Catholic:Under The Hood #168 - The Masons
This week - a look into the history of the Catholic Church and Freemasonry and whether a Catholic can be a Freemason. Plus, adventures in chocolate!
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Fr. Beshoner,
I’m a fan of your history talks - and was a Mason before I was a Catholic (which I still feel I am both). Some clarification regarding this one:
Freemasonry is not a secret society. It is a society with secrets. (Secret societies do not publish their meeting times and locations, officers’ names, etc.) Semantics, I know - but its an important distinction.
As to denying the saving power of Christ to become a Freemason: We believe in the Brotherhood of Man under the Fatherhood of God, and ask that all who seek membership in regular Freemasonry to believe in a higher-being - as an atheist could not understand this fundamental principal. This is not the same as asking all members to accept other religions even if they contradict his own.
The logic presented for why Catholics can’t be Freemasons, as I understood it (paraphrased): “for a man to become a Freemason, he must acknowledge Truth in all faiths [per the requirement to believe in a non-specific higher-being], therefore denying the saving power of Christ since Catholicism isn’t presented as the only path to salvation.”
By this argument, Catholics couldn’t be members of the Boy Scouts of America, as the BSA requires a belief in a non-specific higher-being (excluding atheists from its membership, without condoning any particular belief system) as well.
That being said, thank you for a fairly objective portrayal!
-Brock; an American Mason
@Blace, the relevant passage is not what you paraphrase, but (about the 19 minute mark) “the apostolic penitentiary of the Catholic Church in March of 2007 stated that the church has not rescinded or changed its ruling about the fact that Catholics cannot belong to the Masons.”
Now it may well be that the discipline of the Catholic Church has not caught up with the times in continuing to prohibit Catholic membership in Masonic organizations. However, if we consider ourselves faithful Catholics, ought we not rather to obey them to set ourselves up as our own authority? Consider the example of Padre Pio, who ceased public ministry at the direction of authority, although he had done no wrong.
It was a wrenchingly difficult decision to give up my membership in the Order of the Eastern Star, but in the end I did so because I felt my conversion to Catholicism would be In a sense incomplete if I held back such an important area of my life from the authority of the Church. All of my experience in Masonic organizations was good. My years in the Order of the Rainbow and in Job’s Daughters taught me so much about public speaking and community service. My time in Star brought me closer to my mother. I consider my sacrifice in terminating my Masonic affiliations to have been a case of giving the good over to God in order to receive the best: the Church and the Eucharist.
@Brock,
I apologize VERY MUCH for misspelling your name, blame clumsy fingers.
@Brock,
Thank you for your comments, you are right that I should have been more clear regarding the Masonic rituals as being kept as secret among the Masons in a similar way to how the Knights of Columbus are required to keep their own degree rituals secret. With regard to the nature of the Freemason’s understanding of the “Supreme Being” as compared with that of the Boy Scouts, I think the difference may be in the actual Scout use of “God” in the Judeo-Christian understanding but there are some countries which do not use “God” as part of their Scouting Oath and it would be interesting to learn the relationship of the Catholic Church to the scouting organizations in those countries such as India, for example.
@ Fr. Beshoner,
It would be interesting - however, Scouting is a different organization from country to country, and I can only speak of my experience with the BSA (as an Eagle Scout and a former employee).
“God” is used in the text, but what you are asked in a job interview is “higher being.” Legalistically, whenever the topic is discussed (which is frequently), “higher being” is used - or simply “not an atheist.” I can also speak from experience that the religious beliefs of the membership of the BSA reflects that of the nation as a whole, with the exception of atheists (to a point - I know two atheist Eagle Scouts, and one who is homosexual for that matter [another prohibition]. They simply never brought up the issues) - including official recognition from the BSA in the form of religious awards for Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Bahai, et al.
