California Masonic Symposium: George Washington's Masonic Discretion August 26th

by Christopher Hodapp

George Washington is arguably the most famous Freemason in American history. His image hangs in lodge rooms around the world, he laid federal cornerstones in full Masonic regalia, and his membership is a proud part of our fraternity’s story. Yet during his lifetime, Washington almost never spoke publicly about being a Mason and actually (provably) attended less than a dozen lodge meetings. Why the deliberate silence?

That’s the central question of this year’s California Masonic Symposium: George Washington's Masonic Discretion, and it’s one worth your time, especially since it's the 250th anniversary of the founding of this nation.

When: Wednesday, August 26, 2026 

Time: 7:00–9:00 PM (Pacific) 

Where: Live via Zoom (free) 

RSVP: Register here

Historian Steven C. Bullock, author of the landmark book Revolutionary Brotherhood: Freemasonry and the Transformation of the American Social Order, 1730–1840, will examine Washington’s careful separation of his public role as president from his private life as a Freemason. Bullock argues that Washington’s restraint wasn’t secrecy for its own sake—it was a deliberate choice about leadership, integrity, and the proper place of the fraternity in a new republic.

After Steven's presentation, a live panel will dig deeper. Past Grand Master John Cooper III, Inspector and educator Scott Morrison, Jr., and moderator Jhairo Echevarria (Chairman of the Grand Lodge Committee on Masonic Education) will place Washington’s example alongside later figures such as DeWitt Clinton, the Morgan Affair, and the rise of the anti-Masonic movement. There will also be a live Q&A, so bring your questions.

Whether you’re a serious student of Masonic history, a Washington fanboy, or simply curious about how our most celebrated Brother navigated the tightrope between fraternity and public life, this promises to be a strong program. The Grand Lodge of California has a solid track record with these symposia, and this year’s topic is especially relevant this year.

Mark your calendar, grab a seat on Zoom, and join the conversation. Registration is free and open to all.

Julio Diaz Found Guilty in Arson Fires and Murder of Texas Mason

Photo: KRGV-TV5

by Christopher Hodapp

Julio Diaz has finally been found guilty in the arson fires of two Masonic lodges and the subsequent 2023 murder of Past Master Robert Wise outside of McAllen Lodge 1110 in McAllen, Texas. He now awaits sentencing.

From the KRGV-TV website on August 6th:

The verdict came after the jury deliberated for about 30 minutes. Diaz now awaits sentencing.

Prosecutors called more than two dozen witnesses during the trial. They presented surveillance video, cell phone evidence, and videos they said proved Diaz shot and killed Wise.

The defense called only one witness, a woman related to an elderly family member. Diaz was helping care for her, and she testified about a post-it note the defense said Diaz wrote, which reportedly mentioned the Freemasons and the Anunnaki.

Diaz's case dates back to July 2023. Police arrested him two days after Wise was found shot outside the McAllen Masonic Lodge.

Diaz also faced two arson charges. One is linked to a fire at the McAllen Masonic Lodge a year before Wise was shot. The second is linked to a Feb. 20, 2023, fire at the Weslaco Masonic Lodge, which destroyed the building.

Diaz chose to have the judge decide his sentence rather than the jury. His attorney spoke with Channel 5 News about that decision.

"That is largely attorney-client privilege; there are tactical reasons why the biggest reason is the health information did not come out in trial," attorney Lennard K. Whittaker said.

READ MORE: Phone evidence, claims of 'black magic' presented as state rests in McAllen murder trial

The defense said the jury never heard testimony about Diaz's mental state. Whittaker said a court-ordered neurological expert did not finish evaluating Diaz before the trial began.

"Those delusions were put in place in full view before that jury; unfortunately, we had no expert because he hadn't completed his work in time for this date," Whittaker said.

Throughout the trial, the defense repeatedly asked the judge to delay it, citing the unfinished evaluation. The judge denied those requests, noting the case had already been pending for nearly three years.

The defense will use the coming weeks to gather character letters, mental health and medical information, and other materials it believes could help the judge during sentencing. Whittaker said it is too early to know whether the defense plans to call witnesses at sentencing...

Diaz' sentencing is set for September 21st. He faces between just 5(!) and 99 years in prison.

When he was arrested and questioned back in July 2023, Julio Diaz told investigators that  Masons were "devil worshiping Illuminatists." A Facebook commenter said Diaz had previously posted anti-Masonic comments on social media, claiming the lodge "had put a curse on him." A year before the killing, the McAllen lodge was vandalized with graffiti that read: “Sorcery against the Holy Spirit and the human race must all be stoned to death.” Whether or not Diaz painted that message, it was followed by his arson attacks on the lodge and on the nearby Weslaco lodge building. And then he shot Robert Wise in the head at point blank range as members were leaving an officer's installation. 

Diaz was so proud of his actions that he captured the shooting on video and posted it on his Instagram account. The jury saw this video in the course of the trial.

According to the myRGV.com website, he told his attorney that "he didn't see Freemasons as human beings or as being of the human race." He believes Masons are reptilians. "On social media, Diaz had also said that people who are suicidal should kill Freemasons before themselves, saying people could save millions of humans depending on the degree of the witch, sorcerer or Freemason they killed."

