"Since the Grand Lodge started claiming Popes as enrolled members..."
The only place I have seen accusations of Masonic Popes is from websites or publications run by catholic schismatics. Do you have any authoritative source for this?
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If you want on (or off) this Catholic and Pro-Life ping list, let me know!
Aren't both the KOC and the Freemasons basically just drinking groups for older men?
They may have stood for something at one time, but from what I've heard, both are in great decline and are now largely irrelevant.
While ALL Shriners are Masons, not all Masons are Shriners!
Just WHAT is with you people's obsession with Shriner parade cars, anyway? And they are NOT "go-carts"!
uglybiker, please ping the gang. I'll be back, to join in the fray.
QUAESITUM EST Declaration on Masonic Associations |
Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith |
It has been asked whether there has been any change in the Church's decision in regard to Masonic associations since the new Code of Canon Law does not mention them expressly, unlike the previous code. This sacred congregation is in a position to reply that this circumstance is due to an editorial criterion which was followed also in the case of other associations likewise unmentioned inasmuch as they are contained in wider categories. Therefore, the Church's negative judgment in regard to Masonic associations 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 enroll 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, and this in line with the declaration of this sacred congregation issued Feb. 17,1981. [1] In an audience granted to the undersigned cardinal prefect, the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II approved and ordered the publication of this declaration which had been decided in an ordinary meeting of this sacred congregation. Rome, from the Office of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Nov. 26, 1983 Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger Prefect Father Jerome Hamer, O. P. Titular Archbishop of Lorium Notes 1. Cf. AAS 73 (1981) pp. 240-241. |
You should really try to find out what the Catholic Church actually teaches before you criticize it. |
(Dons flame retardant suit).
I can understand your desire to warn Catholics against joining the Masons, but this article seems to imply that all Freemasons are the equivalent of Communists and Fascists.
Masonic LIST |
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Send uglybiker a FReepmail if you would like on/off The Masonic PING List | |
The List of Ping Lists |
Aw jeez....it's the world-wide masonic conspiracy thing again.
The main problem Catholicism (as well as Orthodoxy, Evangelicals, and even Archbiship Rowan Williams) has with Freemasonry is that classic masonic ideology is very deistic (think Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson).
The other problem is purely political. Freemasons were deeply involved in Enlightenment movements to replace monarchies with republics. At the time, the Roman Catholic Church did not savor the idea of democratic government, either in church or state, instead preferring church sanctioned monarchies.
Furthermore, Freemasons were invariably from Protestant backgrounds, meaning they were already excommunicated (and condemned to hell) anyway, according to official Vatican dogma (which I believe still stands).
Bump for later reading.
"that the "naturalism" or "universalism" preached by Masonry"
Red herring.
Freemasons don't preach anything, nor
"embrace" such beliefs at all, any more than the Boy Scouts (another masonic organization, by the way).
Aw geez, not this sh*t again. Give it up, if you want to be Catholic leave the Masons alone, we will leave you alone in return.
Yes, all men of good will have a natural tendency to want to freely associate. It falls under the right of self-determination -- a common right shared by the founders of our country and chiseled into our founding documents.
Live with it.
And read Clement's 'bull' (signed ex cathedra) and let us know what the specific charges were that were leveled against free associations, other than the fact that they were free associations, Freemasons or otherwise.
Guess what? Free Republic is a free association. You signed your screen name as a member. Doesn't that put you in jeopardy?
There's more intrigue and excitement going around here than you will ever find in a Lodge. Welcome to the real world, 'brother.'
;>
I'm against free masonry, too. I think masons should get paid for their brickwork, if they do it right.
And I'm not even Catholic!
The prayers to Lucifer (literally, "bearer of light," but also the Roman name for Venus) do not freak me out.
That they are prayed to a golden calf does.
That is not an accusation from some wild-eyed conspiracist's book; it is on display at the National Masonic Monument, in Alexandria, VA.
Incidentally, I used to think it was neat that the original plan for the DC monuments was to form a cross, with the Capital, White House, Lincoln Monument and Jefferson Memorial forming the endpoints, and the Washington Monument at the center.
When I learned the Latin tradition was to make churches with the head facing East (towards Jerusalem and the rising Sun), I realized that the mall would've formed an inverted cross (facing west). Also, the Washington Monument forms stake located not at the center of the cross, but off-center, just like the heart.
The Capital Dome is a shape formerly used for churches, not capitals, and is eerily similar to St. Peter's Basilica. Like St. Peter's, there is a huge obelisque (the Washington Monument) in front of the Capital. Also, like St. Peter's, there is now a stone circle in front of the Dome. (In the case of St. Peter's, the stones encircle the obelisque; in the case of the National Mall, the stones are just to the West.)
Consider this Google pictures:
The Vatican:
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&z=17&ll=41.902533,12.456136&spn=0.006085,0.012982&t=k&om=1
This post should take care of that.
Whatever makes you happy...
I'm still right, however, and you're still wrong.
I don't take schismatic talk seriously.
Come back to the Church!
-Theo
One way of describing the relgious views of the Masons, is "a return to Egypt."
with its nonjudemental, tolerant gods, so called. Hence the infactuation with things Egyptian. Never mind the history truth of its cruel gods, the Hebrew notion of Egypt as the land of slavery.
I just want to add this comment.
One of the most well-like pope of this century was said to be a Freemason. Cardinal Angelo Roncalli of Venice became known as Pope John XXIII in 1957. He was responsible for calling the Vatican II by reorienting and reforming the Roman Catholic Church from medieval custom and bringing it into the twentieth century. He also broke with two centuries of entrenched tradition and pronounced that a Catholic might be a Freemason.
I am both a Catholic and a Freemason by the way... and my faith in God has never change, but has been stronger than ever.