By 
Before his conversion to Catholicism, EWTN Norway’s editor-in-chief, Pål Nes, was a Freemason. But when he joined the Catholic Church, he left Freemasonry behind.
The Nordic bishops, as well as the Church’s hierarchy, agree: A formal association with Freemasonry is incompatible with Catholicism.
But this issue, which has come up in public conversation among Catholics around the world, is often controversial in the Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, where some mistakenly believe that there is an exception to the Catholic Church’s instruction.
This week, the Nordic Bishops’ Conference clarified the teaching.
“We write to you at this time as shepherds to clarify a matter that for many years, if not decades, has generated uncertainty, speculation, and diverging opinions in our countries: the question of whether or not Catholic faithful in the Nordic countries may be Freemasons or belong to a Masonic lodge,” the bishops wrote.
In the June 29 letter to parish priests signed by Nordic Bishops’ Conference president Bishop Erik Varden of Trondheim and others, the bishops stated that there is “no exception” for Catholics in Nordic countries from the “universal law of the Church” regarding Freemasonry.
The Nordic bishops had met with officials from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith during a plenary assembly in Rome from Sept. 1–5, 2025, to discuss the matter. The dicastery’s response was unequivocal.
The bishops said the Church’s teaching applies “in full and without exception in the territory of the Nordic Bishops’ Conference.”
The letter is not to detract Freemasonry but rather a clarification that its principles clash with those of the Church, according to the bishops.
“We wish to stress that the Catholic Church’s firmness on the question of adherence to Freemasonry is not a negative judgment on the goodwill or good works of individuals,” the bishops wrote.
“The Church’s position springs from awareness that the theological and philosophical principles of freemasonry are incompatible with confession of the Catholic faith,” the bishops said.
Nes told EWTN News the bishops’ statement helped give clarity on the issue in his home country of Norway.
“Their statement gives priests and lay faithful the clarity that many of us have needed for a long time,” he said.
Nes has seen confusion in his home country, largely because of “a myth developed that the Scandinavian form of Freemasonry was somehow an exception, and that Catholics in the Nordic countries could belong to a lodge without contradicting the teaching of the Church.”
Many prominent Catholics in Norway “have been associated with Freemasonry, including laypeople and clergy,” according to Nes.
“That has made the situation more confusing for ordinary Catholics,” he said.
Meanwhile, “public statements and pastoral practice have sometimes contributed to uncertainty,” Nes observed, citing a 2025 instance where Bishop Emeritus Bernt Eidsvig of Oslo, Norway, said “that he would not refuse holy Communion to Freemasons.”
“Many understood this as a softening of the Church’s position, even though the universal teaching of the Church had not changed,” he said.
“The bishops’ recent clarification is therefore very important,” Nes said. “It makes clear that there is no Nordic exception: A Catholic cannot be a Freemason.
Why are Freemasonry and Catholicism incompatible?
Nes explained that Freemasonry is more than a social group because of its “religious character.”
“In my experience, Freemasonry in Norway was not simply a social network or a charitable association,” Nes told EWTN News. “It had a strong sense of fraternity but also a very clear spiritual profile. Its rituals, symbolism, and solemn ceremonies gave it something of a religious character. For that reason, I think Freemasonry must be treated as a religious and spiritual system, not merely as a club.”
Nes found good in Freemasonry but was ultimately drawn to Catholicism.
“I eventually realized that I wanted the real thing,” he said.
“There were elements in Freemasonry that I found beautiful: the seriousness, the brotherhood, the use of ritual and the sense of entering into something larger than oneself,” Nes said. “But as I gradually came to know the Catholic Mass and the Catholic faith, I began to see that much of what had attracted me in Freemasonry — its solemnity, ritual, and symbolism — was only an echo of something fuller and truer in the Catholic faith.”
Nes left Freemasonry behind with the help of a priest who mentored him.
“During my conversion process, the priest who guided me was very clear,” Nes said. “I could not become Catholic and remain a Freemason. I am deeply grateful for his clarity, and also for his courage in saying it plainly. That clarity helped me make a clean and honest decision.”
Now, Nes is spreading the word that the two groups are fundamentally irreconcilable.
“For the last seven or eight years, I have tried to explain publicly that one cannot be both a Catholic and a Freemason,” Nes said. “I have never wanted to speak badly of Freemasonry or of individual Freemasons. My point has always been doctrinal: Catholicism and Freemasonry are two different religious and spiritual systems, and they cannot be reconciled.”
In their letter to parish priests, the bishops provided several “pastoral and sacramental provisions” to be followed.
First, the bishops encouraged Catholics who are Freemasons to “relinquish this membership” with Masonic lodges and to abstain from the Eucharist and other sacraments until they do. Freemasons seeking to join the Catholic Church are instructed to “terminate this membership” first.
In addition, the bishops instructed Catholic groups not to collaborate with Masonic groups.
“No parish, no institute of consecrated life or society of apostolic life, no Catholic organization or institution in our local Churches is to enter into agreements of collaboration with Freemasons or Masonic lodges or make use of properties belonging to Masonic lodges,” the bishops wrote.
The bishops encouraged the faithful to support one another in following Jesus.
“The call of Our Lord Jesus Christ, ‘Come, follow me’ (Mt 4:19), presupposes readiness to leave behind other attachments that stand in the way of wholehearted discipleship,” the bishops wrote. “This has always been, and will always remain, a criterion of Christian authenticity. Let us help each other by word and example to live up to it, trusting in God’s grace.”
