of Pope Clement's condemnation), shows this tendency. It states: "In ancient times the Christian Masons were charged to comply with the Christian usages of each country where they traveled or worked: but Masonry being found in all nations, even of diverse religions, they are now generally charged to adhere to that religion in which all men agree." Is there any religion in which all men agree?

In the same "Charge" the Brothers are urged "to be good men and true, men of honor and honesty, by whatever names, religions, or persuasions they may be distinguished, for they all agree in the three great articles of Noah, enough to preserve the cement of the lodge." The articles of Noah refer to a time not only pre-Christian but pre-Mosaic, to that time in the history of the human race when it was undivided either racially or religiously. The "three articles" may mean "the duties toward God, the neighbor and himself," or may refer to "brotherly love, relief, and truth."[4] Here is the very essence of indifference to revealed Christian dogmas. How can the Catholic Church, teaching, as she does, that she is the "pillar and the ground of the truth" given to the world by Jesus Christ, permit her children to belong to a society whose official pronouncements undermine the very foundation of that truth?

Moreover, it is unquestionable that in some parts of the world, Masonry has displayed a marked hostility to the Catholic Church. Here we must note a distinction between Latin countries and what, for convenience, we may call Anglo-Saxon countries. In Portugal, for example, a republic was established in 1910 largely by Masons. Living under a successful republican form of government ourselves, we may consider that was a worthy and patriotic achievement. But note some of the articles in the Constitution drawn up for the new republic under Masonic influence as competent authorities both Masonic and non-Masonic agreed.[5]

"Ministers of religion shall have no part in the parochial lay corporations or associations in charge of temporal affairs. A minister of religion who criticizes or attacks any of the acts of a public authority or the form of government or the laws of the Republic or any of the provisions of the present law will be punishable by law. Church property shall belong to the State, but shall be loaned to the Church. The wearing of the clerical habit outside of the churches and ceremonies is prohibited. It is also prohibited to publish in any way by word or deed, any bulls, decrees, or communications from the Roman Curia, or prelates, or others, without explicit permission from the civil authorities. The State will have charge of naming and approving the professors in ecclesiastical seminaries for the training of priests and will determine the text-books and courses of study therein. No Jesuits or other monastic orders or religious congregations shall be admitted into Portuguese territory. All Jesuits, whether aliens, naturalized citizens, or natives, are expelled, and all their real or personal property is confiscated. As for the members of other religious orders, if they are aliens or naturalized citizens, they are likewise to be expelled, and if they are natives, they must return to secular life, or at least may not live in community, and shall not be allowed to exercise the teaching profession or intervene in any way in education."[6]

What has been done during this year, 1926, in Mexico, seems to follow quite literally along the lines of the Portuguese Constitution of 1910. "The Mexican Constitution of 1857 was largely the work of Masons, while the more recent Constitution promulgated February 5, 1917, apparently with Masonic approval and co-operation, is in its politico-religious sections almost identical with the Portuguese-only more so!"[7] The laws of Calles in 1926, go even beyond the provisions of the Constitution of 1917.

The story of Masonry in France is well known. "In 1893 the Convention or general meeting declared that none were eligible for the Council of the Order— which serves as its Executive-unless they had pledged themselves to abstain from all religious rites, themselves and their dependents. And it has been repeatedly asserted, as by Mayoux and others, that no orthodox believer, Catholic, Protestant, or Jew, could be a sincere Freemason in France." [8] They were not content with ruling religion out of their own lives, they strove to penalize those who practiced the Catholic religion. Witness the scandals in the army uncovered early in the present century; the infamous "index slips" of the officers kept by the "Grand Lodge," in which a man's "qualifications" for advancement were listed. Did he go to Mass, or allow his wife and children to go? Did he send his children to a Catholic school, or did he encourage his soldiers to go to church? No matter what his merits as a soldier, if he was guilty of these "crimes' he was kept in the least favorable quarters or dispatched to Central Africa; other officers, favorably listed in the "fiches' (index slips), passed over his head to higher rank, but he could secure no promotion. This conspiracy went on for four years, from 1901 to 1904; over 18,000 officers were denounced by the "Grand Orient"; the evidence for all this has been published with photographed copies of the "charges.'

But if this type of anti-Catholic bigotry is confined to Latin countries, why object to Masonry here in the United States? Is it not unfair to hold American Masons responsible for what is said and done by European or Mexican Masons?

