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Posted on 07/19/2006 10:40:38 AM PDT by Youngstown
IS THE NEW CATHEDRAL TO PADRE PIO IN SAN GIOVANNI ROTONDO ACTUALLY A "MASONIC TEMPLE"?
I have just received and am in the process of studying a special issue, #381 (March 2006), of the Italian religious magazine “CHIESA VIVA”. It is my understanding that in March 2006 this special issue was sent by the publisher/editor of “Chiesa Viva”, Dr. Monsignor Luigi Villa, to Catholic & 'catholic' priests, Bishops, Cardinals, as well as a selected group of Italian lay persons including members of the judiciary. This entire special issue deals with only one subject, that being the inauguration in July 2004 (construction began in 1996) of the new Cathedral dedicated to Padre Pio of San Giovanni Rotondo. The authors allege that after years of study they are now able to prove that this new church is in fact, NOT a Catholic Church, but rather a “Masonic temple”!
The authors (the engineer Franco Adessa) further allege that they have analyzed the complete church structure including the entry doors to the church, the altar plus the cross that hovers over it, the chapel of Adoration with the Tabernacle made out of jet black stone with the 13 plaques of silver as well as the immense stone cross that towers 40 meters over the piazza.
The authors allege that Masonic symbols are apparent everywhere. The authors allege that their special issue of Chiesa Viva has put into focus an alleged Masonic plan to DO battle with God by attempting to destroy the Catholic Church with Masonic Ecumenism. According to the authors the most devastating aspect of this blasphemy is the direct insult to the Holy Trinity and Our Lord Jesus Christ that have been symbolically displaced from the Cross and the Tabernacle and replaced by the blasphemous “Masonic triple trinity” and of Lucifer in person.
The authors allege that this story is one of money, power and control that go to the very top. To date news services around the world seem to be totally unaware of what has allegedly transpired in San Giovanni Rotondo, not one word has been uttered by the Vatican or other officials and millions of devotees to Saint Padre Pio are unaware and would be outraged if they ever suspected that their donations (estimated to be over $250,000,000.00 US) had been used to allegedly defame their beloved Saint!
If these allegations are in fact verified the scandal could be enormous. Millions of Catholics devoted to Padre Pio would be shocked and angry. The scandal would involve huge sums of money, the defamation of a Sainted Priest loved world wide by millions, the undermining of Faith, the undermining of the Catholic Hierarchy. It seems that officially no one in the Vatican is talking about this alleged scandal, even though a special reunion took place in San Giovanni Rotondo, on May 1 through May 6, 2006 attended by 150 Vatican experts including the Secretary of State Sodano. Ostensibly these experts converged on San Giovanni Rotondo to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the hospital (Casa di Sollievo della Sofferenza) by Padre Pio. Their meetings were open to the public during the day, however, their closed door evening meetings were allegedly dedicated to high level discussions of the Chiesa Viva special issue #381.It was subsequently reported, confidentially, that the Vatican has adopted an official solution that essentially amounts to total silence on this matter! If this is true then the allegations of Chiesa Viva may be much more than allegations and silence on the part of the Vatican is tantamount to conceding victory to Chiesa Viva. How long can this story be kept under wraps before the devotees of Padre Pio find out that they and their saint have been betrayed!?
closehttp://www.scripturecatholic.com/three_degrees.html
Not even close
Dear 5Madman2,
The men in your Lodge who claim to be Catholic are, by their membership in your Lodge, no longer Catholics in good standing.
If, because of your membership in Masonry, you prefer not to be a Catholic, although I'd disagree with your conclusion, but I'd understand why you came to it.
sitetest
The times, they are achangin'...
Dear FJ290,
"Sorry to disappoint you so that you can't insult me, but I'm not one. I am involved in other aspects of the Church that don't allow me enough time to be a member of the Knights."
We'll take ya anyway. ;-) Just come to meetings once in a while, and do a few activities a year.
S/K sitetest, DGK, PGK
Yet, it was and apparently still is, for some, the fact that Freemasonry has always espoused freedom of association, tolerance, and free speech, that drove the RCC to distraction. You just can't have any of THAT, now can we. LOL
Whose free speech? or free association? Certainly not those who were faithful to the Catholic Church. Masonry always have shown intolerance to Catholics wherever it has held sway. Just do a search under anticlericalism and freemasonry.