Related at CWR:
• Freemasons and their craft: What Catholics should know (February 7, 2017) by Sandra Miesel
• Freemasonry: why the Church prohibits membership (August 23, 2024) by Walter Sánchez Silva
• A Love Letter to Freemasonry (May 11, 2011) by Sandra Miese
If you value the news and views Catholic World Report provides, please consider donating to support our efforts. Your contribution will help us continue to make CWR available to all readers worldwide for free, without a subscription. Thank you for your generosity!
Click here for more information on donating to CWR. Click here to sign up for our newsletter.
Interesting that no specific reasons explaining the incompatibility are given. I don’t doubt there are such reasons, but I marvel that they are not discussed.
Hi, dear ‘Chris in Maryland’: “specific reasons explaining incompatibility”.
Specific reasons can be found in:
“Unmasking Freemasonry: Removing the Hoodwink” by Selwyn Stevens Published by ‘Jubilee Resources’ in New Zealand.
“The Facts on the Masonic Lodge: Masonry Conflicts with Christian Faith” by John Ankerberg & John Weldon Published by Harvest House, Eugene, Oregon.
“Freemasonry: the Invisible Cult” by Jack Harris Published by Whitaker House, New Kinsington, PA.
Prolific author, Albert Pike [‘Sovereign Grand Commander of the Supreme Council of Masonry’ – sometimes called ‘The Pope of Freemasonry’] wrote:
“Lucifer, the Light Bearer! Strange & mysterious name to give The Spirit of Darkness! Lucifer, the Son of Morning! Is it he who bears the light and with its splendors intolerable blinds feeble, sensual or selfish souls? Doubt not!”
In his book: ‘Lost Keys of Freemasonry’, a leading Mason, Manly Hall, refers to the source of Freemason power as: “the seething energies of Lucifer”.
He also reveals Freemasonry as a major promoter of religious indifferentism, that is of unitarianism:
“The true Mason is not creed-bound. He realizes with the divine illumination of his Lodge that as Mason his religion must be universal: Christ, Buddha, or Mohammed, the name means little, for he recognizes only the light and not the bearer. He worships at every shrine, bows before every altar, whether in temple, mosque or cathedral, realizing with his true understanding the oneness of all spiritual truth. . . . No true Mason can be narrow, for his lodge is the divine expression of all broadness.”
Does that remind us of a statement by Pope Francis 1 (Jorge Bergoglio)?
Detroit is a major centre of Freemasonry, both male & female, boasting the largest Freemason Temple in the World.
It must be just a mere coincidence that Detroit is the seat of Archbishop Weisenburger and where the seminary chair of Dr Robert Fastiggi is located.
{see recent CWR article: “Celebrating Islam in an Archdiocese in Decline”.}
Martin:
Thank you for this info. I will peruse it.
I have no doubt that Freemasonry is a dead-end falsehood, having worked side-by-side with some avowed Freemasons. The sense given off is that they seemed to earnestly want an accommodation with avowed Christians, but it was palpable that they could never simultaneously declare belief that the Jesus was the Incarnate Son of God.
I just found it odd that the article could not say anything concrete, when it had the opportunity to do so.
Why don’t you explain fully why a Freemason can not be a Catholic. You keep on saying that but no real explanation. I am a Freemason and a practicing Catholic at the same time and I don’t see any conflict as far as belief in the Almighty God is concerned.
Victor:Just perhaps you should read the books listed for a start!
Here is the declaration:
https://www.vatican.va/content/dam/wss/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19831126_declaration-masonic_en.html
Why are you asking him instead of doing some basic research yourself?
Catholic Answers has an article; quite easy to find. https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/catholicism-vs-freemasonry-irreconcilable-forever-946
Included in that is this:
“Following the promulgation of the new Code, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the new Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, issued a new declaration: (1) the new Canon 1374 has the same essential import as the old Canon 2335, and the fact that the “Masonic sect” is no longer explicitly named is irrelevant; (2) the Church’s negative judgment on Masonry remains unchanged, because the Masonic principles are irreconcilable with the Church’s teaching (“earum principia semper iconciliabilia habita sunt cum Ecclesiae doctrina”); (3) Catholics who join the Masons are in the state of grave sin and may not receive Holy Communion and (4) no local ecclesiastical authority has competence to derogate from these judgments of the Sacred Congregation. ”
Note especially “(3) Catholics who join the Masons are in the state of grave sin and may not receive Holy Communion”
Dear ‘Leslie’: “the state of grave sin and may not receive Holy Communion”
But they do!
In our local parishes in Brisbane Australia (Sandgate/Brighton, Banyo/Nundah) Freemason ‘catholics’ – who hardly ever make the responses to our priest during Holy Mass, are most reluctant to sing Christ’s praises, and almost never sign themselves with Jesus’ Cross Invocation of The Holy Trinity, serve as special ministers of the Holy Eucharist!
They laugh at me when humbly asked if they should not abjure Freemasonry because their present state is one of Sacrilege; fatal!
One of our leading parishoners approached me in the shopping centre and gave me The Lion’s Grip, Master Mason toe-to-toe, knee-to-knee and was enraged when I said: “Vince, repent of freemasonry or you will burn in hell.”
These sure are trying times in The Church.
Dear respected editors of Catholic World Report please explain why this article [with very informative, rapidly multiplying pro-&-anti comments] has been removed from the main CWR web page.
Also, why has the response to Sandra Miesel’s highly misleading statement [denying there are female Freemasons] not been attached to her comment, where it was posted?
The rapid multiplication of Freemasonry by Catholic women Freemasons proslytizing other women, their own children, and other young people is developing into a threat to our Catholic Faith that measures up to the worst attacks ever mounted, including The Protestant Reformation. Maybe even worse because it’s internal.
Your prompt reply would be appreciated.
