Masons

gh4 · #1 Jun 25, '12, 9:15 am

I'm curious here. I realize that the Free Masons are at odds with the Catholic Church and I'm not exactly sure why.

I was raised in the UCC (United Church of Christ). My Father was a Mason and an Eastern Star member, my Mother was in Eastern Star. And as a teen, I was a Rainbow Girl.

My parents and I went to church every week, come heck or high water! My Dad was a Deacon in that church. My Mom was very active in Ladies Aid society and other church activities. My Dad sang in the choir and rarely missed a Sunday even though he worked shift work and was often exhausted.

My parents closest friends were also in Eastern Star and they were all very good Christian people. As member of Eastern Star, they often put on big fund raisers and gave much money to local needy and charities. Masons raise huge amounts of money for charities.

The Shriners are known for their hospitals for Children. The Burn Hospital in Cincinnati was a God send to many children, and I have been there any number of times as a visitor and as a nurse, the good they do is remarkable. And then there is St. Jude Hospital and the amount of good that this hospital does is simply amazing. There are 22 Shriners Hospitals for Children.

As a Rainbow girl, we all were girls who went to church every week. When one of us was in the adviser position, we all went to her church, and that was interesting as we were a very diverse group of young ladies!
There was nothing evil going on in Rainbow girls, quite the opposite, there was lots of prayer and God was recognized and worshiped.
And I know for a fact that one of the gals was Catholic. ????

So please tell me what is so evil about Free Masonry? My parents were not evil. I just don't get it.

FCEGM · #2 Jun 25, '12, 9:37 am

This might help you understand the Church's stance regarding Masonry. The Church doesn't judge as evil those who are members of it, but does see the incompatability of Masonry and Catholicism:

http://www.catholic.com/quickquestio...ut-freemasonry

maltmom · #3 Jun 25, '12, 10:26 am

I'm a former Eastern Star. There was nothing in our "ceremonies" that was anti-Christian in any way. When I moved I allowed my membership to lapse. Now that I'm Catholic I won't reactivate it.

padrepio_2012 · #4 Jun 25, '12, 10:43 am

It's the masons mission to destroy the Church, as a former mason confessed to the Saint Padre Pio back in 1940. They also killed many Catholics back in Enlightenment times. Not a good society. also they have many rituals and a hierarchy which doesn't go well with the Church.

coachkfan1 · #5 Jun 25, '12, 10:54 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by padrepio_2012

It's the masons mission to destroy the Church, as a former mason confessed to the Saint Padre Pio back in 1940. They also killed many Catholics back in Enlightenment times. Not a good society. also they have many rituals and a hierarchy which doesn't go well with the Church.

What you say is correct. Additionally, Masons have infiltrated the preisthood and have tried to create instability in majority Catholic countries particularly in South and Latin America. But the most important thing to remember about Masonry is that it IS a religion in and of itself. Now I am sure that many individual members of Masonry don't see it that way, but the more one learns about it the clearer that this reality becomes. As to their good deeds, the Caesars did many good deeds for the people while at the same time seeking to destroy anyone who opposed them. Finally, the Church has forbidden Masonic membership and that should settle it for those who consider themselves faithful Catholics.

Gregorian Apolo · #6 Jun 25, '12, 11:15 am

Freemasonry is an enemy of the catholic church. In some of there high degree rituals they smash and stab with knifes the papal crown. Heres a good link about freemasonry and the chruch.

http://www.catholicapologetics.info/...ry/pmasnry.htm

gh4 · #7 Jun 25, '12, 12:07 pm

I'm reading these links. And I must say that some of it makes me shake my head.

My Dad was a vocalist and he sang at many Catholic weddings, since many of their friends were indeed Catholic. Now if my father was trying to get rid of Catholics, he sure wouldn't be pals with them and singing at their children's weddings.
When I decided to become Catholic, neither my Dad or my Mom had an issue with it. In fact, they came to my confirmation and my son's baptism. They threw a big party for my son and all our Catholic friends after my son's baptism. (he was probably 8 or so.)

So I must say that my Dad wasn't trying real hard to get rid of the Catholic religion.

I have no intentions of joining Eastern Star or marrying a Mason. But I guess since my Dad was a good Christian man and a Mason, I get tired of hearing Mason's put down all the time. My Dad was an active Mason for probably 50 years none of what I read seems to be what he was or what he was doing.

Gregorian Apolo · #8 Jun 25, '12, 12:37 pm

Im not saying that each person who is a mason is not a moraly good person what im saying is that masonry itself is evil and has been condemned by the Catholic church many times by many Popes. And you should obey what the Popes have said.

Gorillaman · #9 Jun 25, '12, 1:10 pm

I honestly have zero clue about the masons at all.

lerapt78 · #10 Jun 25, '12, 1:11 pm

Hi gh4,

I want to claim first that I am in no way an authority on Freemasonry, and I don't want to spread potentially false information, so please feel free to correct any errors I may make on this and subsequent posts.