It's obvious Masonry's actions speak louder than its empty words.
http://www.trosch.org/bks/freemasonry.html
France. Freemasonry crossed the English channel in 1721; the first Continental lodge was chartered at Dunkirk. The lodges in France dallied with occultism and inspired dozens of new degrees and rites, most of which have fallen into disuse. Facing the hostility of the Church, the French lodges tended to atheism and anticlericalism from the beginning. French Freemasons honor Voltaire as one of their brothers. When the grand master of the grand orient, Philippe-Egalité, resigned his position in 1793, French Masonry suffered a serious blow. Modern historians agree that the role of Masonry in the French Revolution has usually been exaggerated. Napoleon sought to harness the lodges to his service, although whether he was a Mason is doubtful. He did appoint his brother Joseph to be grand master in 1805. From the fall of the MacMahon government in 1877 to the start of World War II, Masonic politicians controlled the French government. They passed anticlerical laws designed to restrict the Church's influence, especially in education. Marshal Pétain closed the lodges; and although they were again free after the war, they have not regained their former influence in national life.
Germany and Scandinavia. A veneer of Christianity tinged with anti-Semitism has covered most German and Scandinavian lodges, which usually refuse to initiate Jews or non-Christians. Their rituals include more allusions to Christianity than would be considered appropriate in the English, American, or grand orient lodges. The first German lodge was established in Hamburg in 1737. For a time Frederick the Great dabbled in Freemasonry, and a number of the Hohenzollern family and Prussian officers took Masonic degrees. German Freemasons fostered the Kulturkampf and helped further the dominance of the Prussian state. German Masonry has always been fragmented. At one time nine independent grand lodges claimed the loyalty of 85,000 members. These were obliterated by the Nazis, but after World War II, German lodges were reestablished by American army officers and now number about 250.
In Scandinavia the kings have been the hereditary grand masters and patrons of Masonry. As elsewhere in Europe the lodges enroll an elite who undergo lengthy indoctrination and enter the higher degrees only after strict surveillance and by invitation. The grand lodges in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark have been recognized by the United Grand Lodge of England, although the Christian and sometimes Swedenborgian elements in their rites are foreign to an Anglo-American or grand orient Mason.
Belgium. The grand orient of Belgium has long been known for deep involvement in politics and a virulent anti-Catholicism. Many other Masonic jurisdictions have severed relations with the Belgians for these and other reasons. The first Belgian lodge was opened in 1765. Belgian Masons founded Brussels University (1834) to counteract the influence of the Catholic University of Louvain. A recent schism in Belgian Freemasonry has resulted in a grand orient and a grand lodge. The latter has been recognized by most grand lodges in the U.S.
They likely call it that because Padre Pio was believed to have the Stigmata, that is, wounds on his hands similar to those Christ had from being nailed to the Cross. Nonetheless, naming a deliberate mutilation after Padre Pio is disgusting. But that's not surprising considering that the leadership of the IRA was called "The Twelve Apostles".
Nopardons is just not well educated in the Masonic Lodge's role in anti-Catholic bigotry and murder. That's it.
For most of its history, America was anti-Catholic. Even well into the middle of the 20th century and JFK's presidential run, the anti-Catholic bigotry was rampant. I am not condoning this; just stating a factual historical point. The reason for that, is that you are making broad assertions about Freemasonry, which are not true. Masonry would and DID accept Catholics into the Craft, bearing NO animosity towards Roman Catholics, even though the Catholic church bore extreme and unfounded animus against it.
It was Protestant, all over this country, who, for more than a century, did everything they could do, to prevent Catholics from starting parochial schools. And to also prevent any kind of public funding for such things as school buses. There WERE quotas for Catholics, as there were for Jews, at ALL Ivy League colleges. William F. Buckley even wrote about about this, in his first book.
I'm glad that your friend gave you information and books which allowed you to see that what sometimes gets posted to such threads, as "fact", isn't. Thank you for posting that.
And yes, many weirdo groups, both in the past and today, have called themselves Masons or some kind of Masons, when, in fact, they weren't and had NO connection, whatsoever, to/with Freemasonry.
Freemasonry is NOT a religion. But it actually DOES have head officers and a Grand Lodge that oversees smaller ones inside each state. And yes, they DO condemn the non-Masonic organizations, that call themselves some sort of a Masonic group.
AFAIK, ALL of American Freemasonry have the same rites and orders. And the same is true in England.
The fact is, that many Catholics have been Masons; both in America and in Europe. Various Popes have, at different times, ignored Masonry, condemned one or two of the lodges, condemned ALL of Freemasonry, and didn't think that there was anything wrong with it. Pick a time period and you'll get a different Papal assessment of it, until somewhat recently.
If your religious beliefs preclude you from joining, that's understandable. What is neither understandable nor acceptable, is the sometimes vituperate, uncalled for, spurious slander, libel, and tinfoil covered replies, made by the anti-Masons to FR.
