This page includes links to, and my comments on, the Masons aspects of the Holy Grail.
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San Mateo Masonic Lodge 226 San Mateo California: http://www.sanmateomasoniclodge.org/archive/jnelson/vatican.HTM The Vatican's Attitude to Freemasonry.
Two questions you hear often are: "Why are Masons anti-Catholic;" and "Why is the Catholic Church anti-Mason?"
As practicing Masons we know that the first question has no validity, as we demand that the candidate be "a good man and true," and that he express a belief and trust in a Supreme Being. The answer to the second question is not so easy. . . .
After 1717, Masonry, having attracted to itself many members of royalty and men of high position, including many who were Catholics, began to grow by leaps and bounds. It spread to Continental Europe and the Americas. At a time when the Church's influence was weakening, Freemasonry was rapidly becoming an international institution, with the ability to offer a philosophical, moral and theological alternative to the Church. On March 20, 1737, in France, Andrew Michael Ramsay gave his famous "Oration," tracing the origins of Masonry back to the mystery schools and sects of the ancient world [much like Albert Pike in the following century], and also to the Knights Templar [although he did not name them, as that would have been a political faux pas toward the Church]. . . .
Pope Clement XII had not waited for the investigation to be completed. The famous [or infamous, depending on your viewpoint] Papal Bull In eminenti issued on April 24, 1738, forbidding any Catholic to become [or remain] Freemasons, under threat of excommunication. Two years later, in the Papal States, membership was punishable by death. . . .
Following In eminenti, Masonry continued to flourish. Chevalier Ramsay's Oration had triggered off the propagation of large numbers of Chivalric degrees. The Scottish Rite came into being. The York Rite claimed to have always been there. The Scottish Rite began to expand into the Latin countries of Central and South America, carrying the torch of freedom '' liberty, equality, fraternity", and the rights of man - throwing down the gauntlet against the Roman Catholic despotic attempts to control the minds of man for its own personal gain. Shortly before Leo XIII was elected Pope in 1878, the Vatican had been stripped of its control of the Papal States and relegated in terms of temporal power to the Vatican only. . . .
In his frustration and despair at the loss of power by the Holy See, Leo struck out once more at the Masons. In 1884 he issued Humanum genus, railing against the Craft for its advocacy of the separation of church and state, freedom of conscience and religion, equality of all people under the law, the sovereignty of the people over rulers and institutions, and of course "religious indifference," [which we know as tolerance]. . . .
In 1917, Benedict XV promulgated Article 2335 of the canon law: "Persons who have themselves enrolled in the Masonic sect, or in other institutions of the same kind which plot against the Church or legitimate civil powers, have committed a crime of disobedience, and incur excommunication reserved simply to the Holy See." This appears to have opened the door to a Catholic becoming a Mason, but not much seems to have been done with it.
It was not until the 1960s that the Church's position against Masonry began to relax. In 1964 and 1965 two Papal Bulls were issued by Paul VI, recommending tolerance for, and exchange of ideas with, non-Catholic beliefs and philosophies, basically as a means of bringing non-Catholic believers into the Church. In 1965 the Vatican Council published its declaration that the "human person has a right to religious freedom." In 1971, two English Freemasons were specifically permitted by the Holy See to join the Church without renouncing their Masonic affiliations. . . .
A Page about Freemasonry The Miter and The Trowel: http://city.mit.edu/Masonry/Essays/miter-trowel.html The Miter and The Trowel. . . . The Church's condemnation was spearheaded by a series of 21 bulls published between 1738 and 1902. In them, the Church condemned Freemasonry for:
Supporting public education. Supporting separation of Church and State. Supporting equality of all men, including clergy, under the law. Complete religious tolerance. Advocating or condoning overthrow of Church and State. Having sacrilegious and obscene practices as part of its ritual.Practicing Satanism.
The Temple and The Lodge: http://www.masonicinfo.com/books/templeandthelodge.htm The Temple and The Lodge by Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh . A work which attempts to document the flight of the Knights Templars to Scotland and then tries to connect that organization to current Freemasonry. Those who like interpretations of history (i.e., historical fiction) will find this book interesting but serious scholars will find it lacking. The disappearance of the Knights Templars remains pure speculation and no new historical proof of the claims are provided here. This book, like The Hiram Key, has many reviews; as a result, we have not attempted to duplicate.
Disclaimer - The Hiram Key personal book review: http://members.aol.com/timgore/dclm.htm The Hiram Key written by Christopher Knight and Robert Lomas is one of the best books I have read in sometime. Knight and Lomas are Freemasons who wanted to explore the origins of Freemasonry, it's rituals and legends. They reveal more of the inner-workings of Masonry than I've ever read, thanks to the Grand Lodge of England . . .
Mark Master Masons - Province of London: http://www.opinicus.demon.co.uk/MMM/MMMLinks.html Many links connected with Freemasonry, including: . . .
. . . Grand Lodge of England - the oldest Grand Lodge of Freemasons in the world: http://www.grand-lodge.org/ . . . founded in 1717.
. . . Internet Lodge 9659: http://internet.lodge.org.uk/ . . . visit our Library for a wealth of interesting papers on Freemasonry. .
. . . Prince Michael of Kent Lodge: http://www.pglmiddlesex.free-online.co.uk/pmk/ Prince Michael of Kent Lodge, No. 9120, warranted on the 30th of April 1984, is the Provincial Grand Stewards' Lodge for the Province of Middlesex under the United Grand Lodge of England. . . .
. . . Freemasonry in the Police and the Judiciary: http://www.charlton.demon.co.uk/masonic/report.html HOME AFFAIRS COMMITTEE Third Report FREEMASONRY IN THE POLICE AND THE JUDICIARY. . . . conclusions of the Home Affairs Committee inquiry into Freemasonry in the Police and Judiciary. The report was ordered by the House of Commons to be printed on 19 March 1997.
Extract (possibly violating UK copyright):
"Visitors to this Web Site must not copy, distribute, sell or publish any of the Parliamentary copyright material taken from this Web Site."
So, is British democracy alive and well? Not as well as that of the USA, it appears. At least I can copy extracts from USA documents. Not so for those of the UK, it appears. I might seek legal counsel on this question, as it is very fundamental! Am I violating copyright by even copying the title to the document? I invite an explanation from anyone, especially a lawyer!
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You can e-mail me at waynerp@sympatico.ca