Ever in the love of King Jesus Christ; blessings from marty
The piece is was posted three days and has rotated off the main page as do all pieces in “The Dispatch” section after a day or two. The link is still live.
Sandra’s response focuses on the Mother Lodge in England. The United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE), which is the premier and governing body for Freemasonry in England, is in fact strictly for men.
Can lay people help our beloved Pope Leo xiv deal with the ‘Freemason Reformation’ that is currently invading The Church?
Keeping in mind that all good governments today have both an Upper House (The Senate, House of Lords, etc.) equivalent to our Pope, the Curia, and the Cardinals.
They also have a Lower House (Chamber of Representatives, House of Commons, etc.), with no equivalent in Catholic Church government; reflecting an historical situation where the vast majority of lay Catholics were uneducated.
The single house system has survived into modern times because we’ve had trust that our clergy are those called by GOD to serve with integrity & selflessness. That trust has been permanently wreaked by the abuse & cover-up scandals. There’s now a pressing need for the equivalent of a Lower House, made up of informed & committed lay elders, charged with giving informed input to the Pope, in His management of The Church.
To give one example of a possible lay contribution:
Mandated by the current, deadly ‘Freemason Reformation’ subverting Catholicism, it is suggested that *every person holding authority in The Church* be required to sign a legally-binding, witnessed, *Personal Affirmation of Faith Allegiance* [PAFA].
It should be required of all who are given authority over the Catholic faithful everywhere, clergy or lay, from the catechist in the smallest parish up to the Pope in Rome.
It’s not complicated & would be simple & economic to implement.
Here is a draft PAFA, offered to assist general discussion:
I …………………………………….. of …………………………………………………….. solemnly affirm I have no allegiance that conflicts with my Christian allegiance to the Catholic Church and obedience to the Catechism of the Catholic Church. I affirm that I have no association with any pagan or occult or atheistic organization or freemasonry or witchcraft or their like. I appreciate that this is a solemn affirmation of my personal faith allegiance and that, if proven false, I may be held to account and be liable for legal sanctions and resultant costs.
Signed………… Dated……………. Witnessed………… Dated…………….
Many of us would feel more secure in receiving directions from Pope, Cardinals, Archbishops & Bishops; and in sacramental ministry from our priests, deacons & lay leaders if ALL of them had faith-bonded with us laity by unequivocal witness to unsullied Catholic Christian Faith through PAFA certification of their freedom from freemasonry & other occultisms.
Ever in the grace & mercy of King Jesus Christ; love & blessings from marty
“I am a Freemason and a practicing Catholic”
Ham, Halal.
Dear Victor Raquipiso: ” I don’t see any conflict as far as belief in the Almighty God is concerned.”
So you’ve sacrificed The Holy Trinity so as to believe in ‘G’? What sort of catholic is that?
Did you not check? You’d have found ‘G’ is Lucifer/Satan/Father of Lies.
Time for a BIG decision, dear Victor!
You do not examine the tenets carefully enough.
Freemasons are not known as “Bokryers” for nothing.
The Freemasonary allegiance is to Lucifer not God.
I can’t recall when a group of Freemasons have been accused of paedophilia unlike the Catholic Church!!!
Masons have been accused of everything else. Who knows?
🙂
Then you have not done even a basic online search. Just type freemasons child sexual abuse and lots of items will pop up.
In addition to which, common sense says that an organization that emphasizes secrecy and the protection of “brothers” under any and all circumstances is not likely to reveal anything about abuse.
When has the “Catholic Church” performed pedophilia? An odd accusation since it is the only institution in history to declare pedophilia to be always and everywhere a grave evil. Sins are performed by the agency of human individuals not by an institutional body of received truths.
Nicely explained; thank you and may GOD continue to bless you, dear Edward J Baker.
The reasons go back to the 18th Century but fundamentally remain the same. Freemasonry recognises the legitimacy of all religions the Roman Catholic Church does not.
It is pure syncretism with aspirations for global tyranny. Communism without absolutist atheism.
Yes! The same demons, with a slight twist in their presentation.
There is only one God.
All religions are not equal.
Freemasons believe in a Divine being (as do most religions) but by removing any focus on Jesus, or Muhammad or whoever your beliefs are, it means that they can sit side by side with Jews, Muslims, Christians et al.
Where else can you find this harmony? We never discuss religion or politics at the social board, after our meetings, we sit and eat with our fellow brothers without the shackles of “my religion is better than your religion”
You should try it, it’s liberating. Maybe the Catholic Church see it as a threat to their hold on their co gregarious. Fear not Brothers, we are not here to snatch away your followers, we are here to share companionship and a common goal of helping the world become a better place through charity and compassion.
The demonic evil of syncretism and Masonic elitist culture aside, what exactly is “charitable” about your bigoted characterizations of the religions you claim to respect? You ascribe corrupt motivations of fear by the Catholic Church for failing to recognize your organization’s claims to moral superiority towards Catholics whom you describe as functioning on coercion. Can you grasp that compassion means to suffer with someone? Not so easy when a cultic brotherhood commits their activity to massaging egos while seeking to destroy all global opposition to an eventual world government, especially the opposition of the Catholic Church.
Muslims don’t believe Mohammed was “divine”. Who are you to tell a faith to remove its focus?
It is not the Faithful who are responsible for the heinous abuse crisis and the sexual grooming of the innocent; The Faithful affirm Christ’s teaching on the Sanctity and Dignity of the marital act within The Sacrament of Holy Matrimony and thus God’s Divine Will and Divine Law that we respect The Sanctity and Dignity of Human Life from the moment of conception.