The Church's stance of incompatibility with freemasonry is not an attack on you or your family members. There are rituals and secrecies that abound in masonry which are often in opposition to the teachings of Christ. Just two examples I can think of off the top of my head are the idea of enlighment being attained through ascension of different levels/degrees of the order (along the lines of "you cannot know truth, because truth only comes through worthiness; ie, devotion to the lodge and its fellow members), and the blood-oaths and secrecies that are sworn. We are not taught in Catholicism to make blood oaths with other people. I imagine that many good-hearted masons have perhaps simply never considered how many of these rituals have Gnostic and occult leanings, and that the strength of the fraternal loyalty can be threatening to the family unit and disrespectful to the wife.

(Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying fraternities in general are bad - male bonding and cooperation can be both beneficial and useful, if conducted morally - but to me there is something very symbolically dangerous about the custom of a man being blindfolded and removing his wedding band when he stands in front of lodge members, seeking their acceptance.)

Interestingly, the symbol of the Eastern Star is an inverted pentagram, often linked with Baphomet, Satan (with a circle around it), and other occultish practices.

Fun Fact

: The origin of the term "black-balled" comes from the Masonic voting system in which members will place a white ball in a box if they approve of a candidate, and a black ball if they do not want him in. From my understanding, no explanation of black-balling a candidate is required.

lerapt78 · #11 Jun 25, '12, 1:12 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gorillaman

I honestly have zero clue about the masons at all.

And I'm sure they like that.

They place a high value on secrecy.

number2wilkins · #12 Jun 25, '12, 1:15 pm

i'll jump in as well and add nothing to the discussion

by saying my maternal grandfather was a mason for over 50 years.. and i don't really know anything about the organization.. i do have one of his old mason books, it's rather large and worn, looks almost like a big bible.. guess i'll give it a read to see what it says

FCEGM · #13 Jun 25, '12, 1:15 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by gh4

I'm reading these links. And I must say that some of it makes me shake my head.

My Dad was a vocalist and he sang at many Catholic weddings, since many of their friends were indeed Catholic. Now if my father was trying to get rid of Catholics, he sure wouldn't be pals with them and singing at their children's weddings.
When I decided to become Catholic, neither my Dad or my Mom had an issue with it. In fact, they came to my confirmation and my son's baptism. They threw a big party for my son and all our Catholic friends after my son's baptism. (he was probably 8 or so.)

So I must say that my Dad wasn't trying real hard to get rid of the Catholic religion.

I have no intentions of joining Eastern Star or marrying a Mason. But I guess since my Dad was a good Christian man and a Mason, I get tired of hearing Mason's put down all the time. My Dad was an active Mason for probably 50 years none of what I read seems to be what he was or what he was doing.

Again, the Church isn't saying that any individual Mason - including your father - is not a good man or necessarily anti-Catholic; what it does say loud and clear is that Masonry at its core is anti-Catholic and that it is a wise person who steers clear of involvment with this organization however innocuous it may seem from the outside. You may not be aware that some Protestant communities also forbid Masonic membership.

I think many men nowadays who join the Masons do so more for social/business reasons than because they embrace the philosophical/religious reasons behind Masonry. But, there can be the attraction to "secret knowledge" that plays on the ego of some who join.

Further, while the Masons in the U.S. have constructed a rather benign image, not so their brothers in Mexico [which evidences the true origins of Freemasonry]. The Mexican Revolution found the Freemasons very much involved in violently overthrowing the role of the Catholic Church in the lives of the faithful there. The anti-Catholic roots of Freemasonry were much in evidence in the persecution of the Church which led to many martyrdoms and expulsions from the country (the Carmelite monastery in San Francisco was founded by Mexican nuns fleeing from anti-clerical hatred fomented by the Freemasons).

These two encyclicals of Pius XI reflect the struggle of the Church in Mexico at the time:

http://www.catholicculture.org/docs/...fm?recnum=4943

http://www.catholicculture.org/docs/...fm?recnum=4935

lerapt78 · #14 Jun 25, '12, 1:15 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by gh4

I'm reading these links. And I must say that some of it makes me shake my head.

Is there anything in particular you find to be ungrounded?

JimR-OCDS · #15 Jun 25, '12, 1:19 pm

Also, the rituals used by the Masons are from Paganism, and also taken from documents which King Phillip II obtained from Knights Templar, who were tortured in order to obtain false confessions from them being involved in the occult. King Phillip wanted the Pope to do away with the Knights Templar, and the way to do it was to show the Pope the confessions of the Knights, that the were involved with the occult.

Years later, those false confessions were found in Rosslyn Chapel in Scottland, and were believed to be the secret rituals of the Knights Templar. Hence, the rituals made their way into the Free Masons.

The "Tree" ceremony which is used at funeral services of deceased Mason members is an example.

Anyway, this is how I understand it..

Jim