Philippines: Catholic Priest Suspended For Blessing Masonic Marker

Photo: Yeng Abinales for Daily Tribune

by Christopher Hodapp

A Catholic priest on the island of Leyte in the Philippines has been temporarily suspended from performing his duties after blessing a Masonic marker at a dedication ceremony in August.

Rev. Fr. Libby Daños has been suspended from performing his priestly activities, pending an investigation by the appropriate ecclesiastical authorities.

On August 9th, Fr. Daños was part of the dedication ceremony and unveiling of the large brick marker. It was erected on the outskirts of town by the local lodge to welcome visitors to Ormoc City. According to the Ormoc Lodge Facebook page, this is the first of a total of three such markers that will be placed at the three main roads into the city.

Photo: ELITE/Ormoc Lodge 234

According to an article by Elmer Recuerdo on the Daily Tribune website ("Catholic priest suspended for blessing Masonic marker,") published Monday, September 1st:

Rev. Fr. Luigi Kerschbamer, OAD, Prior Provincial of the religious order, stated that the Catholic Church has maintained for centuries that Freemasonry is fundamentally incompatible with Catholic doctrine.

Fr. Kerschbamer said that in November 2023, with the approval of Pope Francis, the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith reaffirmed that Catholics are strictly forbidden from joining Masonic associations because their principles remain “irreconcilable with the doctrine of the Church.”

“The Order of the Discalced Augustinians categorically upholds this teaching and rejects any association with or endorsement of Freemasonic activities,” Fr. Kerschbamer said.

Fr. Daños (photo above), recognized as one of the pioneers of OAD’s mission in Asia with nearly 30 years of service, clarified that while he joined the blessing of the Masonic marker, he was not fully aware of the ceremony’s nature.

The religious order, however, said that the action, regardless of intent, “contradicts the clear and consistent teaching of the Catholic Church regarding Freemasonry and has caused scandal among the faithful.”

The full official statement from Fr. Kirschbamer is posted below. Click the image to enlarge.

Freemasonry has been incredibly popular there for a very long time, in spite of the fact that the country's citizens are predominantly Roman Catholic. At least from a casual observation, ecclesiastical smackdowns between the Catholic Church and Freemasonry seem to erupt in the Philippines more than anywhere else in the world. There have been recent stories about deceased Catholic Masons being refused burial rites by the Church over their membership.

The Masonic fraternity first came to the island in the 1760s when the largest Western navies and traders began playing in the Asian countries. The island nation of the Philippines became a Spanish possession, and their colonial government absolutely enforced the various papal decrees and orders that excommunicated Catholics from the Church for membership in Masonic lodges. The Spanish government just outright banned the fraternity from the vast chain of the Philippine islands in 1812. 

After Spain began losing its iron grip on their Pacific island colonies, the first officially chartered lodge there was established in 1856 with a warrant from the Grand Lodge of Portugal, followed by a German lodge. Masonry back home in Spain was chaotic at best while hiding out from the dreaded Spanish Inquisition, and when it did organize enough to establish grand bodies, bickering resulted in at least four Spanish grand orients simultaneously duking it out by the late 1870s; in another ten years, there would be two more! 

In the 1880s, four Filipino lodges were established with charters from one of the six grand orients back home. As in so many other colonial regions, their 'founding father,' José Rizal, became a Mason and led the rebellion against Spanish rule, which came to a close with the Spanish-American War in 1898. After that, Masonry grew in the islands by leaps and bounds. The Grand Lodge of California issued charters for Filipino lodges, as did the Grand Orient de France, the Grand Lodge of Portugal, and the Grand Lodge of Scotland.

The Grand Lodge of the Philippines was finally formed in 1917 with the consent and cooperation of many of these foreign lodges, and today there are almost 300 lodges at work in the country. 

It seems that clashes between the fraternity and the Catholic Church in the Philippines will continue to occur. In my personal experiences (yes, I know... anecdotal observations are not facts), I have found that Filipino Masons are unquestionably the most openly enthusiastic and joyful brethren you will encounter anywhere in the world. And almost every one of them I've questioned about it say they are also enthusiastic Catholics, and that they believe there is absolutely no conflict between the two institutions. As far as they are concerned, the Vatican and Canon Law are just plain wrong, and that the Church bases its condemnation of the fraternity on misinformation, innuendo and error. That's heady stuff for a faith that insists on the doctrine of papal infallibility when the pontiff is ruling on ecclesiastical matters.

Given what happened, the most ironic statement I've seen all week came at the end of the dedication address, which concluded with the following plea: "May this marker be sanctified by the Great Architect of the Universe, under whose guidance we labor. May it stand the test of time - enduring sun and storm - as a symbol of peace, fraternity, and truth. We dedicate it not only in the name of Freemasonry, but in the name of unity - among all people of goodwill."

It's a damn shame the Augustinians somehow missed that message.

No, Notre Dame de Paris Cathedral Was NOT Restored With Masonic Symbols

PHOTO: SARAH MEYSSONNIER / REUTERS

by Christopher Hodapp

The near-miraculous rebuilding of Paris' Notre Dame Cathedral after the horrific fire of 2019 culminated in its internationally celebrated reopening over the weekend, with great fanfare and well-deserved accolades from all corners of the globe. 