It cannot be emphasized enough that Masons must take any and all vandalism and anti-Masonic messaging deadly seriously and report every single instance to local law enforcement. That includes threatening messages mailed to the lodge, stuck in car windows outside of meetings, or posted on lodge doors. Brother Wise's distraught family brought a million dollar lawsuit against the lodge for purchasing security cameras and outdoor lighting equipment and failing to install it in the wake of the vandalism prior to the murder. 

This admonition is not a mercenary one, but one of responsibility to our members, families and visitors. The toxic nature of anti-social media these days helps to percolate this kind of anti-Masonic sentiment, and violence is everywhere. Moreover, the alarming rise in anti-semitism that's sweeping the Western world catches Freemasons in the same net. Religious fanatics have associated Masonry with Judaism for more than two centuries, along with accusing Masons of Satanism and worse. We can ascribe these kinds of insane hatreds to madness, but madmen aren't any less dangerous just because they believe ridiculous things.

France: Verdicts Are In on the Athanor Lodge Case

Image: Le Parisien

by Christopher Hodapp

In mid-July, after more than three months of hearings and roughly 600 hours of debate, a special Paris assize court wrapped up the long-running “Athanor Affaire" trial, one of the largest criminal trials in French history.  Seventeen of the 22 defendants aged 30 through 73 were convicted of crimes tied to members of a former Masonic lodge. What appeared at first to be widely isolated incidents turned out to be part of a shockingly wide-ranging crime cell run by a tiny group of rogue Masonic lodge members who hired others to eliminate, intimidate or murder business rivals, debtors, or just annoying inconveniences. 

The most serious charges included aggravated violence, attempted extortion, murder, and attempted murder by an organized gang—which all turned out to have been plotted for wildly trivial reasons. Sentences ranged from six months suspended to 30 years’ imprisonment – heavy time for the actual organizers and the ringleader, lighter or suspended sentences for lesser roles, and five full acquittals (including the accused gunman in the 2018 killing of a race driver named Laurent Pasquali and others). Some sentences came in below the prosecution’s requests, which a few observers called a partial setback for the case.

Back in 2022, several of the alleged criminals were discovered to be members of the now defunct Athanor Lodge 759, a lodge chartered under the Grande Loge Alliance Maçonnique Française (GLAMF) and located in the Puteaux neighborhood of the Hauts-de-Seine area, about five miles west of Paris. The case blew open in 2020 when two hired hit men were arrested just before they could successfully assassinate a business competitor of a lodge officer. By the time investigators tracked down all the various business and lodge connections and associated crimes, the related criminal activities dated back to at least 2016 with the beating of a politician in Val-de-Marne.

At the center of the network were four key figures who belonged to Athanor Lodge. Clients paid, the organizers recruited enforcers and hit men (including low-level intelligence agency personnel and others), and in some cases spun elaborate fairy tales that the jobs were part of top secret state work for the DSGE (Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure, which translates to the Directorate General for External Security, the French intelligence agency analogous to the American CIA). The four principal members were: 

• Frédéric Vaglio (ex-journalist and communicator turned economic intelligence investigator), the mastermind of the gang who actually brought in the contracts, was sentenced to 25 years. He had ordered Daniel Beaulieu to arrange the murder of Marie-Hélène Dini, a competitor in Vaglio's consulting business, in 2020. 
• Daniel Beaulieu (former interior intelligence/DCRI-DGSI officer) was the chief organizer of the Athanor gang. Before retiring in 2009, he spent most of his career as a police officer in general intelligence (RG), eventually rising to be Deputy Head of Division at the DCRI (Central Directorate of Internal Intelligence, now DGSI). According to press accounts, the judge stated: "The court considered that you were the linchpin without whom nothing would have been possible." He received the toughest sentence at 30 years, and the fact that he had been a former police officer contributed to his harshest term. Throughout their trial, he and Vaglio had blamed each other for their crimes. Beaulieu, 73, is in poor health after attempting suicide last year while awaiting trial in prison, which left him disabled and with "impaired concentration." 
• Sébastien Leroy: (Past Venerable Master of the lodge) was "the muscle" involved in the most violent acts, from beating elected officials all the way back to the 2018 murder of a race car driver, Laurent Pasquali (whose body was later found buried). Beaulieu passed Dini's hit contract to Leroy, a private security officer, who recruited two young DGSE guards, Pierre Bourdin and Carl Esnault. The guards believed they were being recruited to carry out authorized homicide operations for French intelligence by pretending it was a secret intelligence mission against a Mossad agent for "national security" reasons. Leroy was sentenced to 27 years in prison, five years more than the prosecution had requested. 
• Jean-Luc Bagur: found guilty of complicity in the attempted murder of Dini and sentenced to 16 years. Investigators eventually connected a link in the case to Bagur, 69, who was a rival business consultant to Dini and the Venerable Maitre (Venerable Master, the French equivalent to Worshipful Master) of Athanor Lodge.
  These four core members allegedly abused the structure and 'secrecy' of the lodge for what prosecutors called a “PME du crime” — a criminal small business providing paid “services” ranging from intimidation and industrial espionage to assault and murder. 

For those in the press and online with a bone to pick against the Freemasons and who want to use this sensational case to smear the whole fraternity: When lurid allegations regarding the lodge were first brought to the attention of the Grand Lodge, it was immediately dissolved and its accused members suspended or expelled. These were individual criminal convictions. The court judged specific people for specific acts. Neither Freemasonry as an institution, the GLAMF, nor every member of the former Athanor lodge was on trial or found guilty. One small group of individuals allegedly abused their lodge connections for private criminal profit. That does not make the Craft, or French Masonry generally, responsible.

