The Catholic Church has difficulties with
Freemasonry because it is indeed a kind of religion unto itself. The practice of
Freemasonry includes temples, altars, a moral code, worship services, vestments,
feast days, a hierarchy of leadership, initiation and burial rites, and promises
of eternal reward and punishment. While in America most Masons are Christian and
will display a Bible on their "altar," in the same lodges or elsewhere, Jews,
Moslems, Hindus or other non-Christian religions can be admitted and may use
their own sacred scriptures. (In France, in 1877, the "Grand Orient" Lodge
eliminated the need to believe in God or the immortality of the soul, thereby
admitting atheists into their fold; this atheistic type of Freemasonry spread
particularly in Latin countries.)
Moreover, the rituals involve the corruption of
Christianity. The cross is merely a symbol of nature and eternal life, devoid of
Christ's sacrifice for sin. INRI (For Christians, "Iesus Nazarenus Rex
Iudaeorum," i.e. Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews) means for Masons "Igne
Natura Renovatur Integra" ("the fire of nature rejuvenates all) referring to the
sacred fire's (truth and love) regeneration of mankind, just as the sun
regenerates nature in the Spring.
The rituals are also inimical to Catholicism.
During the initiation rite, the candidate expresses a desire to seek "light,"
and he is assured he will receive the light of spiritual instruction that he
could not receive in another Church, and that he will gain eternal rest in the
"celestial lodge" if he lives and dies according to Masonic principles. Note
also that since Masonry involves non-Christians, the use of the name of Jesus is
forbidden within the lodge.
A strong Anti-Catholicism also permeates
Freemasonry. The two traditional enemies of Freemasonry are the royalty and the
papacy. Masons even believe that Christ, dying on Calvary, was the "greatest
among the apostles of humanity, braving Roman despotism and the fanaticism and
bigotry of the priesthood." When one reaches the 30th degree in the masonic
hierarchy, called the Kadosh, the person crushes with his foot the papal tiara
and the royal crown, and swears to free mankind "from the bondage of despotism
and the thraldom of spiritual tyranny."
A second difficulty with Freemasonry for Catholics
involves taking of oaths. An oath is a religious act which asks God to witness
the truth of the statement or the fulfillment of a promise. Only the Church and
the state, for serious reasons, can require an oath. A candidate makes an oath
to Freemasonry and its secrets under pain of death or self-mutilation by
kneeling blindfolded in front of the altar, placing both hands on the volume of
sacred law (perhaps the Bible), the square and the compass, and repeating after
the "worshipful master." Keep in mind that the candidate does not yet even know
all the "secrets" to which he is taking an oath.
