Do you know why?

I have been interested in the Catholic Church's position about the Freemasons for quite some time now. It is perhaps one of the most forgotten and even ignored positions of the Church. The Freemasons are seen by the Church as the official "enemies of the Church." Why? Not because the Church hates the men and, apparently, few women who are involved. Rather because the ideology which this organization espouses is particularly anti-Christ. "What sort of inflammatory statement are you making here?" you might ask. But check out this video and see if you find any problems or incompatibilities with this masonically produced video and the Catholic Faith:



There are a few things we must notice. First, one should have noticed that at 7:14-7:25 the narrator notes that all men are seen as the same. Now, while that corresponds to the Church's understanding of the equality of all men on the one hand, it also denies the priesthood, established by our Lord Jesus Christ. Since certain men are given the gift of the priesthood, they are meant to guide all mankind to Christ and are given special grace to do it. Moreover, and more importantly, the Pope himself is granted the ability to guide and maintain the Church by his teachings. This is fundamentally rejected by the Masons, since no man is seen as above another. In every day human life, no less, we have a great example of why this is wrong within our families. A dad or a mom cannot act or be equal to their children because the children are learning from their parents. I could only imagine the havoc our house would become if I let my son and daughter play and I only played with them, instead of guiding and correcting them. This is essentially what the consistent practice of this ideology of equality without respect for complementary differences between people yields. This, in part, demonstrates what the Popes have referred to as indifference.

Secondly, at 9:35-10:02 the gentlemen describes that on the altar in Japan one found the (Bhagavad) Gita - a Hindu text, the Koran, and the Bible. At first this sounds quite nice, until we realize that as Catholics we recognize that, according to the teaching of our First Pope, St. Peter, "There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved (Acts 4:12)." The second element of Freemasonry that presents a serious problem is the idea of syncretism, which seeks to make all religions essentially into one. By placing the Koran and the Hindu text next to the bible, the essential claim being demonstrated is that the words of Jesus are "just as important" as the words of Mohammed and the words of the Hindu text. If we believe that "God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (Jn 3:16)," then we must realize that neither the Koran nor the Hindu religions can offer what Jesus offers. If you reject Jesus Christ, then one can legitimately make such a claim. However, one would also be implicitly rejecting the same claim practically, since you would deny one religion is also equal to others!

The gentlemen then speaks of the teachings of Freemasonry being "universal," which is quite interesting considering that the Greek word "Catholicos" means "universal." Essentially, the Freemasonic ideal is such that the Catholic Church be ignored and/or destroyed by "making" all men equal, rather than accepting that they are. This is the whole purpose of belonging to this organization, to come to equality. In fact, certain documents of the Freemasons demonstrate that non-Masons or "rough ashlars" are not equal to Masons, since the mason takes an oath to care for other masons before non-masons.

The final element of this video I hope you, dear reader, will consider is located at the end of it. At 14:26 the gentlement says, "The truths you learn as a Mason are personal and private, but the values echo the past..." Again, if you are not a Christian, this is a fine statement for a non-Christian religion. However, for the Christian, and even more so for Catholics, how can we speak of "truth being personal and private?" Jesus told us, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life (Jn 14:6)." If we believe in Jesus Christ, how can we seek any truth beyond him? In fact, he is the one who reveals God the Father to us! For us who believe this, then, we cannot see any truth as being hidden or merely personal. This, it seems to me, is what Jesus says when he teaches the Apostles, "All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age."

I do not dislike the Masons as people, however, it is clear from Scripture, History, but even more so from Holy Mother Church that mankind suffers in manifold ways when we reject or, worse, become indifferent to the only Savior of Mankind, Jesus Christ. The question then becomes how seriously do we take our devotion to the Son of God made man, who died, and was resurrected from the dead for our sake? Do we become indifferent in our own lives, because it is not only the Masonic ideology that makes us indifferent to Jesus! It is a serious question which each of us ought to consider.