The case covered acts mainly from 2018–2022, including:

• The 2018 murder of rally race driver Laurent Pasquali, whose body was later found buried). The alleged assassin was acquitted over lack of concrete evidence; the couple who had purportedly approached the Athanor group to kill Pasquali over a bad debt was also acquitted because the court found they had not provably ordered his killing.
• Failed assassination plots against business coach Marie-Hélène Dini and union activist Hassan Touzani.
• Various assaults, a vehicle arson, theft and espionage-style jobs, and related conspiracy charges.

An investigator asked Vaglio how many murder contracts he had been involved in. "The total number can be counted on the fingers of one hand, and only one murder actually came to fruition."

The activities were revealed after two DGSE-linked men were arrested in 2020 near Dini’s home while preparing her assassination. The core Masonic group preyed on public misconceptions of what Masonry is. What became clear throughout the trial was the way the Athanor lodge group abused Freemasonry's teachings of secrecy as a symbol of honor to convince gullible men that it was a recruiting front for the French espionage services. One of the most alarming aspects of the case was that the legitimate DGSE agency did not immediately get in front of the story and deny that it really was plotting the killing of a female Israeli Mossad agent, especially on French soil. They seemed just as content to keep up the public perception that they were engaging in murderous espionage as the Athanor Lodge group was to promote their own phony image as spooky spy masters.

For regular Freemasons, the takeaway is straightforward and unflattering: a handful of people in one lodge used the fraternal setting and membership contacts as cover and recruitment ground for a for-profit crime ring. French Masonry as a whole was not on trial, but the episode has already fueled the usual “secret society gone rogue” commentary. There were just enough members of Athanor Lodge in the law enforcement, security and intelligence-gathering world to furiously stoke the fires of the "dirty cops in the Freemasons!" media headlines and the conspiracy monger universe. 

The lodge itself is gone, the convictions are on the books, and it's only a matter of time before we see the effects on the fraternity and on public perceptions of Masonry.

About Athanor Lodge 759 and the Grande Loge Alliance Maçonnique Française (GLAMF)

Athanor Lodge 759 was legitimately chartered by the Grande Loge de l'Alliance Maçonnique Française (the Grand Lodge of the French Masonic Alliance, or GL-AMF), which was created in its present form in 2012. At the time, that grand lodge was largely formed by some 15,000 disgruntled Masons who had split from the Grand Loge National Français (GLNF) over a massive internal power struggle involving then-GLNF Grand Master Stifani. (see HERE for beginnings of that long tale). The GLNF is the French grand lodge overwhelmingly recognized throughout the world as regular, and the 2012 incident was an enormous upheaval at the time. It took years for the dust to settle, and the GLNF was never able to return to its former size.

The GL-AMF today has about 15,400 members in 684 lodges, and a strong argument can be made that they are perfectly regular in origin. In other words, it's not some small-time, bogus grand lodge masquerading as something it isn't. Like all regular, recognized grand lodge obediences, they admit only men, require a belief in God, and work accepted rituals. So, Athanor Lodge started out as a legit lodge of Freemasons. But like the old P2 lodge scandal with gangster/terrorist Licio Gelli in Italy back in the 1980s, it got twisted into someone's private hideout for criminals.

When these stories began to hit the news six years ago, I'm told that GL-AMF Grand Master Fred Picavet suspended the lodge and all of its members, including two of those currently indicted. Online chatter in France is that the lodge's Venerable Maitre, Jean-Luc Bagur, was suspended back in 2020, even before any of these stories came out, for non-payment of dues, and that he went right on running the lodge meetings, ignoring the order. My understanding its that all of the former lodge members accused in the Athanor Affaire case were suspended by the Grand Lodge or the Grand Master and will be subsequently be tried for expulsion now that the verdicts are all in from the court case.

MSA Disaster Relief Appeal: Venezuela Earthquake

by Christopher Hodapp

NOTE: A glitch that was temporarily preventing online credit card donations has been fixed and the site is working properly.

The following urgent disaster appeal was sent out today by Mark Tabbert, Administrator of the Masonic Service Association of North America:

Photo: UPI

Venezuela Earthquake Disaster Relief Appeal

On 24 June 2026 two large earthquakes struck northwestern and central Venezuela, both centered in San Felipe, Yaracur. Currently hundreds of thousands are homeless, more than 5,000 were killed at least 16,500 are injured, and tens of thousands remain missing.

As of 17 July, at least five brother Masons with 300 relatives of brothers were also killed. Thousands more have lost their homes, their livelihoods, their worldly possessions. Lastly, the Grand Lodge Temple in Caracas, built in 1873, was severely damaged.

As Brothers of the Craft, let us remember that adversity only strengthens our international bonds.

Let us also use this moment to reflect on the fragility of life and the importance of being prepared, not just physically, but also in terms of the support systems we offer to one another.

José Gregorio Sardelli Bravo Grand Master Grand Lodge of the Republic of Venezuela has requested the Masonic Service Association of North America (MSA) to issue this Disaster Relief Appeal. The MSANA Board of Commissioners has endorsed this request.

If you choose to give to this appeal please forward any donations you feel appropriate to help our devastated Brothers and their families in this stricken grand jurisdiction to MSANA.