I do think that the comparison on the “God issue” with Masons and the BSA still fits. I also think it is unfortunate that the history surrounding some members of the Freemasonry, many of whom aren’t recognized by the United Grand Lodge of England and its subordinate bodies - i.e. “regular” Freemasonry - and are so in many respects are not members of the same organization (whose differences may be as striking as what one would find between a Catholic church and an Assembly of God church), led to the animosity that can be present today.
@Naomi: In the United States, it is common practice for Catholic men seeking membership in Freemasonry in the United States to obtain permission from their Parish Priest. This appears to be the official stance from the diocese where I live, though no one seems to want to comment on it.
I do know of at least one case where a Catholic joined a lodge (in Illinois), and then sought the advice and permission of his priest when questioned by fellow parishioners. His priest granted him permission and he is now and active Master Mason and an active member of his church.
Personally, it never came up as an issue during RCIA. I never hid my associations, and they were never addressed.
It seems that since the word “Masonic” was removed from direct prohibition in the Catechism itself, confusion has spread.
In my last confession, the priest and I talked at length about sin - as a result, I am convinced that my associations do not dilute my relationship with God.
@ Fr. Beshoner: you said this topic would probably generate some controversy!
I appreciated the comment about how important it is to be willing to work with other people in different organizations for the greater good (e.g. helping the sick, homeless, prisoners)….even if we have philosophical or religious difference with the other groups that are also trying to help!
Fr.,
As others have stated in your postings, being a Mason does not require you to be Christian. ANY RELIGION can join the Free Masons. Therefore a Buddist, Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, man of Jewish Faith, or Christian may join. All must believe in God or, the more inclusive abstract you may call a Higher Being. Simply, Masonary does not care what faith you are, as long as you are a man of faith. Interestingly, there are two important rules while attending a Mason lodge: one is that you cannot speak of or about religion and the other is there must be no speaking about politics. Even the ultra religious pilgrims formed a secular government before landing in Plymouth in order to protect freedom of religion. The Mason support this same principal. We get into trouble when government begins to support certain religions over others. The Masons fight for this by their example of tolerance towards all men of faith. Tolerance and Religious Freedom are cornerstones of our society and one the Church has from time to time mistakenly not appreciated in its history (as you point out particularly in Europe and Latin America).
@Brock and @Eric,
Thank you for your comments about Masonic beliefs. It seems that the answering the question about relationship between the Catholic Church and the Masons does depend a good deal about the country/cultural experience involved - Mexico appears different than the United States. How independent is each Masonic lodge from one another in terms of how they interpret the language of Masonic rituals and teachings?
@ Fr. Beshoner,
That’s actually a hard question to answer. In general, Freemasonry seeks to make “good men better,” through allegorical morality plays. A lot of the actual meaning of the teachings depends on the perspective of the individual.
In the United States, Regular Lodges receive their charters from the Grand Lodge of their respective state, and the state Grand Lodge receives their charter from the United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE). The language of the ritual has been, in recent decades, standardized and published by individual Grand Lodges, but will be slightly different between some jurisdictions. As a whole, there are noticeable differences between what is found in the United States and what is used by UGLE - but most of that is interpretation.
As to the point about religion and politics that Eric made - that is not open to interpretation - anywhere in the world - by Regular Masons (a Regular Mason belongs to a Grand Lodge that is recognized by UGLE, by definition).
It is this point that makes Masons nondiscriminatory among religious faiths, world-wide (and a sticking point for theocratic governments, causing Masonic persecution in countries where one faith is forcefully predominate, especially in the Muslim world - this has also been a problem in anti-theocratic governments such as the former USSR, with the notable exception of Cuba [reportedly, Castro himself decided to not persecute the Masons after learning from their Grand Lodge officers that the discussion of politics is forbidden in lodges, making Cuba a rarity among dictatorships in that it has a thriving Masonic community]).
I have heard it argued that the Catholic Church’s prohibition against Masonic membership refers only to those organizations who actively work to subvert the Church (such as some non-Regular French Masonic bodies); but there appears to be no official statement regarding this.
As one of my lodge officers routinely asks: “How can we work to take over the world? We can barely get enough guys together to organize a fish fry!”