Of course it would be, but we do not hold them responsible. Nevertheless, they belong to the same organization. It is true that in the past, Lodges in England and in this country have repudiated the philosophy of their brethren in France, and have condemned their atheism and irreligion. But there is a decided drift the other way at least among the Masons of the Scottish Rite in this country. In 1917 the Grand Lodge of California adopted resolutions on this point: "Whereas," they said, "it is pre-eminently desirable that the 'Universality of Freemasonry,' no less than the 'Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man,' shall be something more than an empty phrase, . . . Now, therefore, be it resolved, that a special committee of five members of this Grand Lodge be appointed by the Grand Master to report at the next annual communication some plan whereby, if possible, the breach between French and Anglo-Saxon Masonry may be healed without the sacrifice on either side of any essential principle or matter of conscience; and be it further resolved, that any inhibition upon the right of visitation heretofore imposed by this Grand Lodge be, and the same hereby is, modified in so far as it may be necessary to allow and permit our brethren to hold Masonic intercourse with the Masons of France, Belgium and Italy, and to visit any of the lodges." [10]

The official magazine of the Thirty-third Degree, Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction, entitled The New Age and published in Washington, D.C., commenting on these resolutions in November, 1917, said: "We have never been able to get out of our mind the idea that Freemasonry in this country has been too quick to credit the assertions of the Jesuits(!), and others of the Roman Hierarchy, and too slow to listen to any explanations or reasons offered by Latin Masons concerning the matters in dispute between them and our own brethren. And, in this world crisis that has come upon us, it seems to us that it behooves us all to forget our differences, so far, at least, as to allow us to get the whole of Freemasonry together and act together intelligently and harmoniously for the good of the whole world."[11] Incidentally the Grand Lodges of Massachusetts, and of Texas, Kentucky and Georgia, have also endorsed the Grand Orient of France. It is constantly maintained by Masonic authorities that Masonry is one, not in rite or in government, but "the doctrine of Freemasonry is everywhere the same. It is the body which is unchangeable-remaining always the same. The science and philosophy, the symbolism and the religion of Freemasonry continue, and will continue, to be the same, wherever true Masonry is practiced."[12]

Unfortunately, it is likewise true that even in the writings of American Masons, and in such Masonic magazines as The New Age, referred to above, and The American Freemason, for Blue Lodge members, we find ample evidence of antagonism to Catholic Christianity. Particularly is this true of the Sottish Rite. This branch of American Freemasonry admitted responsibility for sponsoring the anti-parochial school bill in Oregon in 1922. Its paper, The New Age, constantly publishes vicious diatribes against the Catholic Church.

In 1881 appeared the well-known book of Albert Pike, "Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Prepared for the Supreme Council of the Third-third Degree for the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States, and Published by its Authority." An Encyclopedia of Freemasonry and its Kindred Sciences: Comprising the Whole Range of Arts, Sciences and Literature, as Connected with the Institution," appeared in Philadelphia in 1906, and was the work of Albert G. Mackey, M.D. Dr. Mackey is also the author of "The Symbolism of Freemasonry: Illustrating and Explaining Its Science and Philosophy, Its Legends, Myths, and Symbols." All three of these books contain explanations of the Nature of God, the historic truth of the Sacred Scriptures, and of revered symbols like the Cross and the letters I. N. R. I. that must shock the religious sensibilities of believing Christians.[13]

The "true" meaning of Masonic symbols is not the one usually assigned by Christian believers, but rather is to be found in the pagan mysteries, or in pre-Christian religions. (See quotations given by Preuss on this subject, "American Freemasonry," pages 45-52.) Furthermore, when we find the authenticity of the Gospels and the Divinity of Jesus Christ treated as they are by representative Masons, it must also be clear to anyone that when men say there is nothing offensive to Catholicity in Masonry, they either do not know the Catholic Church, or they do not know Masonry. Albert Pike writes as follows:

"Jerusalem . . . had at length in its turn lost the Holy Word, when a Prophet, announced to the Magi by the consecrated star of Initiation (note the Masonic interpretation), came to rend asunder the worn veil of the Temple, in order to give to the Church a new tissue of legends and symbols that still and ever conceals from the profane and ever preserves to the elect, the same truths." 14 The Elect, of course, are Masons; the truth of the Gospels hidden in its "legends and symbols" cannot be perceived by the "profane," i. e., those who are not Masons.