Please make checks payable to MSA Disaster Relief Appeal and mail to:

Masonic Service Association
813 1st Avenue SE, Suite 357
Cedar Rapids, IA 52402

ONLINE DONATIONS : https://msana.com/current-appeals/

When remitting by check, please clearly mark that you wish the funds to go to the Venezuela Earthquake Relief Appeal.

Sincerely, 

Mark A. Tabbert, PM

Administrator

Masonic Service Association of North America 

The 1873 Grand Lodge building in Caracas, Venezuela before the earthquake

Main temple in the Grand Lodge building in Caracas, Venezuela

The Masonic Service Association is usually the best and most effective way to provide financial assistance to Masons in disaster-stricken areas. 

If you are new to the fraternity or have never heard of the MSANA, it is a legitimate 501(c)(3) charitable organization. That is important to remember, especially if you, your company, or foundation are making a large donation and are in need of a tax deduction in return. The charitable arm of the Masonic Service Association was specifically established for the purpose of raising tax deductible donations, and to effectively distribute and account for the funds provided to Masons who receive assistance. Your entire donation will be sent to the affected jurisdiction. MSA deducts nothing for administrative expenses or expenses of any kind. Meaning if you donate $100.00, all $100.00 gets to the specific grand lodge issuing the appeal.

MSANA appeals are always done at the specific request of an affected Masonic jurisdiction when a catastrophe strikes. When donating through an MSA appeal you can be sure the money is officially going directly to the jurisdiction that requested it, which may not always be the case with a GoFundMe appeal or similar services. GoFundMe donations are not by law tax deductible because the IRS has no way of knowing how the money was raised, how it was spent, what may have been promised or given in return, and no way of peering into the accounting of whomever set it up. The IRS has very strict rules about tax deductible charities, and GoFundMe-type services don't even attempt to comply. And even if a legitimate lodge or grand lodge sets up such an appeal through GoFundMe, they can't issue a legit 501(c)(3) deduction to the donors unless they have their own charitable foundation or corporation that already does comply with the IRS. 

July 18: Speaking at Ohio Masonic Education Event This Saturday

by Christopher Hodapp

I'll be speaking this Saturday, July 18th at Ohio's 6th Masonic District's Pillars of Knowledge event. This Masonic educational gathering will be held at J.B. Covert Lodge No. 437 on the east side of Cincinnati, Ohio, between 8AM and 3PM.

Six speakers will be featured:

• Chris Hodapp (Dummy)
• Dan Hrinko (author of 'The Craft Driven Lodge')
• William Carter III (PGM and Cybersecurity Expert)
• Dirk Hughes (Director of the Michigan Masonic Museum and Library)
• Tim Redick (Associate Dean off the Royal Schofield Society)
• Michael Miller ((Master of the Ohio Lodge of Research)

Registration is $30 and lunch is included.  Visit the website HERE to register. 

(Not enough time to pre-register? Any Master Mason is welcome to attend and registrations will also be held onsite beginning at 8AM)

The lodge is located at 848 Clough Pike, Cincinnati, OH 45245. 

Break-In and Arson at Pennsylvania Shrine Center

by Christopher Hodapp

A 72-year old man has been arrested for setting fire to a Shrine Center in Altoona, Pennsylvania, causing well over $130,000 in damages.

This site is sadly becoming a repository for stories of vandalism against the fraternity.

James Kaufman, 72

According to local TV station WTAJ, James Kaufman (photo) was said by local authorities to have been undergoing a 'mental health crisis" and believed his daughter was being held inside Altoona's enormous Jaffa Shrine Center against her will. Early Tuesday morning, he broke inside and began busting windows and destroying furniture. Neighbors heard the noise and called police. Kaufman had obviously come prepared and apparently spent some time in the building, as investigators found Shrine items in his car.  They discovered kerosene had been spread and set alight in the main arena and auditorium. 

Kaufman is charged with Risking a Catastrophe, Arson, Burglary and many associated charges. Thankfully, no one was injured in the incident.

This may very well just be an unfortunate man suffering from dementia or Alzheimer's. But it would be unwise to ignore the possibility of a deliberate anti-Masonic attack. The recent increase in these kinds of incidents - and worse - throughout North America over the last couple of years needs to be brought attention to local police. Local law enforcement may not always be aware that Masons and Shriners are on a growing number of hit lists of paranoids, Jew-haters, or zealous religious fanatics who think we're devil worshipers, and worse. If your Masonic hall or Shrine center is attacked, be sure to alert investigators as to the dangers of these nuts.

GL of Scotland Joins Britain's Council of Freemasonry To Fight Anti-Masonry

by Christopher Hodapp

The male-only Grand Lodge of Scotland has joined with the United Grand Lodge of England and England's female Freemasons in a cooperative organization to address urgent contemporary issues facing the fraternity at large. The Council of Freemasonry was established in 2024 as a cooperative organization and now represents most of the Masons, male and female, in Great Britain when it comes to certain public matters. The purpose is for Britain's Masons to publicly speak with one united voice on matters that concern them all.

In Monday's The Herald, it was reported:

The [Council of Freemasonry] includes the United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE), the Order of Women Freemasons (OWF), the Honourable Fraternity of Ancient Freemasons (HFAF), and now the Grand Lodge of Scotland.

Created in 2024, the council aims to strengthen collaboration between the organisations while promoting shared values including integrity, friendship, respect and service.

