I'm currently reading Alexander Watson's Ring of Steel which covers the struggle of the peoples of the Central Powers during WW1. While discussing pre-war influences of high-level clergy in Austria-Hungary, he quotes the Polish Bishop of Przemysl as saying "the future of Poland and Catholic interests [are] threatened by the Orthodox Church and Freemasonry."
As this chapter is discussing the propaganda efforts of the Austro-Hungarian empire in 1914-15, he makes no effort to elaborate on this statement. My impression is that Galicians (especially Poles) felt threatened by Russia and the idea of the Russian government and Orthodox church dashing their hopes for a more autonomous regional government, but what does freemasonry have to do with Eastern Orthodoxy or the threat that the Russian Empire represented to Catholic Poles in 1914?
I did some cursory google searching and discovered some claims that Freemasons seek to dismantle the Catholic church. Can anyone elaborate on this and why I might not have heard about this before, despite the freemasons being relatively well known in popular culture?
Thanks!
Old post, but I figured I would respond here.
The first thing to understand about Freemasonry is a concept known as regularity or recognition. Basically it means that a Regular or Recognized Grand Lodge of Freemasons (where a Grand Lodge is a regional or national governing body, like the "Grand Lodge of Massachusetts" or the "United Grand Lodge of England") has determined that another Grand Lodge is practicing true Masonry by adhering to a set of traditions known as the Ancient Landmarks.
Regular Freemasonry is by definition an adogmatic organization, and although all members must believe in some sort of God, discussion of sectarian religion and politics is prohibited within a Masonic Lodge. This has been the rule since at least the writing of Dr. James Anderson's The Constitutions of the Free-Masons in 1723.
In the nineteenth century, Freemasons in France began admitting atheists, which caused a schism within Freemasonry and led to the Grand Orient of France being "derecognized" by the United Grand Lodge of England, and all the other mainstream Grand Lodges. This French-style Masonry (also known as Continental Masonry), which admitted atheists, also began to ignore the traditional prohibition on political activity or discussion within a lodge. At this point, Continental Masons began advocating for a reduced role for the Catholic church in French political affairs.
Also in the Nineteenth century, Freemasons Benito Juarez and Giuseppe Garibaldi led movements within their countries (Mexico and Italy) to diminish the power of the Catholic church. In Mexico, this led to the loss of some valuable properties owned by the church, and in Italy to the loss of the Papal States, leading to the Pope becoming solely a powerful cleric, and no longer a literal prince with an army, castles, and lands.
Naturally this caused the Pope some unhappiness, and around this time is when the strongest Papal Bull concerning Freemasonry, Humanum Genus, was published by Pope Leo XIII. Here's a few quotes from the Bull, which can be found in full at this link:
- Then come their doctrines of politics, in which the naturalists lay down that all men have the same right, and are in every respect of equal and like condition; that each one is naturally free; that no one has the right to command another; that it is an act of violence to require men to obey any authority other than that which is obtained from themselves. According to this, therefore, all things belong to the free people; power is held by the command or permission of the people, so that, when the popular will changes, rulers may lawfully be deposed and the source of all rights and civil duties is either in the multitude or in the governing authority when this is constituted according to the latest doctrines. It is held also that the State should be without God; that in the various forms of religion there is no reason why one should have precedence of another; and that they are all to occupy the same place.
In brief, the Leo XIII accused Freemasonry of being inseparable from Enlightenment principles of democratic government, separation of church and state, and the ability of children to be educated by secular educators, and not just vowed religious.
It should be noted here that Freemasons do not now, nor have they ever to my knowledge, had any qualms with a Catholic becoming a Mason. All the animosity is on the side of the Roman Catholic Church, at least between regular Masonry and the Church.