Dear ‘ND’: spoken as a True Catholic, uncorrupted by the worldly politicization, evil connections, & shonky theologies of far too many spiritual & moral derelicts who’ve slithered into high positions of leadership in The Church. Saint Athanasius please pray for us!
As if the promiscuities of Cdl Fernadez and Fr James Martin were not scandalous enough; we’ve illuminaries like the famous Bp Robert Barron promulgating basic errors such as teaching us that The Holy Spirit of GOD, The LORD, The Spirit of Truth is merely an effluvium of some hick theological idea of a weird communio interaction between The Father & The Son, to which they give a homoerotic spin. Simply theological garbage, yet with an anti-Apostolic agenda.
Devastating diminuition of the persons of The Holy Trinity of GOD.
That seems like blasphemy, in the same way as Rowland’s published claim that their (Speyr/Balthasar spirited) global ‘communio’ clique is actually a new gift of The Holy Spirit. Holy angels are appalled!
If we open our sleepy Catholic eyes we’d be horrified too, to see how far the corruption has advanced in our beautiful Church.
These anti-Apostolic ‘catholic’ novelties must excite the Freemasons. A delightful wedded-couple of whom told me of their vision of the Catholic Church being destroyed by a TSUNAMI of heresies.
Are we witnessing the start of the Great Apostacy of ‘Revelation’?
Please come soon dear LORD Jesus Christ; we need You so much!
GOD’s answer for all our need & distress & failure:
MORE & MORE & MORE OF HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON: KING JESUS CHRIST.
Here is a totally unique American/Aussie duet. An Anointing to help heal the terrible hurts we Catholics are currently enduring.
Leeland & TAYA – My Heart and My Flesh – YouTube
This is the audio version with no video distraction.
As Acts 10:44 shows: hungering for Jesus invites The Holy Spirit.
Every Catholic deserves to experience this unforgettable, life-changing, in-flooding of The LORD, the Holy Spirit of GOD.
Our King, Jesus Christ, appoints The HELPER to enable us to know The Truth so as to confidently face the challenges of false theologies, Islam, the Lodge, etc., etc.
Catholics with no Holy Spirit HELPER; what hope have we got?
Saint Paul in Romans 8:9: *No Holy Spirit means no Jesus Christ!*
If you receive The Holy Spirit anointing you’ll know all about it!
He has a Mind constantly challenging our way of thinking.
So, when victorious we sing: “Not I but through Christ in me!”
CityAlight – Not Through I But Through Christ in Me – YouTube
Lyrics
What gift of grace is Jesus, my Redeemer
There is no more for Heaven now to give
He is my joy, my righteousness, and freedom
My steadfast love, my deep and boundless peace
To this I hold, my hope is only Jesus
For my life is wholly bound to His
Oh, how strange and divine, I can sing, “All is mine”
Yet not I, but through Christ in me
The night is dark, but I am not forsaken
For by my side, the Savior, He will stay
I labor on in weakness and rejoicing
For in my need, His power is displayed
To this I hold, my Shepherd will defend me
Through the deepest valley, He will lead
Oh, the night has been won, and I shall overcome
Yet not I, but through Christ in me
No fate I dread, I know I am forgiven
The future’s sure, the price, it has been paid
For Jesus bled and suffered for my pardon
And He was raised to overthrow the grave
To this I hold, my sin has been defeated
Jesus, now and ever is my plea
Oh, the chains are released, I can sing, “I am free”
Yet not I, but through Christ in me
With every breath, I long to follow Jesus
For He has said that He will bring me home
And day by day, I know He will renew me
Until I stand with joy before the throne
To this I hold, my hope is only Jesus
All the glory evermore to Him
When the race is complete, still my lips shall repeat
“Yet not I, but through Christ in me”
To this I hold, my hope is only Jesus
All the glory evermore to Him
When the race is complete, still my lips shall repeat
“Yet not I, but through Christ in me”
When the race is complete, still my lips shall repeat
“Yet not I, but through Christ in me”
Yet not I, but through Christ in me
Yet not I, but through Christ in me
Songwriters: Michael Farren, Rich Thompson, Jonny Robinson. For non-commercial use only.
Freemasonry is a fraternal organization, not a religion. It’s aim is to make good men better. What better way is there than to adapt some of the teachings of the Holy Bible, don’t you think?
Perhaps one area where Catholicism and Freemasonry do not agree on is that when it comes to faith/belief, the latter does not discriminate, so long as he believes in a Supreme Being – God, for the Catholics.
Lastly, I don’t think there aren’t many Freemasons (if there are any) who wish to follow brother Pål Nes path and become, I’d presume, a devout Catholic. (Imperfections are quite apparent in both organizations.)
Happy for him tho. I guess he has finally found what he’s looking for.
My family knew a lovely devout Catholic man who also belonged to a Masonic Lodge. As did Danny Thomas & others. It was a case of not understanding what the rules are & why the Church has those.
There are a lot of myths & conspiracy narratives about the Masons. And while many good men Like George Washington have been Masons, at the end of the day it’s just not compatible with Catholicism.
Dear ‘MrsCracker’: “at the end of the day it’s just not compatible with Catholicism.”
To put it mildly!
What is mythical and harmless about a cult originating in the French Revolution for the express purpose of eradicating the Catholic religion from the face of the earth?
Masonic Lodges in Britain began well before the French Revolution. And that’s mostly the variety of Masonry that came across the water to the American colonies and that had members like Washington .