Its work focuses on public engagement, charitable projects, membership growth and challenging outdated perceptions of Freemasonry.

The inclusion of Scotland means the council now represents Freemasonry across the whole of Great Britain.

The article mistakenly calls the Council a 'governing' body, which it is not. It was formed two years ago, specifically in the face of anti-Masonic press coverage and a growing anti-Masonic sentiment within law enforcement. A recent rule passed by the London Metropolitan Police dramatically encroaches on the privacy of Masons on the force, requiring officers to publicly state their current or prior Masonic membership. Such rules were found to be discriminatory by the European Court of Human Rights almost 20 years ago, but English courts see no fault with them. 

The MET's new policy singles out the Freemasons as the sole organization in which officers must declare their membership. Worse, it classifies Masonic membership as a "declarable association, along with criminal convictions, those who have been dismissed from policing, and lawful professions such as private investigation or journalism."

Branding certain cops as Masons now opens officers up to completely unfounded allegations that they might somehow engage in funny business like cronyism, letting off 'brother' criminals or ignoring 'brother' officers' bad behavior, promoting Masonic officers over non-Masons, or looking the other way in cases strictly because they might sit in lodge together.

Despite decades of investigating the purported role of secret Masonic membership in high profile police cases, there has never been a proven incident tied to the Freemasons. Tons of allegations and millions of pounds expended hunting dirty Masons under the bedclothes, but never a shred of evidence. But that hasn't stopped other disgruntled cops and sensationalistic news outlets from falsely alleging all sorts of nefarious behavior among Masons in law enforcement ever since the 1980s.

The Council for Freemasonry announced its purpose in 2024 when it was formed:

The establishment of the Council for Freemasonry will formally establish an overarching forum for collaboration. In addition, the Council will bring together the community service ambitions of all three bodies, coordinate communication and engagement with other organisations, drive the membership growth ambitions, particularly for women Freemasons, and allocate resources and facilities for the general benefit of both male and female Freemasonry.

The Council will include the heads of each Grand Lodge, and each Grand Lodge will provide the President for a twelve-month period, chairing Council meetings in strict rotation. The President for the first two years will come from the OWF and HFAF, with UGLE covering the third year. 

The formation of the Council for Freemasonry in England and Wales marks a pivotal step towards enhancing cooperation, addressing misconceptions, and promoting the values of Freemasonry. This historic initiative reaffirms Freemasonry’s commitment to integrity, friendship, respect and service, while keeping community service and charitable giving at the absolute forefront of this historic organisation.

For those who might fret about such an announcement, none of this affects the regularity nor the recognition status of either the UGLE or the Grand lodge of Scotland as male-only Masonic fraternities. It should be remembered by U.S. Masons that Freemasonry in Britain and Europe , along with many other parts of the world, face challenges and biases of which we are blissfully unaware here. One of the primary jobs of the Council for Freemasonry is to counter public misinformation and press attacks against the fraternity by spreading the message that English Freemasonry is NOT just for men; that male and female Masonic organizations coexist, and are all alive and well and open for membership; and that none of these three grand lodges in Britain have any desire, intention, or reason for changing their practices or ideology of being a sanctuary from the outside world for their particular members, male or female.

Ontario Masonic Hall Vandalized With Anti-Masonic Graffiti

by Christopher Hodapp

Authorities in Burlington, Ontario are seeking information regarding an unknown tagger who vandalized the local Masonic hall Sunday early morning by spray painting a phony Albert Pike 'Luciferian' quotation on the side of the building.

From the BurlingtonToday.com website today:

On the wall of the building that faces Maria Street, an unknown tagger left a message for the group that some believe to have powerful connections.

“The doctrine of Freemasonry is to be maintained in the Luciferian doctrine at high degrees,” the graffiti reads, crediting the words to Albert Pike, a 19th century American poet and lawyer who was also a Mason. The graffiti also suggests that Pike predicted the World Wars. . .

These bogus lines are widely circulated on the Intertubz and falsely attributed to Pike. They are, in fact, taken directly from the infamous 'Taxil Hoax' perpetrated by 'Leo Taxil' (whose real name was Marie Joseph Gabriel Antoine Jogand-Pagès), a rabid French anti-Catholic and anti-Mason in the late 19th century. Taxil made a tidy profit peddling propaganda about the Masons for many years. 

Taxil singlehandedly invented the whole 'Luciferian Freemasonry' fable and gleefully went on to later admit it was all a hoax in a very public appearance on April 19, 1897. (For what it's worth, Albert Pike wrote precisely one passage in Morals & Dogma that explained the origin of the name 'Lucifer' and how it came to be attributed to 'Satan" over the centuries.) 

The truth about Taxil's hoax has been quite openly known for 130 years, but that hasn't stopped its wide dissemination on the web since the 1980s and 90s. Meanwhile, Pike's so-called 'world wars' prediction is a more relatively recent addition to the anti-Masonic repertoire and is a complete fabrication. It's not true, either. (For more details about Taxil and his hoax, see Tall Tales of Leo Taxil HERE)

The story continues:

Halton Regional Police told BurlingtonToday that the suspect was observed at 3:05 a.m. (July 5) with spray paint, and is described as a white man, medium build, wearing a straw cowboy hat, a dark jacket, white tee shirt, and shorts. He was also riding a bicycle.

