"To preserve the reputation of the Fraternity unsullied must be your constant care."

BE A FREEMASON

Sunday, March 06, 2011

2011 Report: Commission on Information for Recognition

The Commission on Information for Recognition for the Conference of Grand Masters of Masons of North America has issued its 2011 report.

See the complete report here.

It covers recognition information about grand lodges in Baja California, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Monaco, Romania and Spain.

In addition, the Commission issued statements about the MasonicLeaks.com website, The Foundation of Universal Freemasonry website, and the Grand Priory of the Reformed and Rectified Rite of the United States of America. Concerning the latter, the Commission provides the opinion that the Grand Priory's charter is irregular. It goes on to say,

This Commission does not normally concern itself with the affairs of appendant bodies; however, it is concerned about the negative impact on the established system of regularity in North American Freemasonry that may be caused by members of our Grand Lodges setting a precedent by becoming affiliated with organizations that receive their charter from an irregular source.


From the Commission's website comes this explanation of its role:

The Commission on Information for Recognition was organized in 1951 as a facility to gather, collate, and from time to time, revise information on Grand Lodges in other lands, as a service to the Grand Lodges of this Conference.

The Commission neither advises nor recommends that recognition be given to any Grand Lodges, but merely indicates whether or not it considers that a Grand Lodge in question satisfies the conditions of regularity.


My reading of that is that the Commission's very narrowly defined purpose is simply to provide regularity and recognition information on symbolic craft grand lodges only, and has historically steered clear of questions concerning appendant bodies. I would think that the only body that could effectively make definitive recommendations concerning a Rectified Rite grand priory would be the Independent Great Priory of Helvetia, which was established in 1779, and from which all Rectified Rite charters have since descended. But perhaps I am mistaken.

3 comments:

  1. You know what I love about this whole situation is that you have all these young Gen X, Y and Z Masons on some of the more popular Masonic forums who a few years ago did not even believe the GPA existed let alone the GPIH, because they could not find a url to validate their existence. Now, these guys are coming off like experts with their authoritative commentary on a situation that they know nothing about and are not involved in. Meanwhile, all their information is based off of assumptions and whatever is posted on the gekt website or on the commission for recognition's webpage. I just have to laugh at these kids with their generalizations and uninformed opinions.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jean,
    I agree that generalizations are the lazy man's substitute for thinking, but Instead of posting an ad hominem attack why not add to the discussion by contributing what you know about this subject. Seems to me that your comments concerning how entire generations of people behave are the biggest generalizations on this page.

    “The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.

    - Socrates (470 – 399 BC)

    Kids today huh? Things never change only your perception of them does.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Chris:

    You wrote: "The Commission's very narrowly defined purpose is simply to provide regularity and recognition information on symbolic craft grand lodges only...."

    Yeah. We wouldn't want anyone keeping an eye on the appendant bodies in North America, would we? Obviously, the appendant bodies aren't doing anything to police themselves, so we certainly wouldn't want the 60 grand lodges of North America to do it for them. I mean what authority do the grand lodges have over Masonry anyway? (Apologies for the dripping sarcasm.)

    You also wrote: "I would think that the only body that could effectively make definitive recommendations concerning a Rectified Rite grand priory would be the Independent Great Priory of Helvetia...." But they HAVE! A letter from Claus Zimmermann, Grand Prieur of the G.P.I.H. to Thomas W. Jackson, Great Prior of the Great Priory of America, C.B.C.S., has been widely circulated. Don't you have copy?

    ReplyDelete

ATTENTION!
SIGN YOUR NAME OR OTHERWISE IDENTIFY YOURSELF IN YOUR COMMENT POSTS IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A GOOGLE ACCOUNT.
Your comments will not appear immediately because I am forced to laboriously screen every post. I'm constantly bombarded with spam. Depending on the comments being made, anonymous postings on Masonic topics may be regarded with the same status as cowans and eavesdroppers, as far as I am concerned. If you post with an unknown or anonymous account, do not automatically expect to see your comment appear.