An interesting read. My background is Czechoslovakian and Norwegian, and I came up a very different path. The Czech people had Catholicism imposed on them by imperial occupiers; it became a cultural tribe. While many kept the tradition after generations in America, many others walked away. I drifted toward Freemasonry and congregational structures precisely because I’m not a fan of top-down hierarchies, popes, or kings. Thanks for the article and the clarity on the Nordic bishops’ stance
So there are no Czechs who are Catholic of their own accord?? And do you believe you can find purity with religious impulses where you make yourself a king to your prerogatives and avoid the humility of imperatives outside whatever evil tendencies you might have?
There is no “Czechoslovakian”. There are Czechs and Slovaks-the two peoples were mashed into one nation state by imperial masters, and now have amicably gone their own way.
As a Mason, I will only say that Masonry has only strengthened my belief in God. Masonry is NOT a religion and in no way tries to replace one’s religious beliefs with its own doctrine or otherwise. A Mason does make an allegiance to God as part of a solemn oath and obligation. Let it be noted that a Mason may take his oath with his hand on the book of his faith be it the Bible, the Koran or the Torah. With that said, I see no conflicts between the teachings of Catholicism and Masonry. As with other religious orders such as the Baptist Southern Convention, they want to restrict their members from the Masonic Fraternity because they believe their members may sit in prayer with unholy men. What I believe to be the case is that the religious institutions are jealous to a degree that a Mason would be loyal to an institution other than the power and control of the church.
Freemasonry is religious but nota religion
Dear Bruce Block, you make things too complicated!
Simply: love & obey King Jesus Christ as a faithful Catholic & go to Heaven.
Obey the FM rituals & worship of ‘G’ and go to hell eternally.
Also, keep in mind Jesus’ warning: ‘No one can serve two masters!”
Freemasons likely built the Church that the Bishop seeks to Shepherd. He is making an empty statement and stance in the Catholic Church.
So you believe the cult of the French Revolution, actually built the Church the cult was created to destroy?
Refreshing: now if the Germans would follow suit.
I do find it contradictory in many respects by the Vatican about Freemasonry. It does seem like a power struggle and to delegitimise Freemasonry. The Vatican seems to embrace other religions. In the same way it says Freemasonry does. Both the Vatican and Hamas do not want Freemasonry to exist. The latter even writing it into a statement. The Vatican allows Trans people to be baptised by not Freemasons. Maybe all this stem from the same history of why the Romand Catholic Church killed Protestants and the Knights Templar. Power
My understanding is not that the Church talks to and respects other religions, but whether freemasonry in effect constitutes a religion or cult, and then whether Catholics can belong to both. While the Church talks to, say, Anglicans or various Orthodox churches, of course one cannot be both a Catholic and Orthodox.
Now use your thesis to explain why so many other groups either have statements questioning or condemning FM or prohibit their members from joining:
Islam
Eastern Orthodox
Church of Greece
The Orthodox Presbyterian Church
Lutheran Church of the Missouri Synod
General Association of Regular Baptist Churches
Presbyterian Church of America
Christian Reformed Church of America
Russian Orthodox Church
Lutheran Church
Assemblies of God
The Masons were conceived in rebellion against establishment religion and social systems, and were New Age before there was New Age, seeing their religion as handed down from Atlantis, through the Egyptians, and etc etc, thoroughly gnostic secret society. Any website catering to selling books to Masons should be an eye opener. Many of their anti-Catholic beliefs made it into fundamentalist thought. Here is a site catering to the arcane Masonic type reading.
http://www.themasonictrowel.com/masonic_books_online.htm
Several readers have raised questions about the deeper philosophical and theological reasons for the Church’s judgment on Freemasonry—issues that cannot easily be addressed within the limits of a news article. For anyone interested, I have recently completed an English translation of a lengthy essay by Fr. Giovanni Cavalcoli, OP, which examines these questions from a classical Thomistic perspective. Rather than a mere polemic, it approaches the subject according to the classical Scholastic method: first identifying the elements of truth present in an opposing system before examining the principles that the Church judges incompatible with Catholic doctrine. It may provide useful background for this discussion: https://oraetcogita.substack.com/p/a-fair-assessment-of-freemasonry
Off the subject, but did anyone notice the picture of the good bishop coming down the aisle of the church and kall the women who had head coverings? Very interesting phenomenon for the so called “liberal “. Nordic Churches!
Dear James Connor.
So what do they look like in your parish; assuming you are actually a regular, Holy Mass-attending Catholic?
Poorly written article…
I think using a single former Freemason, as evidence for the Church’s position is weak at best.
And its light on the actual reasoning. It repeatedly says Freemasonry is “incompatible” with Catholicism, but gives only a brief explanation that their “theological and philosophical principles” conflict.
It largely presents one perspective. Probably because it’s published by a Catholic news outlet aimed at Catholic readers, not an a researched article journal.
I’m catholic and it is absolutely compatible!
Pal Nes does not represent me!
Praise GOD for EWTN & CWR bringing this ENORMOUS and PERVASIVE heresy into the Light.
There’s a huge data-base about the very Non-Christian rituals of Freemasons.
Comments downplaying FM’s shocking divergences from Catholic spirituality are easily corrected with a few insights on actual FM initiation procedures.
Some extracts from an interview with Tanya (not her real name) by Dr Ana Mendez-Ferrell might be salutary [and, yes, my dears, millions of women have been initiated into FM].
When Tanya’s brother – a senior FM – died suddenly, she inherited all the original manuals of the order. She sought to become a FM, hoping for resolution of her inner strife. Yet, after being initiated, Tanya felt deeply revolted by the lodge’s twisting of Christian teachings.
This was her severe discernment: “Anyone who is in search is an easy prey. FM appears noble & of goodness but it is Satan’s greatest ruse to overwhelm the ego with dainties, entangle the human soul, & drag it to his eternal abyss.”