VandenBerg said this is not the first time that the building has been tagged, but it is the first time to his knowledge that the Masons were specifically targeted in the message.

“We have been tagged before but that has been just generic graffiti that could have happened anywhere,” he said.

Documents and sacred texts have been dropped in the lodge mailbox, even being laminated at times, VanderBerg said, including an encyclopedia of Jewish texts that was left at the back door of the building. The building has been egged, and many more instances of vandalism came to mind for VandenBerg.

He added that the group added a stone marker to the outside of the building which has been urinated on previously, but he is unsure if that was related to the organization.

“Maybe it was the same person,” he said. “Maybe that was the first thing they did and now they are back to spray paint the building a few months later.”

Despite the long history of Burlington Masons' commitment to serving their community and contributing to local charities, this is the sort of idiotic attack that sometimes discourages lodges from being more public faced. And as we've seen in recent years, certain extremely unhinged anti-Masonic zealots are known to escalate their attacks on members and lodge halls. The McAllen Lodge incident in Texas is a horrifying example of what can happen when anti-Masons taken their paranoid hatred to the worst extremes.

If your lodge is vandalized in any way, especially if you suspect the motive was anti-Masonic in nature, you should report it immediately to local authorities. Attacks against Masons and lodges need to be on the radar screen for police and well documented because, as we've seen, the true nuts are sometimes fully capable and motivated to come back again.

Anti-Masonic Texas Murder Suspect Charged with More Arson Attempts

by Christopher Hodapp

Julio Diaz, currently awaiting trial in the murder of a Freemason outside of a Texas Masonic hall, along with prior incidents of damaging that same lodge building, has just been charged in two more arson attacks against a different lodge.

Diaz is accused of shooting WB Robert Wise outside of McAllen Lodge 1110 in southern Texas following an officer's installation on July 10, 2023. He is also accused of attempting to set fire to that building in 2022.

Llano Grande Lodge in Westlaco, TX (Google Earth photo)

According to KRGV-TV5, Hidalgo County authorities have now brought more charges against Diaz regarding two additional arson attempts in February 2023 at the Welasco Masonic temple, located about 20 miles east of McAllen. The Welasco hall is home to Llano Grande Lodge 1173.

Fire damage in 2023. (KRGV-TV5)

After his initial arrest, sources familiar with the investigation said that Diaz believed Masons are "devil worshiping Illuminatists." A Facebook commenter said Diaz had previously posted anti-Masonic comments on social media, claiming the lodge "had put a curse on him."

In April, the judge in the case expressed frustration with Diaz' defense attorney regarding the numerous delays they've requested since his initial court appearance. His tentative trial date is now in early August, but they may request additional time now that these new charges have been brought.

Detroit Masonic Temple Library Booted From the Biggest Temple in the World

by Christopher Hodapp

The trustees and management of the massive Detroit Masonic Temple have evicted the Detroit Masonic Temple Library from the building. The 10,000-volume library has been in the building since it was opened a hundred years ago, and in recent years they have also organized and operated the popular tours of the landmark building. 

I find it hard to believe that the Temple Association couldn't accommodate the Library somewhere with its 1,000 (mostly unoccupied) rooms and over a 550,000 square feet of space. It's almost unbelievable for the Temple Association to find no way to keep this precious resource in this amazing structure. It is the largest Masonic building in the world, so I'm speculating that there were other reasons besides crowding. Possibly money; possibly some unannounced plan to redevelop the building (how many times have I heard THAT one up there?); possibly a plan to move it to the Grand Lodge up in Alma (about 80 miles northeast of Grand Rapids); and just possibly this is down to nothing but clashing egos, which happens all too often these days. But whatever the reason may be, this announcement is shocking. 

(EDIT: I've just been told that the situation involves NONE of my speculations...)

The following press release was posted on the Library's Facebook page today:

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT REGARDING LIBRARY NAME CHANGE & RELOCATION

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DETROIT, MICH - JULY 2, 2026

Our name has changed a few times over the past 143 years, but our mission has always remained the same: to preserve the rich history of Freemasonry in Detroit. With this in mind, we have decided to re-adopt our original 1882 name: Masonic Library of Detroit. These changes will be gradually rolled-out over the coming weeks and months. We feel this historic name better represents our broader purpose, and is more appropriate following recent events.

On June 30th, 2026, the long-standing lease for our space on the 4th Floor of the Detroit Masonic Temple expired, and the Masonic Temple Association of Detroit declined to offer a renewal lease. We are deeply saddened by having to leave our home of 100 years, but we remain steadfast in our mission, particularly the preservation and digitization of our historic documents & 10,000-volume collection of Masonic books. Our new business address for donations and correspondence is: 1401 W Fort St. #32090 Detroit, MI 48233.

While we have thoroughly enjoyed providing engaging & informative tours of the Detroit Masonic Temple in partnership with the Masonic Temple Association of Detroit for the past decade, as of February 2026, the Masonic Temple Association terminated our tour operating agreement without notice. We are unaware of what plans the Masonic Temple Association may have for tours going forward. We will certainly miss sharing our knowledge, passion, and love of the Detroit Masonic Temple with our Brothers as well as the public at large.

We wish the Detroit Masonic Temple a happy Centennial Anniversary, and wish the Masonic Temple Association of Detroit success in their future endeavors.