English language readers, have a look at the Friends of Notre Dame de Paris website for lots of photos and details of the rebuilding and restoration work. And you might consider a donation to the efforts, if you haven't already done so.

NBC News cut together a video sampler from the ceremony itself HERE.

And here a couple of stunning restoration shots from the NPR website  courtesy of AFP last week.

But I suppose it wouldn't be France, Paris, or a massive, high-visibility construction project if some puerile, bored, knuckle-dragging keyboard troll didn't hurl a couple of pinheaded attempts at alleging a 'Masonic conspiracy' that is clearly HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT!™ regarding the cathedral's reconstruction. The top guffaw-inducing ones I saw over the weekend run the complete comedy spectrum from hee to haw. 

viz: 

• French President Macron DELIBERATELY made an inverted Masonic pyramid symbol with his fingertips, ALERTING THE ILLUMINATI MASONS!!
• The black and white checkered mosaic floor was ADDED BY FREEMASONS during the reconstruction to deliberately resemble A MASONIC LODGE!!
• A medallion mounted at the apex of the pointed arch near the entrance shows some unidentified figure surrounded by MASONIC STARS!!

(You'll note the double exclamation points to emphasize the Earth-shattering nature of these breathless revelations. Doubtless the Earth shattered at least a smidgin while you were reading them. I plumb reckon.)

When it gets to the point of the France24 English-language news service feeling the need to explain and debunk such idiocy (video below), surely you must realize you've hit the bottom of the barrel with these kinds of absurdities.  Interestingly, they are alleging the source to be a well-known Russia-based peddler of online propaganda, mischief and other assorted hogwash in the conspiracy-monger realm.

Of course, the great cathedral has been around since the 15th century and has had quite literally thousands of operative stone masons working on it over the centuries. Their handiwork and craftsmanship can be seen in every square inch of this incredible temple of faith. It was the art, the beauty, the architecture, the engineering, and the symbolism of this and so many other medieval churches that inspired 17th and 18th century Enlightenment thinkers to adapt the tools, terminology and symbolism of those ancient stone masons and the temples they created into a new kind of fraternal organization in the first place. A fraternity that seeks to create temples in the hearts of men, exhorting them to make their own bodies, hearts and minds into more perfect edifices that are suitable for the proper worship and presence of God. And in turn, making the world a better place to live in, however momentarily that might be for all of us.

If you want to believe that's conspiratorial, that's your choice. 

We rather like it as a philosophy.

Arizona Anti-Mason Posts Videos of Degree Rituals Taken Surreptitiously

by Christopher Hodapp

Following the statement last week from the Vatican reaffirming the Church's longstanding prohibition of Masonic membership for Catholics, the usual platoon of online anti-Masonic wing-nuts came tumbling out onto the Intertubz to post and re-post all the usual anti-Masonic tropes and conspiracy allegations. Most are easy to ignore, or simply dispense with by citing factual information, if anyone wants to bother wasting that much time and breath. (I've got a whole book dedicated to telling the true facts about this fraternity - not that the antis care to believe it.) But one person in particular on X-formerly-Twitter has generated a lot of discussion among Masons themselves — not out of offense or anger or indignation, but out of sadness, more than anything else. 

A self-touted "traditional Catholic influencer", "undercover journalist" and "whistleblower" called Kyle Clifton has been gleefully circulating videos of private Masonic ceremonies he claimed to have shot with a hidden camera after having joined a local lodge. Images on his posts and other clues quickly pointed to his location as Arizona. 

Lodge tylers everywhere should be familiar with his face and background, in case he turns up in your neck of the woods. That's his profile picture, depicting him with the Arizona state flag, but looking for all the world like he's sporting a radiant, holy halo of sanctity (or more correctly, smug sanctimony). 

On his various social media pages he sports an 'America first' ball cap - perhaps he missed the details that America's first president and scores of other founding luminaries who created the Declaration of Independence and hashed out the Constitution were Freemasons. But more of his absurd phobias and errors anon.

On Tuesday this week the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge F&AM of Arizona, MW George Rusk, issued a statement concerning this incident and verifying the source as an Arizona Mason:

"One of our members has posted on social media videos of our ritual. This is a breach of trust and a violation of his obligation to the craft. He took an oath and could not keep it. The information he posted is not unknown to the internet; a simple search will find something similar. But his posting did expose him as someone who cannot be trusted more than it exposed our Fraternity.

"The Grand Lodge is investigating this incident and will act upon the results according to the Arizona Masonic Code and legal advice from Grand Counsel. I request that you refrain from spreading any rumors, but if you have direct information about the posting send it to the Grand Secretary.”

This may come as a shock to those breathless readers of InfoWars and other sites that have been celebrating Kyle's puerile little incident all week, but our Masonic rituals are scarcely a Big Secret. And that's been true for a very long time. But Masons value our privacy every bit as much as Kyle, his fellow RadCaths, the staff of InfoWars and its audience all do. 