On the evening of Tanya’s initiation, a hooded man greeted her at the door of the lodge. She was blindfolded & led through the lodge to a ‘reflection’ room.
Blindfold removed she was shocked to see a table with a human skull, and an open coffin nearby. The walls were decorated with symbols of death. She was instructed to fill in an application on a triangular sheet of paper.
For the following two hours, Tanya (half naked & barefooted) was led, blindfolded again, through a sequence of rooms where she was exposed to a gamut of intimidating & bloodcurdling sounds & bodily impacts. Each was explained as supposedly necessary to build good character!
At the end she was bled & had to use her own blood to sign a document unread. It turned out to be a false confession of the most horrendous crimes & offenses.
‘Magnanimously’ her FM initiators pierced her ‘confession’ with a sword, lifted it up, & set it on fire. Tanya was told this symbolized her new status as a lodge member, with every freemason, from then on, always forgiving & concealing every future offenses & crimes that she might commit [thus subverting our Society’s justice system and fraudulently evading all fairplay in employment & other appointements].
Tanya’s ‘Initiation by Ordeal’ experience is typical of all FM ‘degrees’. Higher degrees place demands on on initiates that can even include gross immoralities, blatant blasphemies, & even crimes including homicide. Strict hierarchical dominance with bloodcurdling threats enforces secrecy and punishments can be severe.
To this outsider: FM secrecy regarding hand-grips & passwords (all on the web) seems secondary to the secrecy required over foul initiation acts & concealment of crimes that breach The Criminal Code.
At the higher degree level (above the 3 ‘Blue Lodge’ basic degrees) the involvement of demons is more apparent. Freemason-sworn-secrecy is mandated by demons that will not provided their very powerful interventions if not concealed. Freemasonry is, through & through, an alliance with demons. It finds perfect compatibility with witchcraft & satanism. They are all united under The Prince of This World who hates any mention of The LORDSHIP of King Jesus Christ.
This is the main motivation of what FMs call ‘brotherly love’. Fear is the predominant occult spirit that knits them together. Unearned preferments & the assistance of demonic powers are their reward. This ‘stick & carrot’ control operates & flourishes, largely unseen, beneath the fabric of our Society, even at the highest levels.
That is, of course, categorically different to what all genuinely Catholic Christians mean by loving & serving each other sacrifially as part of The Body of Christ, full of The Holy Spirit of The One True GOD.
There is so much more that could be described. Hopefully, this short account is enough to overcome the much promoted deception that Freemasonry is a harmless, innocent boy’s club.
Always seeking to hear & lovingly follow King Jesus Christ; blessings from marty
A woman being initiated into Masonry?? The Mother Lodge in England would not recognize that.
Please look at my old CWR essay referenced at the end of the article above. Masonry in northern Europe never had the bitter anti-Catholic flavor of the Craft in Latin countries but the Church is right to forbid membership. WE cannot be part of a group teaching that one religion is as good as another, that claims to offer a higher wisdom than Christianity, and protects its easily learned secrets with grim, wholly disproportionate oaths.
Beloved Sandra Miesel, sadly, in spite of your article of some years ago, Freemasonry is not declining and has millions of female initiates.
It’s sad that those who want to hide the stunning advance of the Craft often disseminate this type of: “We’re a small, socially-beneficial fraternity – nothing to be concerned about!”.
So sorry they misled you, dear sister in Christ.
You could get clued-up by searching the web; e.g. –
“Female Freemasonry is a centuries-old tradition with dedicated women-only lodges, most notably ‘The Order of Women Freemasons’ and ‘The Honourable Fraternity of Ancient Freemasons’.
Women have had a complex relationship with Freemasonry, with early involvement dating back to the Medieval Period, including records of women like Gunnilda in 1256 and Sabina von Steinbach in the 14th century, though formal recognition was limited for centuries. In the 18th century, French ‘Lodges of Adoption’ allowed women and their relatives to participate in parallel degrees, which later inspired women-only lodges in the 20th century.
In the UK, female Freemasonry formally emerged with ‘The Order of Women Freemasons’ in 1908 and ‘The Honourable Fraternity of Ancient Freemasons’ in 1913.
‘The Order of Women Freemasons’ (OWF) is the oldest and largest women-only Masonic organization in the UK. It was originally mixed but became exclusively female by 1935. The OWF has OVER 10,000 members across more than 350 lodges worldwide, including the UK, Australia, Canada, South Africa, Spain, and Zimbabwe. Its headquarters are in Notting Hill Gate, London, and it operates residential homes for members. The organization follows the same rituals and regalia as male Freemasonry and emphasizes the same deistic indifferentist beliefs in ‘G’.
‘The Honourable Fraternity of Ancient Freemasons’ (HFAF), now known as *Freemasonry for Women*, was founded in 1913 and also admits women of any race or religion who believe in a Supreme Being.
HFAF has lodges across the UK and internationally, including Gibraltar, Spain, Romania, India, and the United States, and is continuing to expand globally. Both female Masonic organizations actively participate in projects and collaborate with male Freemasonry bodies for events and educational initiatives.
Female Freemasonry is very well established in the USA. For example, Detroit has one of the largest male & female mixed lodges.
Personal observation in Australia shows Female Masonry is legion across the nation, and is hugely influential in society & in the churches. Women Masons are the leading recruiters of young people.
What should be of GREAT concern to Pope Leo XIV & all global Catholic leaders is the anti-Catholic impact on baptised Catholic children of the resurgence of Freemasonry under the hidden influence of ‘catholic’ Freemason women school teachers & catechists, etc.