For further inquiries, please contact us at: info@masoniclibrarydetroit.org

The business address of the newly renamed Detroit Masonic Library is nothing but a post office box, so there's no word on where the actual collection may go at this time.

6/27: Speaking at Louisville's Abraham Lodge No. 8

by Christopher Hodapp

I'm honored to be speaking at the Festive Board of Kentucky's famed Abraham Lodge No. 8 this Saturday evening, June 27th at the historic Brown Hotel in downtown Louisville. I'll be wrapping up an afternoon program of several events.

2:30PM - Royal Arch Abraham Chapter 196

3:00PM - Cornerstone Ceremony (Master Masons only!)

4:00PM - Intermission

5:00PM - Lodge of Instruction

6:15 to 7:15PM - Cocktail Reception at the Brown Hotel 

7:30PM - Festive Board and Keystone Presentation 

                Christopher L. Hodapp: "How Dare We Be Masons: A New Masonic Mission"

For information, contact Secretary John P. Journey HERE. 

Scottish Rite SJ Celebrates 250th Anniversary in Charleston

by Christopher Hodapp

The Supreme Council of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite Southern Jurisdiction, the "Mother Supreme Council of the World," was established in Charleston, South Carolina on May 31st of 1801 at Shepheard's Tavern on the corner of Broad and Church Streets (which had also been where South Carolina Freemasonry was originally established in 1754).

While originated in Charleston, the SJ moved its headquarters to Washington DC in 1870 and is located in the House of the Temple.

The AASR-SJ celebrated the 225th anniversary of their founding with a live broadcast of its special session in Charleston over the weekend. The replay can be seen via YouTube HERE or by clicking the video at the top of this post.

While we in the U.S. think of the Scottish Rite as an appendant body within Freemasonry that confers degrees 4-33, it is actually a complete degree ritual system that has its own initiatory degrees 1-3. Outside the U.S., the Rite's total 1-33 degree lineup is actually the most widely-worked degree system in the world, in both regular and irregular, unrecognized jurisdictions. It's also the source of one of the greatest misconceptions about the Masonic world. Because they number their degrees, largely for convenience, most non-Masons mistakenly believe those higher numbers denote higher rank within the fraternity. 

Tip for non-Masons: asking a Mason "How high a degree are you?" is the fastest way to show that you have no idea what you're talking about. 

Likewise, a "high ranking Mason" doesn't really exist, with the exception of the grand office holders in any given jurisdiction. A Grand Master within a Grand Lodge, such as the Grand Lodge of New York or the United Grand Lodge of England, does wield authority over the Masons in his region, but only for the duration of his elected term.

Habemus Papam! MW John A. Bridegroom Installed as Indiana Grand Master

by Christopher Hodapp

On Wednesday, my friend, MW John A. Bridegroom, was installed as the 175th Grand Master of the Grand Lodge F&AM of Indiana. The annoying (and frequently blasphemous) practice of using Biblical quotes out of context goes back two millennia, but I'll engage in it this once.

"[T]he friend of the Bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly..." - John 3:29

If you've been a Freemason in the U.S. over the last fifteen years or so, it's entirely probable that you've met, or at least heard of, John Bridegroom. He's one of the most active, well-traveled, and widely known Masons in the country.  John's an extremely talented graphic artist and the proprietor of The Master's Craft. If you haven't encountered him in one of the many, many appendant bodies he's either led or been associated with, you might at least have seen a medal, pin, challenge coin, logo, magazine, event program or other such item that he has designed over the years. (Many years ago, he even took on the role as art director of the Journal of the Masonic Society after I got sick and was overwhelmed by doing everything myself.)

Naturally, he designed his own pin for this year:

With a couple of exceptions over the last quarter century, we've been pretty lucky in the Grand Lodge of Indiana to have been blessed with good leadership. Occasionally, it's been truly superlative. Our immediate Past Grand Master, Randy Seipel, said earlier this week that he'd visited 316 of the 346 lodges in our state over the last two years, and he held a live Facebook video update every single week during his term. He seemed to be literally everywhere this past year and set a standard that will be a tough act to follow.

GM Bridegroom's been organizing a big event for this summer: on Saturday, June 23rd, the Grand Lodge will be celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence with with an open-air colonial festival at Compass Park on the campus of the Indiana Masonic Home in Franklin. This special Father's Day weekend event welcomes Masons, families, and friends for a day filled with history, heritage, and hands-on fun. In partnership with the Indiana Daughters of the American Revolution, guests will enjoy kid-friendly activities, period demonstrations, and lively interactions with famous colonial characters who bring America's founding era to life.

Come celebrate the historic past, while embracing family, fellowship, and looking forward. The celebration will also reveal the Grand Master's 2026 Project, marking an exciting milestone for our fraternity and our future. Come celebrate a defining moment in American history with food, fun, and festivities for all ages as we honor the past, enjoy the present, and build toward what's next!

Many thanks to PGM Seipel for all he's done for the fraternity over the year, and the very best wishes to GM Bridegroom on his new adventure. 

The Grand Lodge is dead! Long live Grand Lodge!

France: Membership of the Largest Masonic Jurisdictions

by Christopher Hodapp

NOTE: This story has been updated 5/25/26. See update note below.

For those interested, the always informative (and lively) French-language Masonic news site Hiram.be  (actually based in Belgium) has a recent article with current membership statistics from the eight largest Masonic obediences in France. (See the pie chart above.)