Exposés of Masonic ritual have existed since about ten minutes after the organization of the premiere grand lodge in London in 1717. When Samuel Pritchard's Masonry Dissected was published in 1730, the printer couldn't keep it in stock, it sold so fast (likely more to Masons themselves than the general public, to be used for learning their degree work). When the Nazis goose-stepped their way into Paris and began identifying French Masons, they shot an anti-Masonic propaganda film that exposed the ritual of the Grand Orient de France. In the Internet age, videos of Masonic ritual – either photographed surreptitiously, or recreated by former Masons themselves – have been circulated before. And fully typed-out Masonic rituals themselves have been posted on the web since at least the 1980s. Masonic "secrecy" has never really been about hiding our initiatic rituals from the outside world, and the various attempts to embarrass us or somehow make us apoplectic over being "exposed" don't really give us fitful nights fretting about it.

There's a certain aspect of these incidents that's always been comical. On the one hand, many comments responding to Kyle's videos have been soaked with the usual allegations of soul-destroying spookiness, Devil-worship, Satanic symbols, along with a raft of offensively anti-Jewish rhetoric, claiming the rituals are anti-Christian blasphemies and that Masons are really just evil Jews or their willing henchmen in the whole "global domination" fantasy. 

Young-shaver-me-lad and "undercover journalist" Kyle alleged in his posts, "The masonic oath & penalties are sworn over, essentially a Jewish Talmud. The 3 lamps are illuminated to mock our Holy Trinity." Such accusers believe Masons to be all-powerful, world-controlling, bald-headed, cat-stroking super villains. On the other hand, the same commenters go on to say the whole thing is a bunch of silliness, giggling over a group of middle-class guys engaging in bad acting and spouting mumbo jumbo. Puffy flyover-country Protestants who secretly pretend to be Moloch-worshiping Old Testament Hebrew priests.

So what are we – malevolent, all-powerful evildoers, moronic dupes, or suburban backyard vaudevillians? I'm confused.

Of course, Kyle himself seemed more preoccupied with the colossal prank he was pulling than in actually paying any attention to the ritual and lectures he went through when he joined. If he actually looked at the book that he took his own obligation upon, I'll bet fifty quatloos and a groat that it was a King James Version of the complete Holy Bible, and not the "Jewish Talmud" (which would be a neat trick anyway, since the last complete Talmud I saw a couple of years back filled ten large hardback volumes and about two feet of bookshelf real estate – and Masonic altars aren't usually that big). Or perhaps he mis-typed and meant the Tenach, the Hebrew origin of the Old Testament. 

In any case, it appears that he never bothered to discover that his very own version of the Bible (presuming he actually owns one) also includes the Old Testament. A subsequent video he shot depicts a large family heirloom-type King James Bible on the lodge altar, customized as a gift for Freemasons with introductory pages explaining many biblical passages and unfamiliar archaic terms that appear in Masonic ritual. It's not any sort of bizarrely edited or abridged "Masonic Bible," which he would know if he had actually checked the full text and table of contents. But perhaps he's just unfamiliar with reading Biblical text. If he had, he'd know there's an awful lot it has to say about deceivers.

The one sure thing about two-faced people is you can't trust either one. By posting these videos, Kyle exposed far more about what sort of man he really is. He clearly lied from the moment he expressed a false interest in joining, knowing his church of choice prohibits Masonic membership. In most cases, a potential candidate asks a friend or co-worker known to be a Mason if he can join — so Kyle knowingly and wittingly lied to that friend. Every step he took was deliberately deceitful, and at multiple times in his degrees he was asked ifhe was willing to proceed or withdraw. He clearly believed his deceit was just fine because he was really in the service of righteousness. . . or something. 

In light of that, who in their right mind would ever trust him now? Who'd hire him as an employee, knowing that he lies on applications, can't be trusted to keep anything private just because he was asked to do so, and makes up his own version of situational ethics? What boss would have him? What friend can ever trust him? What spouse would ever believe him? 

The truth about Masonic secrecy ever since the very beginning of the fraternity is that it's about honor. In the end, everything civilized human beings do requires honor, because your word has got to be your bond. Civilization depends on it. If you say one thing but do the opposite, society will eventually get the message and turn its back on you. If you can't keep something as dumb and trivial as a handshake or a password a secret simply because someone asked you to, how can you be trusted in anything else you say or do?

Zealous people determined to tear down Freemasonry for their own religious purposes will never be convinced that quite literally millions of Masons from 1717 up to today would never voluntarily join – and stick with – anything that was evil, sacrilegious, nefarious, or remotely ‘satanic’. Among the millions of men who have become Freemasons over three centuries have been thousands of devout Christian clergymen, and possibly hundreds of Jewish rabbis, Muslim imams, and countless other priests and leaders from among the world’s major religions. To believe that those men in particular would have any desire to belong to an organization that openly or surreptitiously engages in activities that propagate the worship, glorification or veneration of Satan – or any other spiritually evil entity of any stripe – is a completely unhinged delusion. Masonic ritual encourages every man to study his own faith, to participate in his own religion's congregation, to consult the ancient texts deemed to be holy by his own religion to find his path to eternal salvation. That includes Kyle. Freemasonry is not a religion, nor are we a path to a glorious resurrection and afterlife. And we've never claimed to be.