Of MASSIVE relevance to good Catholic families everywhere is the penchant of female ‘catholic’ Freemasons for positions such as ‘Parish Secretary’, ‘Catechist’ and ‘Safeguarding Officer’.
What chance do sexual molestation victims have of being heard & helped when their molesters & those we fondly imagine to be protecting them are secret Freemason buddies, sworn to cover each others crimes?
The misfeasant Shepherds charged with caring for the LORD’s Catholic lambs & sheep will be held accountable, through all eternity
Their dereliction of duty is enabling Freemason ‘catholics’ to turn our Church into a hell-hole.
Could there be any matter more pressing for Papal attention?
You have a curious slant on Catholicism.
Read the New Testament & the ACTS of the Apostles.
Inform yourself before you comment.
“I’m catholic and it is absolutely compatible! ”
You are a Catholic who is saying that the Church has no authority to judge what is or is not compatible with the Church. You are a Catholic who prefers to belong to a group, membership in which means that one in a state of grave sin.
The oaths and whatnot and the revealed stuff in the last degrees are the main source of historical contention. It is basically a religion but acts as if it isnt. The jahbalon thing also.
Beloved Paulo, explored the incompatibility, in CWR, August 24, 2024.
What is striking about Freemasonry is that, on the one hand, it promotes the idea of an egalitarian society, free from hierarchical structures. In the name of this ideal, it supported the overthrow of the monarchy and the nobility during the French Revolution. If it could, it would also seek to dismantle the hierarchical structure of the Church, following a Lutheran model.
Today, Freemasonry strives tirelessly to undermine, trivialize, and ultimately dissolve the Petrine ministry, seeking to reduce the Pope to the level of any other member of the people of God. It champions synodality not because it recognizes any episcopal charisma within it, but because it falsely sees in it a reflection of Rousseau’s populism or, at most, the Lutheran concept of the common priesthood of the laity. Yet, paradoxically, Freemasonry itself is marked by an excessive number of hierarchical degrees, which renders it somewhat absurd.
Similarly, Freemasonry presents itself as being grounded in the strictest rationality and scientific method, rejecting any form of irrationality and superstition. This leads it to dismiss even the most reasonable acceptance of the mysteries of the Christian faith, revealed by Christ to humanity and safeguarded by the Church. However, at the same time, high-ranking Masons claim to possess infinite intellectual power and supreme clairvoyance, supposedly granted to them by Lucifer as the ultimate development of idealistic degrees, passed down through tradition from their masters. This, they believe, allows them to perceive the divine light in a way that surpasses the Christian vision, which they regard as irrational and unreliable.
Today, Freemasonry poses the greatest threat to the Church due to its ability to infiltrate and harm it from within, often without the knowledge of many faithful and pastors. It is more dangerous than Protestantism, Marxism, Islamism, Judaism, Hinduism, or Buddhism. Through clever manipulations, the faithful are gradually led to distort the concept of the Church, transforming it into a purely worldly entity, to the point where they believe they are still within the Church, when in reality, they have become enslaved by the world.”
Now that you know: REPENT, abjure everything of Freemasonry & Witchcraft, renounce the help of Lucifer and all his demons, burn all FM aprons, books, rings & regalia, accept cleansing by a good priest from all the lying & blasphemous profanities, ask The LORD Jesus Christ to have mercy on you, begin a new Catholic life of coomplete loving obedience to Jesus Christ.
And REJOICE that you are free from what was deliberately making you a citizen of hell through all eternity.
This song may help: Taya ‘Come into the Light’ YouTube
We read: “Similarly, Freemasonry presents itself as being grounded in the strictest rationality and scientific method, rejecting any form of irrationality and superstition.”
The preeminence of the scientific method?
A really smart scientific guy had this to say about that. Maybe some broad-minded Freemasons have even heard of him:
“….This is where the struggle of the Church against the doctrines of Galileo and Darwin belongs. On the other hand, representatives of science have often made an attempt to arrive at fundamental judgments with respect to values and ends on the basis of scientific method [!], and in this way have set themselves in opposition to religion. These conflicts have all sprung from fatal errors” (Albert Einstein, “Science and Religion” [1939], in “Out of My Later Years,” Philosophical Library, 1950).
Two thoughts, the Earth was placed by God in the perfect location in relationship between the Sun, and the Moon to sustain Human Life and speciation occurs at the moment of conception, so one does not evolve into a Human Person while one is “walking around”.
It turns out that there is no Center of The Universe, and with Time, The Universe is expanding, so that from God’s Perspective, this moment in Time is the same moment of Time, on every point of Time and Space in God’s Created Universe.
Beloved Paulo, has explored the incompatibility, in CWR, August 24, 2024.
What is striking about Freemasonry is that, on the one hand, it promotes the idea of an egalitarian society, free from hierarchical structures. In the name of this ideal, it supported the overthrow of the monarchy and the nobility during the French Revolution. If it could, it would also seek to dismantle the hierarchical structure of the Church, following a Lutheran model.
Today, Freemasonry strives tirelessly to undermine, trivialize, and ultimately dissolve the Petrine ministry, seeking to reduce the Pope to the level of any other member of the people of God. It champions synodality not because it recognizes any episcopal charisma within it, but because it falsely sees in it a reflection of Rousseau’s populism or, at most, the Lutheran concept of the common priesthood of the laity. Yet, paradoxically, Freemasonry itself is marked by an excessive number of hierarchical degrees, which renders it somewhat absurd.