"This is the New Law, the Word for which the world had waited and pined so long; and every true Knight of the Rose (the Rose Croix degree), will revere the memory of Him Who taught it, and look indulgently on those who assign to Him a character far above His own conceptions or belief, even to the extent of deeming Him divine."[15] The very cornerstone of Orthodox Christianity, Catholic and Protestant, is the Divinity of Christ. What fellowship can we hold with those who look upon us "indulgently" for this belief which is an essential part of our Christian faith? But it is of the very nature of Freemasonry to be "broad" in its religious philosophy. Masonry propagates no creed," says the same author, "except its own most simple and sublime one taught by Nature and Reason. There has never been a false religion in the world. The permanent one universal revelation is written in visible Nature and explained by the reason and is completed by the wise analogies of faith. There is but one true religion, one dogma, one legitimate belief."[16]

Another short paragraph from Morals and Dogma is a sort of commentary on this amazing statement that "there has never been a false religion in the world." "Catholicism," says Albert Pike, "was a vital truth in its earliest ages, but it became obsolete, and Protestantism arose, flourished, and deteriorated. The doctrines of Zoroaster were the best which the the ancient Persians were fitted to receive; those of Confucius were fitted for the Chinese; those of Mohammed for the idolatrous Arabs of his age. Each was Truth for the time. Each was a Gospel preached by a Reformer; and if any men are so little fortunate as to remain content therewith, when others have attained a higher truth"—of course, this higher truth is Masonry—"it is their misfortune and not their fault. They are to be pitied for it and not persecuted."[17]

This is the idea stated over and over again by representative Masonic writers, not only in Italy, France and Mexico, but in these United States. "Masonry is THE TRUTH." You may be a Christian, a Hindu, a Jew, a Mohammedan,—any religion is "true," when interpreted in terms of Freemasonry.

Perhaps we can see now why Pope Clement Xll accused the fraternity of having an unsectarian, naturalistic character. A Catholic of the twentieth century cannot agree (and remain a Catholic), that the truth of his religion became "obsolete" in the fourth or fifth century. A Protestant, if he is logical, should not remain a Protestant, if Protestantism has "deteriorated."

The question whether or not Masonry is a religion is much disputed by Masons themselves. We have seen at any rate, that Masonic literature has decided views on religion, and pretends to interpret religion. Surely no Catholic will have his religion interpreted for him except by those whom he believes are divinely appointed to do so. We believe that our Church has been founded by Jesus Christ, the Son of God, that He delegated His teaching authority to a group of men who speak in His Name with infallible certainty.

This much we are sure of: that Masonry has the outward semblance of a religion; and that it has an elaborate ritual in large part couched in religious terms. We know, too, that for hundreds of men, Masonry is the only religion they practice; they say so: "Masonry is religion enough for us."

Some little light is thrown on this phase of the subject by a case brought before the Court of Appeals of New York, in 1905. Robert Kopp, one time Master of the Lodge of Strict Observance, No. 94, was expelled from the fraternity for an insulting letter he wrote to the Grand Master of the State. For six years he fought to be reinstated, and finally the case came to the Court of Appeals. Elburt Crandall, the lawyer for the Grand Lodge, protested the right of the court to interfere. He said: "The right to membership in the Masonic fraternity is very much like the right to membership in a church. Each requires a candidate for admission to subscribe to certain articles of religious belief, as an essential prerequisite to membership. The precepts contained in "The Landmarks and the charges of a Freemason' formulate a creed so thoroughly religious in character, that it may well be compared with the formally expressed doctrines of many a denominational church. That the right of membership is not a right of which a civil court will take cognizance has been frequently adjudicated. The civil courts cannot decide who ought to be members of the church, nor whether the excommunicated have been, justly or unjustly, cut off from the body of the church"[18]

If it is true that Masonry has a creed "so thoroughly religious in character that it may well be compared with the formally expressed doctrines of many a denominational church," then there is precisely the same reason why a Catholic may not be a Mason, as there is that a Catholic may not be a Lutheran or a Baptist,—if he wishes to remain a Catholic.

It seems clear, therefore, that the position of the Catholic Church on the question of Freemasonry is quite justified on the religious issue alone. Whatever may be the views of individual Masons, even hundreds of them, however friendly whole groups of them may be to the Church, Freemasonry, as a Society, as a System, is antagonistic to the first principles of the Church. This is clearly shown by the official declarations of the Lodges, and the publications of representative Masons.

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