This is a fictional, spooky movie, boys and girls - not a Masonic meeting.

The fraternity occasionally has attracted men who really are hunting the spooky-ooky dressing up in black robes, chanting backwards in badly conjugated schoolboy Latin, burning incense and sacrificing the big-breasted blonde virgin on the altar stuff they've seen in moldy old 60's Hammer horror films (usually led by Christopher Lee). If they actually get as far as going through the very real Masonic degree rituals, they're bitterly disappointed to find out that we really aren't raising the dead and worshipping some hoary old demiurge after all.

Once the dust settles, Kyle will doubtless be expeditiously expelled from the fraternity (if he hasn't already quit or been booted out by his lodge and the grand lodge). And, contrary to what his cheering "I've exposed the Masons!" audience might childishly believe, that will be the sum total of the "penalties" he will suffer. Because, as he was doubtless told during his degrees, those "bloody penalties" he was "threatened with" during the "Masonic blood oaths" are purely symbolic, and have been from the start of the fraternity. Actually, they were rooted in what began as disfiguring penalties in medieval Europe, which prevented a man's body from being buried in the consecrated ground of a churchyard. 

Catholic churchyards, I might add.

Vatican Reaffirms Ban On Masonic Membership: Catholic Masons Shrug

by Christopher Hodapp

(This story has been slightly updated 11/16/23 12:56PM to include an excerpt from the Vatican News explaining the origin of the DDF's position on Masonry.)

The Roman Catholic Church has officially issued a doctrinal letter this week re-affirming its longstanding ban on Masonic membership among its global flock, but Catholic Masons pretty much remain unmoved by the restriction.

In the letter released by the Vatican's Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) dated November 13th and signed by Pope Francis and DDF Prefect Cardinal Victor Fernández, it is stated that "Active membership in Freemasonry by a member of the faithful is prohibited, because of the irreconcilability between Catholic doctrine and Freemasonry." 

The Rome headquarters of the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith (Photo: Vatican News)

The DDF is responsible for interpreting the Church's Canon Law when questions and disagreements arise over the application of the rules.

According to official Vatican state media, the letter was a response to a bishop from the Philippines who was alarmed by what he sees as a growing number of Freemasons in that predominantly Catholic country, and wanted to know how to respond pastorally. The DDF statement cites a 1983 declaration, originally issued by the late Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger who was the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith at the time, stating that Catholics "in Masonic associations are in a state of grave sin and may not receive Holy Communion." 

As the Vatican News website explains,

The November 1983 declaration was published shortly before the new Code of Canon Law entered into force. The 1983 CIC replaced the Code of Canon Law published in 1917; among the new features noted – by some with satisfaction, by others with concern – was the absence of an explicit condemnation of Freemasonry and excommunication for those affiliated with it. Both had been present in the earlier Code. The Declaration, signed by the then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and the Secretary of the Congregation, Archbishop Jérôme Hamer, and approved by John Paul II, reiterated that Catholics affiliated with Masonic lodges are “in a state of grave sin.”

Ratzinger would go on to become Pope Benedict XVI, who was widely regarded as extremely conservative in his views. But according to this new communication, it appears that sentiments haven't changed in the Curia.

Click to enlarge

The letter states that:

“Membership in Freemasonry is very significant in the Philippines; it involves not only those who are formally enrolled in Masonic Lodges but, more generally, a large number of sympathizers and associates who are personally convinced that there is no opposition between membership in the Catholic Church and in Masonic Lodges . . . On the doctrinal level, it should be remembered that active membership in Freemasonry by a member of the faithful is forbidden because of the irreconcilability between Catholic doctrine and Freemasonry.”

That the famously liberal Pope Francis would now reaffirm his predecessor's opinion on Masonic membership some 40 years after Ratzinger's weighing in on the matter is an exceptionally disappointing blow to the hundreds of thousands of Catholic men around the world who are Masons and who don't regard the fraternity as irreconcilable with their faith in any way. 

By contrast, the same office said last week that transgender people can be baptized, serve as godparents and act as witnesses at Catholic weddings. The two issues aren't at all related, but Vatican watchers have long conjectured that Pope Francis would make dramatic changes to Canon Law like permitting married priests and nuns, homosexual weddings and other radical alterations to the rules and traditions of the Church. For him to stick with the ban on Masonic membership, of all things, seems out of character for him.