Similarly, Freemasonry presents itself as being grounded in the strictest rationality and scientific method, rejecting any form of irrationality and superstition. This leads it to dismiss even the most reasonable acceptance of the mysteries of the Christian faith, revealed by Christ to humanity and safeguarded by the Church. However, at the same time, high-ranking Masons claim to possess infinite intellectual power and supreme clairvoyance, supposedly granted to them by Lucifer as the ultimate development of idealistic degrees, passed down through tradition from their masters. This, they believe, allows them to perceive the divine light in a way that surpasses the Christian vision, which they regard as irrational and unreliable.
Today, Freemasonry poses the greatest threat to the Church due to its ability to infiltrate and harm it from within, often without the knowledge of many faithful and pastors. It is more dangerous than Protestantism, Marxism, Islamism, Judaism, Hinduism, or Buddhism. Through clever manipulations, the faithful are gradually led to distort the concept of the Church, transforming it into a purely worldly entity, to the point where they believe they are still within the Church, when in reality, they have become enslaved by the world.”
Dear Freemasons who thought you were also Catholics –
Now that you know the truth: REPENT, abjure everything of Freemasonry & Witchcraft, renounce the help of Lucifer and all his demons, burn all FM aprons, books, rings & regalia, accept cleansing by a good priest from all the lying & blasphemous profanities, ask The LORD Jesus Christ to have mercy on you, begin a new Catholic life of coomplete loving obedience to Jesus Christ.
And REJOICE that you are free from what was deliberately making you a cursed citizen of hell through all eternity.
This song may help: Taya ‘Come into the Light’ YouTube
Why no mention that previously condemned Freemasonry fundamental principles of religious liberty/tolerance/ecumenism were suddenly all accepted as authentic Catholic teaching by Vatican II Council and promoted all 27 years of Pope John Paul II’s papacy.
Para. 9
“[N]ot to detract Freemasonry . . .”
??
Sadly, beloved Sandra Miesel, in spite of your article of some years ago, Freemasonry is not declining and has millions of female initiates. It’s sad that those who want to hide the stunning advance of the Craft often disseminate this type of: “We’re nothing to worry about!”.
So sorry they misled you, dear sister in Christ.
You could get clued-up by searching the web; e.g. –
“Female Freemasonry is a centuries-old tradition with dedicated women-only lodges, most notably ‘The Order of Women Freemasons’ and ‘The Honourable Fraternity of Ancient Freemasons’.
Women have had a complex relationship with Freemasonry, with early involvement dating back to the Medieval Period, including records of women like Gunnilda in 1256 and Sabina von Steinbach in the 14th century, though formal recognition was limited for centuries. In the 18th century, French ‘Lodges of Adoption’ allowed women and their relatives to participate in parallel degrees, which later inspired women-only lodges in the 20th century.
In the UK, female Freemasonry formally emerged with ‘The Order of Women Freemasons’ in 1908 and ‘The Honourable Fraternity of Ancient Freemasons’ in 1913.
‘The Order of Women Freemasons’ (OWF) is the oldest and largest women-only Masonic organization in the UK. It was originally mixed but became exclusively female by 1935. The OWF has OVER 10,000 members across more than 350 lodges worldwide, including the UK, Australia, Canada, South Africa, Spain, and Zimbabwe. Its headquarters are in Notting Hill Gate, London, and it operates residential homes for members. The organization follows the same rituals and regalia as male Freemasonry and emphasizes the same deistic indifferentist beliefs in ‘G’.
‘The Honourable Fraternity of Ancient Freemasons’ (HFAF), now known as *Freemasonry for Women*, was founded in 1913 and also admits women of any race or religion who believe in a Supreme Being.
HFAF has lodges across the UK and internationally, including Gibraltar, Spain, Romania, India, and the United States, and is continuing to expand globally. Both female Masonic organizations actively participate in projects and collaborate with male Freemasonry bodies for events and educational initiatives.
Female Freemasonry is very well established in the USA. For example, Detroit has one of the largest male & female mixed lodges.
Personal observation in Australia shows Female Masonry is legion across the nation, and is hugely influential in society & in the churches.
Im a freemason. We don’t start wars and kill but religion does. Killing and child abuse is a sin. So yes we are incompatable.
Yes, dear Joe Beresford, that’s a very frequent Freemason apology.
To my knowledge, Freemasons (men & women) are major incest perpetrators. Freemason recruiting is prolific among military personnel.
Ex-military Freemasons are sometimes employed as liquidators by powerful people who need assassins whose secrecy can be assured.
The Church identifying the noxious thing that is Freemasonry is example and warning to all; and it most definitely wasn’t done so as to have the masonry as “essentially axial” to everything / anything, let alone the Church.
Whoever you are, you are well advised to reject Freemasonry.
Elias Galy: Smokescreen alert: Catholic Church condemns Freemasonry while accepting previously condemned freemasonic principles of religious freedom/tolerance/ecumenism during Vatican II Council.
They are condemning the very thing they have become as Arch. LeFebvre has already pointed out.
No no. German word Bildung – like all general things, they come to the Church’s treasury.
General things can also be appropriated into evil. This happens with the lodge yet not that kind of misappropriation is not exclusive to the lodge.
In so many respects the trads can be misleading themselves and in doing so misleading the “progressives” when it should be a concern to them to win them. They also throw up a lot of dust – smokescreening – making it more problematic for the Pope to reach them. This throwing up of dust is diabolical. It leaves the field more accessible to the lodge to adapt its ways among “progressives”.
Edit, 2nd para. 2nd sentence, to read: This happens with the lodge yet that kind of misappropriation is not exclusive to the lodge.
TRUE!
The lodge has nothing good or new to offer anybody that isn’t already available to humanity; and humanity already knows responsible dominion over its goods.
The lodge exists and inserts itself purely for its own advantage and has to project its pretensions in moderating its position and everybody’s else’s.