Hmmmmmmmm...are you trying to imply that Masons marched on Catholic homes, with flaming torches, because they were Catholics?
Your intolerance, ignorance, anti-anything and everything NOT Catholic, is bigotry of the worst kind.
You're really just too, too, too funny!
George Washington
James Monroe
Andrew Jackson
James K. Polk
James Buchanan
Andrew Johnson
James A, Garfield
William McKinley
Theodore Roosevelt
William H. Taft
Warren G. Harding
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Harry S. Truman
Lyndon B. Johnson
Gerald R. Ford
That's 15, not 14. :-)
Well said.
All of them. LOL
Then why did I see Bill Clinton's name among its list of famous Masons when I attended a Scottish rite Masonic ceremony in Reading, Pa., in 2000? His name was listed on one of their official publications that I read while there.
I attended the Masonic ceremony as a journalist who was on an assignment.
hmmm, I wonder which one I missed, you may want to add one more, Taft was so fat he can be counted as 2.
Dear nopardons,
I don't know why you're shouting at me. I didn't say that Masonry IS a religion. Yet, it endeavors to instruct about religious questions. It bases its instruction on what Catholics call natural revelation. I understand why it excludes Divine revelation - then it would become sectarian. Whose "divine revelation" would it use?
However, the exclusive reliance on natural revelation is a problem for the Catholic Church, and not unfairly so.
"The reason for that, is that you are making broad assertions about Freemasonry, which are not true."
Certainly they're true. If you want to deny history, go ahead, but Masonry was instrumental in creating support for anti-Catholic Blaine amendments, among other things.
Now, I allowed in my previous post that this was likely in part that anti-Catholic bigotry was widespread at the time, and the Masons in the US were typically just a bunch of good ol' Protestant fellas who happened to hate Catholics just as much as their non-Masonic neighbors.
Nonetheless, Masonic organizations were used to do very anti-Catholic things.
"Masonry would and DID accept Catholics into the Craft, bearing NO animosity towards Roman Catholics, even though the Catholic church bore extreme and unfounded animus against it."
Ah, you can't have it both ways, talking about the general anti-Catholic bigotry and trying to portray Masonry as some Catholic-welcoming organization.
"The fact is, that many Catholics have been Masons;..."
Well, if you accept the notion that the Catholic Church may define its own terms for membership, actually, many former Catholics have been Masons, as, according to Church law, to become a Mason is to cease to be a Catholic.
"Various Popes have, at different times, ignored Masonry, condemned one or two of the lodges, condemned ALL of Freemasonry, and didn't think that there was anything wrong with it."
You may not understand how the Magisterial authority of the Catholic Church works. That one pope condemns and another makes no mention does not mean that the condemnation is lifted, only that the next felt no need to reiterate what was already clearly taught.
"If your religious beliefs preclude you from joining, that's understandable."
It is the teaching of the Catholic Church that makes it impossible for Catholics to join the Masons. As a devout Catholic, I obey the authoritative teachings of the Church.
"What is neither understandable nor acceptable, is the sometimes vituperate, uncalled for, spurious slander, libel, and tinfoil covered replies, made by the anti-Masons to FR."
I agree, and I think some of the stuff said here goes too far. Nonetheless, I have two problems with the Masons here, and generally:
1. The denial of anti-Catholicism on the part of many Masonic organizations. Nopardons, I'm happy to concede that not every Lodge, not every grouping of Masons has been anti-Catholic over the course of history, and I'm happy to recognize diversity in Masonry.
But to deny that many Masonic organizations have, at least at different times, engaged in anti-Catholic bigotry is a denial of history. You may desire the caveat of, "Well, EVERYONE in that place and time was anti-Catholic, why would you expect the Masons to behave differently?"
And I'll give you a point on that.
Nevertheless, these organizations DID engage in anti-Catholic actions.
2. I despise when Masons tell me how many Catholics they know who are Masons. You know ABSOLUTELY NO CATHOLICS who are Masons, because from the moment they took their first Masonic degree, they ceased to be practicing Catholics. Plain and simple. They may still go to the Catholic Church, the priest may still give them communion (either unwittingly, or wittingly, and thus themselves in grave sin for offering the Blessed Sacrament to a Mason), but ontologically, they are no longer practicing Catholics.
That is the law of the Church, and the Church has the right to define its own terms of membership.
sitetest
I'm sorry you're so ignorant and ill-informed.
It's time to do a little research, instead of engaging in denial. Freemasonry=relativism.
ROFLOL!
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