Freemasonry was first condemned by Pope Clement XII back in 1734, just 17 years after the formation of the Premiere Grand Lodge of England. For another 200 years Popes continued to issue papal bulls and encyclicals against the fraternity, sometimes more from a political power viewpoint than a religious one. Language specifically forbidding Freemasonry to Catholics (along with Kiwanis, Rotary and other associative fraternal organizations with secular memberships) was enshrined as a part of Canon Law from 1917 until the enormous revisions of the Second Vatican Council were adopted by 1965. The Church wrongly asserts that Freemasonry is its own "naturalistic religion" that promotes "indifferentism," and that its rituals deliberately ape religious ceremonies and offers a path to eternal salvation through a doctrine of merely doing good works on Earth. It regards Masonic use of the term "Great Architect of the Universe" as a deistic concept and opposes any notion that a person can be pleasing to God regardless of his religion. It's not an unusual position for any large denomination to take to protect its spiritual turf rights by claiming its path is the only way to salvation, but  it's a woefully mistaken interpretation of what the rituals of regular, recognized "Ancient Craft Masonry" actually say.

The Vatican II revisions of the 1960s stripped out the specific names of groups that had been ruled off limits in 1917, and just generically banned groups that actively were anti-Catholic. While French-derived "continental Freemasonry" really has espoused anti-Catholic sentiments and actively promoted "free will" and lobbied for strict secularism in France's national laws, such Masonic groups are shunned as "irregular" by English/Scottish-derived grand lodges that make up the vast majority of what is called "regular, recognized" Freemasonry all over the world today. In addition, the Scottish Rite "higher degrees" that first came out of France in the 1700s and were revised in the U.S. by Albert Pike in the late 1800s did contain a Knights Kadosh ritual that condemned both monarchial and papal "tyranny" which were seen as interfering with free will in men. Such a point of view hardly convinced the Church's authorities to ever look kindly on the fraternity.

A March 28, 2023 article on the Union of Catholic Asian News website reported on the Masonic questions coming out of the Philippines: 

“We thought the Catholic Church’s teachings have changed. Since several participants in the synod were Freemasons, we thought the Church has relaxed the rules on its membership and its participation in activities of the Catholic Church,” Quezon City parishioner Gloria Buencamino, 43, told UCA News on March 26.

Buencamino claimed some “extraordinary” ministers who helped the priest distribute communion during Mass in their parish were also Freemasons.

“In our parish alone, we have two of them and they were delegates to the Synod on Synodality. They are good and pious Catholics. Personally, I was surprised to see the CBCP has released the pastoral guidelines,” Buencamino added.

But the bishops’ commission clarified that “nothing has changed” and asserted that those joining Masonry will incur canonical penalties.

“Yet, given the sensitivity and delicateness of the issue in the Philippine setting, it has also shown ‘openness,’ in the exercise of pastoral circumspection, towards Catholics who may have unwittingly in good faith sought membership in Masonic associations with the best of intentions,” said the commission chairman, Bishop Jose R. Rojas of Libmanan.

It should be understood that Masonic grand lodges don't ban Catholics from joining - the restriction has always been a one-way street. Masonic membership only requires a man have a belief in God or a Supreme Being, and perhaps an associated belief in a spiritual afterlife (depending on the jurisdiction – each grand lodge jurisdiction can be slightly different). No one should be asking you your specific religious denomination as part of the petitioning process, apart from being able to accommodate your religious requirements when our ceremonies involve an obligation taken on a volume of sacred law that's specific to your beliefs. A lodge isn't a church, and your private beliefs regarding your personal relationship with the Almighty are seen as just that – private.

Because of that policy, lodges and grand lodges don't keep records and statistics tabulating the specific religious practices and denominations of their members, but recent voluntary polling shows that as many as 23% of U.S. Masons may be Catholic. If true, that works out to about 230,000 Catholic Masons in America alone. And if that holds true globally (just making a supposition), there may be a million or more Catholic Masons worldwide. In countries where the Catholic population is much higher than in the U.S. (as in Central and South American nations and the Philippines) the percentages are most probably even higher. Obviously, these men aren't letting their church get away with telling them their fraternity is irreconcilable with their faith when they know that to be demonstrably false. Quite the opposite — Freemasonry encourages each Mason to study and support his own religious institution and its traditions as part of a well-rounded individual, while respecting the personal beliefs of others. 

Oddly enough, Pope Francis issued an encyclical just last year called Fratelli Tutti ("All Brothers") which called on the world's political and religious leaders to create a new, ecumenical, "universal brotherhood" to help overcome Mankind's differences. 

Some excerpts included:

Paragraph #6. It is my desire that, in this our time, by acknowledging the dignity of each human person, we can contribute to the rebirth of a universal aspiration to fraternity. Fraternity between all men and women. “Here we have a splendid secret that shows us how to dream and to turn our life into a wonderful adventure. No one can face life in isolation… We need a community that supports and helps us, in which we can help one another to keep looking ahead. How important it is to dream together… By ourselves, we risk seeing mirages, things that are not there. Dreams, on the other hand, are built together”. Let us dream, then, as a single human family, as fellow travelers sharing the same flesh, as children of the same earth which is our common home, each of us bringing the richness of his or her beliefs and convictions, each of us with his or her own voice, brothers and sisters all.

Paragraph #8. “It is my desire that, in this our time, by acknowledging the dignity of each human person, we can contribute to the rebirth of a universal aspiration to fraternity.”

