A group of brethren traveled to France last week and received the degrees of the Knights Beneficent of the Holy City (CBCS). The new Grand Priory of the Reformed and Rectified Rite of the USA will be initiating its first members at Masonic Week in Alexandria, Virginia in February. CBCS is an invitational body, and a spiritual, esoteric, and strictly Christian rite of Templary—most probably descended from the Rite of Strict Observance in Germany and France prior to the French Revolution.
As reported here, the Grand Encampment of Knights Templar in the USA officially received a charter in December 2010 from the French Grand Prieure Ecossais Reforme et Rectifie d'Occitanie to form the Grand Priory of the Reformed and Rectified Rite of the USA.
The ongoing dispute with the Great Priory of America CBCS, chartered in 1934, continues.
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ReplyDeleteI followed the comments on the GPRRRUSA with great interest, especially the claims to legitimacy on behalf of the GP d'Occitanie. When all is said and done, smoke dispersed and mirrors put away,you only have to look on the web site of the GP d'Occitanie (it has an English version one click away)to see who it is in amity or in relations with. Not one regular Craft Grand Lodge.
ReplyDeleteP Martel
Peter,
ReplyDeleteOn the one hand, I agree—the Grand Prieure Ecossais Reforme et Rectifie d'Occitanie is not in amity with any Masonic grand lodges, and its spontaneous creation of its own GL is undoubtedly irregular.
But...
The Grand Prieure d'Occitanie is NOT a Masonic body of Craft Masonry, and does not claim to be one. It is its own separate organization of the Rectified Rite that was properly descended from a regular charter issued by the Swiss. And so far, the Swiss, French, Belgian and English Recitified Rite priories have not strongly objected to the connection of the new American CBCS body to the Grand Prieure d'Occitanie. That could certainly happen yet, but there were an awful lot of regular attendees and observers at this supposedly irregular ceremony. The same was true in Alexandria last week, as well.
Chris:
ReplyDeleteI enjoy your blog and check in here regularly.
Your response that the Grand Prieure d'Occitanie "is not a Masonic body of Craft Masonry" is specious. You imply that ONLY bodies of Craft Masonry are concerned with regularity, which is completely false. You further imply that, as the Grand Prieure d'Occitanie is not a body of Craft Masonry, that is therefore permissible for it to maintain fraternal relations with the irregular Masonic grand lodges that it lists on its own website.
You also state that it is "properly descended from a regular charter issued by the Swiss." But that isn't true. There is no evidence that it has a charter of any kind, much less one from the mother Great Priory - The Independent Great Priory of Helvetia (Switzerland) - which has always reserved unto itself the right to issue charters for the creation of new Great Priories. As a result, all the regular Great Priories of the R.E.R., which are all in amity with each other have charters issued by the Swiss, and only by the Swiss.
Finally, official letters protesting the actions of the Grand Encampment have been issued by the regular Great Priories of the R.E.R. In fact, the Grand Master of the Knights Templar of France also sent a letter stating that this action "will bring the Grand Encampment into disrepute and may well jeopardize its recognition as a regular Templar Body by all the Great/Grand Priories of the world."