The original article is at: Les effectifs des obédiences françaises en 2026

I'll freely admit to a long interest in what goes on concerning Freemasonry in other countries, with a particularly soft spot in my brain for French Masonry. I've often quipped that if you lock three French Freemasons in a closet and wait for an hour, they'll bust out and angrily form at least six new grand lodges. Over the course of my 27 years in the fraternity, I've been variously told that France has at least a dozen – and likely more – very different grand lodges of any appreciable size at work, even though our US grand lodges only recognize one. They have grand lodges (or grand orients) requiring a belief in Deity, and some that welcome non-believers (often referred to as a doctrine of 'freedom of conscience'); some that are centuries old, and some younger than a decade; some for men only, women only, or both; some that were started merely because of an internal schism over personalities, over philosophical issues, or both. And there are combinations of all of these. Which is why you have to burst out in hysterical laughter whenever conspiracy mongers in France rail against 'The Freemasons™' there. There's no way to classify them in a monolithic sense, apart from, perhaps, wearing aprons in meetings.

The reason I bring it up is to show the layout of the French Masonic landscape and how it differs from what we mostly encounter in the U.S. The article concerns the eight biggest, and "most effective" grand governing bodies in that country.

Out of a total of 171,914 Masonic members nationwide, the breakdown is interesting:

• Grand Orient de France (GOdF): 54,448 (32%) [male/female; no faith required]
• Grand Loge Nationale de Française (GLNF): 33,889 (20%) [male; faith required]
• Grande Loge de France (GLDF): 30,446 (18%) [male; faith required]
• Federation Française du Droit Humain (DH): 14,500 (8%) [male/female; no faith required]
• Grande Loge de l'Alliance Masonnique Française (GL-AMF) (a recent breakaway from the GLNF): 14,495 (8%) [male; faith required]
• Grand Loge Feminine de France (GLFF): 13,027 (8%) [female/no faith required]
• Grande Loge Mixde de France (GLMF): 4,845 (3%) [male/female; no faith required]
• Traditionnelle et Symbolique Opéra Grand Loge (GLTSO): 4,600 (3%) [male; faith required]

In case you're keeping score, it works out that about 51% of French Masons are not required to have a belief in deity. That doesn't make all 86,000 of them atheists, it just means acknowledging a personal belief in a Supreme Being is not a requirement. Which seems curious concerning a fraternity that bases its rituals around the Old Testament story of constructing the most sacred temple on Earth which housed the revealed Word of God. But it takes all kinds to make a world. France is a very different country with a VERY different history than us mere upstarts over here. (When Chinese Premiere Zou Enlai was asked by Richard Nixon in 1972 what he thought of the French Revolution, he answered, "It's too soon to tell.")

Also, 15% of French Masons are females, which is a pretty sizable percentage for any country. By contrast, female Masonic lodges are as rare as unicorns in the U.S. That's not meant as a swipe to anyone, just a simple fact. Female and co-Masonic lodges have never gained traction in the U.S. at any point in history (likely due to the popularity of the Order of the Eastern Star between the end of the Civil War until the late 20th century).

UPDATE 5/25/2026, 1:30PM: I received a message from Gérard Plumecocq, (who posts as Géplu), the present editor of the Hiram.be website, clarifying a couple of things: It reads, in part:

A small clarification: Hiram.be is not "based in Belgium," but is, in fact, French. Hiram.be was founded in Belgium by a Belgian journalist (Jiri Pragman) in 2004; however, I took it over in 2014, and I am a (retired) French journalist who has been a member of the Grand Orient de France since 1986. I didn't change the blog's name when I took the helm because it had already established a reputation under that name. But that isn't terribly important; ultimately, it is "Francophone."

For an American like yourself—who is accustomed to knowing only a single form of Freemasonry—France, with its many different obediences, may seem like a curiosity; for us, however, it represents a source of richness. In my article, I cite the eight most significant obediences—which together account for between 80% and 90% of French Freemasonry—but there are also about a dozen other smaller, reputable obediences (ranging from 500 to 1,000 members), as well as numerous small groups (ranging from a few dozen to a few hundred members) that style themselves as Masonic, albeit with varying degrees of seriousness and credibility. As you point out, about half of French Freemasons are "adogmatic"—that is to say, they are members of obediences that do not impose a specific belief (what you refer to as "a faith"). In doing so, they base their stance on Anderson's text: "But though in ancient Times Masons were charged in every Country to be of the Religion of that Country or Nation, whatever it was, yet 'tis now thought more expedient only to oblige them to that Religion in which all Men agree, leaving their particular Opinions to themselves; that is, to be good and true Men, Men of Honour and Honesty, by whatever Denominations or Persuasions they may be distinguish'd." At the Grand Orient de France, for instance, young initiates are told that "among us, everyone is free to believe or not to believe" (in a God). The GODF and its "French Rite" claim to be the heirs of the Freemasonry of 1717, rather than the more religious versions of 1751 and 1813.

Just a quick note: there are two minor errors in your comments regarding the obediences. At the GLDF, faith is not a mandatory requirement. The situation is more nuanced: the GLDF regards the Great Architect of the Universe (the GADLU) as a "creative principle," while leaving its members the freedom to interpret this principle according to their own sensibilities. Furthermore, the GLTSO is not a mixed-gender obedience (open to both men and women), but is exclusively male.

I very much appreciate the corrections. CH