Paragraph #46. We should also recognize that destructive forms of fanaticism are at times found among religious believers, including Christians; they too “can be caught up in networks of verbal violence through the internet and the various forums of digital communication. Even in Catholic media, limits can be overstepped, defamation and slander can become commonplace, and all ethical standards and respect for the good name of others can be abandoned”. How can this contribute to the fraternity that our common Father asks of us?

Paragraph #95. “Love also impels us towards universal communion. No one can mature or find fulfillment by withdrawing from others. By its very nature, love calls for growth in openness and the ability to accept others as part of a continuing adventure that makes every periphery converge in a greater sense of mutual belonging. As Jesus told us: “You are all brothers” (Mt 23:8).

Paragraph #254. “I ask God to prepare our hearts to encounter our brothers and sisters, so that we may overcome our differences rooted in political thinking, language, culture and religion. Let us ask him to anoint our whole being with the balm of his mercy, which heals the injuries caused by mistakes, misunderstandings and disputes. And let us ask him for the grace to send us forth, in humility and meekness, seeking peace.” 

Paragraph #272. “As believers, we are convinced that, without an openness to the Father of all, there will be no solid and stable reasons for an appeal to fraternity. We are certain that “only with this awareness that we are not orphans, but children, can we live in peace with one another”. For “reason, by itself, is capable of grasping the equality between men and of giving stability to their civic coexistence, but it cannot establish fraternity”.

Paragraph #277. “The Church esteems the ways in which God works in other religions, and “rejects nothing of what is true and holy in these religions. She has a high regard for their manner of life and conduct, their precepts and doctrines which… often reflect a ray of that truth which enlightens all men and women.”

Paragraph #281. “A journey of peace is possible between religions. Its point of departure must be God’s way of seeing things. God does not see with his eyes, God sees with his heart. And God’s love is the same for everyone, regardless of religion. Even if they are atheists, his love is the same. When the last day comes, and there is sufficient light to see things as they really are, we are going to find ourselves quite surprised.” 

Paragraph #287. “He [Christ] wanted to be, in the end, “the universal brother” … May God inspire that dream in each one of us. Amen.”

To Catholic Freemasons around the world last year, such a proposed ecumenical assembly sounded mighty familiar, and many held out hope that this pontiff would finally drop restrictions on their already-existing "universal brotherhood." But obviously not. Of course, to the 'Militant Catholics' wing within the Church that has hated Francis from the day he was elected, last year's encyclical was clear proof to them that he's really a not-so-secret Jesuit Freemason anti-pope out to destroy the Vatican from within. Or something.

Of course, there's so much anti-Francis sentiment among traditional Catholics around the world, it's possible this anti-Masonic statement was nothing more than damage control on his part. In any case, Pope Francis' agreement with the anti-Masonic position is not a hopeful one for Catholic Masons who want the Church to loosen its stiff-necked rules on the subject. Telling Catholics the world over that they can't belong the largest, oldest, and best known fraternal organization that does exactly what the "universal brotherhood" Francis described last year just is not going to have the effect Rome is hoping for. But most Catholic Masons don't seem to be losing much sleep over it. 

Myself? I sleep like a baby.

Amen in aeternum.

Saipan Masons Donate Tower Clock to Catholic Cathedral

by Christopher Hodapp

Freemasons help their communities all over the world, and in countless ways. In the village of Chalan Kanoa on the Pacific island of Saipan, local Masons have just completed the installation of a new tower clock at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cathedral. The cathedral is the mother church and seat of the bishop of the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa. 

According to the Marianas Variety newspaper website today, the Brethren from Emon Lodge No. 179 donated the clock and their labor to install it at the Catholic cathedral. The tower's original clock was destroyed by Super Typhoon Yutu in October of 2018:

From the article:

The members of the Emon Masonic Lodge No. 179 under the leadership of Worshipful Master Joel I. Subang on Wednesday turned over the new tower clock they installed at Mount Carmel Cathedral.

“I feel very much pleased to thank the brethren who worked together to make this project a reality,” Subang said, adding that the project was initiated by Very Worshipful Master Bong Malasarte... Through brotherly love, charity and faith in God, everything becomes possible,” Subang said, as he urged the Freemasons on Saipan to continue working together in serving the community."

[snip]

Bishop Ryan Jimenez of the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa expressed his appreciation to the Emon Masonic Lodge No. 179 for its contributions to the church.

“I am truly and sincerely grateful to all of you for your kindness and generosity. You’ve been very helpful to the community,” Bishop Jimenez said as he acknowledged Saipan Mayor David M.  Apatang and Honorary Philippine Consul to the CNMI Glicerio “Eli” Arago for their assistance and support.

“The church is just a structure; it’s just a building, but more than that building is really our faith that can withstand any storm,” Bishop Jimenez said. 

Worshipful Master Joel I. Subang

Mayor Apatang said the Emon Lodge No. 179 has been very supportive and active in the community.

“We truly appreciate it,” he said, as he thanked the Freemasons for their partnership with the local community.

A quick look across the Internet reveals that the Masons of Emon Lodge have been very active about taking on community service projects in their area. They have helped clean up after typhoons and hurricanes, they have built bus stops, assisted neighbors during storms, and much more.

While Saipan and the other Marianna Islands are U.S. Territories, Emon Lodge is chartered by the Grand Lodge F&AM of the Philippines. 

New Book by Austrian Priest Urges Reconciliation Between Catholicism and Masonry

The argument within the Roman Catholic Church over whether current Canon Law forbids Masonic membership continues apace. Entering into the fray, a new book has just been published in Austria, the Loge und Altar: Über die Aussöhnung von Katholischer Kirche und regulärer Freimaurerei (Lodge and Altar: On the Reconciliation of the Catholic Church and Regular Freemasonry) written by Father Michael Heinrich Weninger, a member of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. He announced the book last week at a press conference in Vienna, and was accompanied by Grand Master Georg Semler of the Grand Lodge of Austria AF&AM on the dais. 

Weninger's book is based on his 2019 doctoral dissertation Über die Aussöhnung von Katholischer Kirche und regulärer Freimaurerei (On the Reconciliation of the Catholic Church and Regular Freemasonry) completed at the Pontifical Gregorian University. He was ordained as a priest in 2011.

Almost instantaneously after the book's announcement last week, the 'Catholic Militant' wing of the Internet erupted with indignation and demands for Weninger's immediate excommunication. Catholic hardliners have long declared that Freemasonry promotes 'indifferentism,' Deism and naturalism, which makes it heretical and in direct opposition to Church teachings and doctrine.

The reason why this is not just some minor or academic issue these days is because that two recent surveys of U.S. Freemasons have shown that about 20% of current American Masons declare that they are Roman Catholics. That means there may be about 235,000 Catholic Freemasons in the U.S. in 2020. And it's entirely possible that a similar percentage holds true throughout the rest of the Masonic world.

Father Michael Weninger

Back in 2014, Fr. Weninger celebrated a mass at the consecration of a new English Mark Master's lodge, St. Margaret’s Lodge No 1954, in the Austrian town of Swettl. He was named on a public website as the Chaplain during officer installations of three lodges, and he's been attacked in the hardline Catholic anti-Masonic press ever since. For decades, there have been countless conspiracy theories touted that "the Freemasons" are attempting to dismantle and destroy the Catholic Church from within the Vatican, and hardliners regularly insist that the administrative bureaucracy of the Vatican (the Roman Curia) is packed with secret Masonic clergy hellbent on heretical subversion. Or something.

I'm unsure where Fr. Weninger gets his figures, but he estimates there could be as many as two million Catholic Freemasons in the world. There's no real way of knowing, since Freemasons don't ask their members what their religious denomination happen to be. The surveys I cited above were conducted over the Internet and were voluntary, self-reporting ones. But in predominantly Catholic countries where Freemasonry is popular, such as the Philippines, I have seen estimates of their Catholic Masonic membership as high as 80%.

In his new book (currently only available in a German language edition), Weninger makes a strong argument that Catholics are not forbidden to become Freemasons, and that the Church needs to adjust its rules to account for the vast differences between regular, recognized Freemasonry, versus the very different irregular, unrecognized version practiced by some 'continental' Masons - most notably, the Grand Orient de France and its descendants. The GOdF permits atheists to join their lodges, and has historically (and quite publicly) fought against Catholic influence in France for at least 140 years or more—arguably longer. The GOdF and some of its high profile members over the years have, in some ways, been the among the loudest political antagonists of the Church in Europe since the 1780s. Fr. Weninger wants the Church to finally admit that the Anglo-American style of regular Freemasonry is no enemy of the Church and that their rules need to account for the differences.

This argument has been tried several times over the last six decades and longer, but the official position of the Church remains confusing to Catholic Masons, parish priests and bishops, and even cardinals. On the one hand, Freemasonry is not specifically forbidden by name or even mentioned in current Canon Law of the Catholic Church, which is Fr. Weninger's principal point. On the other hand, an official declaration of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) in 1983, written by then-Cardinal and Prefect Joseph Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI), declared that Canon Law DOES forbid Masonic membership, even if it isn't mentioned by name:

"[T]he Church’s negative judgment in regard to Masonic association remains unchanged since their principles have always been considered irreconcilable with the doctrine of the Church and therefore membership in them remains forbidden. The faithful who enrol in Masonic associations are in a state of grave sin and may not receive Holy Communion.

"It is not within the competence of local ecclesiastical authorities to give a judgment on the nature of Masonic associations which would imply a derogation from what has been decided above..."

The CDF acts as sort of a Supreme Court tribunal when it comes to rendering official Vatican positions on the subject of Canon Law, and is a hybrid of both religious and legal experts. When you lock any two lawyers in a room and ask them to debate a legal question, you'll get eight opinions — three of them passionate — and lots of qualifiers. But when it's about Canon Law, you also have to hurl in a gaggle of popes, theologians, bishops and cardinals, ambitious officials hunting local and Vatican appointments or advancement, and lots of armchair experts, along with about 1,900 years' worth of precedents, edicts, and opinions. 

And that's why the Freemason question remains so hotly debated whenever the topic arises among Church insiders and the modern hardline movement of so-called 'Catholic militants.' Cardinal Ratzinger's 1983 declaration concerning Freemasonry still being forbidden for Catholics to join was an official legal position affirmed by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1983.  Yet, Freemasonry is NOT forbidden in Canon Law itself, because what is described in general terms in the law itself does not resemble the regular, recognized Freemasonry practiced by millions of men the world over. 

To cite a deliberately incendiary simile, it's analogous to saying, "I don't find abortion mentioned in the U.S. Constitution." It's not, but the Supreme Court rendered a controversial a decision on the matter and issued a majority opinion as to why they found it constitutional. That opinion remains the law until another decision comes down the road and either changes it or reaffirms it. Which means that states and municipalities seeking to overturn or alter the Supreme Court decision attempt to pass new laws that might be found compelling enough to a future court to change its collective mind.

The Roman Catholic Church has had a variety of justifications for opposing Freemasonry over the last 280 years or so, some doctrinal, some ideological, some political, some delusional, and even once or twice, just cases of vengeance. Catholics who join the fraternity who subsequently choose to remain Masons in defiance of Church policy do so for very important reasons: they actually see for themselves that Freemasonry does NOT conflict with the Church; that Masonry inspires them to strengthen their faith, not weaken it; that lodges advocate for their members to participate in their own churches and live by the precepts of their faith; and Freemasonry is not 'relativistic' or 'indifferent' concerning all religious faiths in any way, other than seeking a way to prevent religious arguments within the confines of the lodge by simply agreeing to use general terms for God that men of differing faiths will not find offensive or argumentative. In other words, the Freemasonry they see and live with daily has nothing to do with the way the Church formerly characterized it in Canon Law. So, every few years a couple of Masons and a couple of clerics get together and delude themselves into believing they can convince the Vatican to stop niggling at this same sore tooth, which never happens.

Works by notorious hoaxer Leo Taxil perpetuated the
myth of Satanic elements and worship in Freemasonry

Unfortunately, the most commonly recurring accusation in the Church's official and unofficial position against Freemasonry since the 1730s has been that it is 'heretical.' Masons have always known this to be completely untrue and a spurious slander. Worse, by the 1800s there were increasing attempts by Catholic leaders and authors to brand Freemasonry as 'Satanic' in nature (Leo Taxil's famous hoaxes being the most notorious), and that thread has persisted for more than two centuries. Again, actual Masons know this to be an absurd contention, especially for the largest religious denomination in the world to promulgate. 

Jack Chick's tracts reinforced the lie that heretical
elements and Satan worship are hidden from 'low-ranking' Masons
and revealed only in "the highest degrees."

Catholic Masons especially are galled by the notion that they are just too stupid, too 'low-ranking,' or too easily duped to comprehend that Freemasonry has somehow hidden this and hoodwinked them into 'worshiping Satan.' Because, you know, it's a big secret—EVERYBODY knows it. Everybody, that is, except for actual Freemasons.

As early as the 1890s when the Church organized an Anti-Masonic Congress at Trent and the Universal Anti-Masonic Union,  it was a delegation of German prelates who were the only attendees who scoffed at the wild accusations of Devil-worship, heresy and worse. Over the last 60 years, German, Austrian, Scandinavian, Mexican and South American clergy and bishops have made numerous argumentsto try to convince the CDF (and the succession of popes) that there is a vast difference between regular and irregular Masonry and our position about religion among our members. But when cornered on the subject, anti-Masonic Vatican officials who are often charged with deciding complex 'angels on pinheads' types of theological and doctrinal questions suddenly declare Freemasonry to be too complicated and confusing for them to see any differences between grand lodges and appendant groups. So they usually fall back on the 'heresy' argument as their most unbroachable accusation.

Freemasonry deserves at least as much latitude within the policies of the Catholic Church as other religious denominations or service organizations do—namely, respect for its devotion to its mission of a worldwide brotherhood of toleration, mutual respect, charity, and support for its members that seeks to unite men who would have otherwise remained at a perpetual distance because of arguments about divisive matters like religion. Masonry is a attempt to tear down barriers, not erect them. Ascribing some sort of nefarious, evil motive to the millions of regular, recognized Freemasons or subtext to the institution itself is a judgement based on either ignorance or deliberate deceitfulness. Far too many men of impeccable character for more than three centuries have embraced Freemasonry, while being models of faithfully religious belief and practice. And a great many of them have been Catholics on the quiet. If the surveys are correct, one fifth of our U.S. members are currently Catholics. Make of that what you will.

Father Winenger told reporters during his press conference that he has given a copy of his new book to Pope Francis and to influential members of the Curia. Far be it from me to tell him his quest is quixotic at best, and I admire his courage. Other priests who have revealed their Masonic membership or sympathies over the years have not fared well in the tribunals of the CDF when it got that far.

While waiting for an English version of his book that might never come, I highly recommend Fabio Venzi's excellent The Last Heresy: The Catholic Church and Freemasonry, published in 2019. It's some of the most recent scholarship, includes much material that hasn't been assembled in one place before, and written by a distinguished Italian Mason in English.