{"id":91411,"date":"2024-08-24T23:38:03","date_gmt":"2024-08-24T23:38:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=91411"},"modified":"2024-08-24T23:38:03","modified_gmt":"2024-08-24T23:38:03","slug":"catholic-church-bars-members-from-being-freemasons-explains-opposition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=91411","title":{"rendered":"Catholic Church bars members from being Freemasons, explains opposition"},"content":{"rendered":"

Catholics are strictly prohibited from being Masons or belonging to Freemasonry.<\/span><\/p>\n

Below are seven facts to know in order to not be misled about the matter.<\/span><\/p>\n

Recently, Father Eduardo Hayen, a Mexican priest of the diocese of Ciudad Ju\u00e1rez and director of the weekly publication \u201cPresencia,\u201d pointed out on X that \u201ca Catholic priest cannot give sacramental absolution to a Mason who asks for Confession and refuses to renounce Freemasonry.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNo matter how much some Masons insist that one can be Catholic and belong to a lodge, the reality is that these two visions of the world and of God are irreconcilable,\u201d he warned.<\/span><\/p>\n

1. The idea of \u200b\u200bGod<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The outspoken priest explained that the idea of God \u201cfor Masons, is dictated by reason, while for Catholics it is given by the Revelation of God in Jesus Christ.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor Freemasonry, God is the Great Architect of the Universe, but it denies that Jesus is begotten and not created, of the same nature as the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, who became incarnate and spoke to all men to offer them salvation,\u201d as the Nicene Creed of the Catholic Church declares.<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Relativism<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Hayen then warns that \u201cwhile Freemasonry welcomes all religions in a religious relativism, Catholicism requires loving submission to the one true God, as well as the renunciation of all beliefs opposed to the God revealed by Christ.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

3. Masonic \u2018mysteries\u2019<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The Mexican priest also pointed out that \u201cMasonry studies \u2018mysteries\u2019 that are revealed only to a few initiates who reach higher levels of knowledge of these enigmas. The Catholic, on the other hand, knows the Great Mystery that was hidden for centuries and that was revealed in the fullness of time, when the Word became man.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis \u2018Great Mystery\u2019 is not for a few, but for all humanity: man is immensely loved by God and is called to participate, in Christ, in the same divine life here on earth and in eternity,\u201d Hayen emphasizes.<\/span><\/p>\n

4. Fraternity in Freemasonry<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFraternity in Freemasonry comes from the ideals of the French Revolution: it is the generic idea of \u200b\u200bbeing brothers only because we are of the same human race,\u201d the Mexican priest explained.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBeing brothers for Catholics, on the other hand, is first recognizing the source of brotherhood, which is God the Father, who gave his Son Jesus Christ to make us sons in the Son,\u201d who gives himself for all of us daily in the Eucharist.<\/span><\/p>\n

5. Masonic philanthropy vs. Christian charity<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Hayen also noted that \u201cChristian charity is different from Masonic philanthropy. Masons say that it is based on doing good, but what good? For them there is no morality based on natural law and the Ten Commandments. In fact, the promotion of abortion, euthanasia and same-sex marriage are of Masonic inspiration. They base their actions on moral and doctrinal relativism.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The priest emphasized that \u201cfor Catholics, on the other hand, charity is inspired by the commandment of love for Christ: \u2018A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you\u2019 (Jn 13:34), and it is Christ himself who lives in his brothers: \u2018Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me\u2019 (Mt 25:40).\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

6. What does the Catholic Church say about Masons?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The Code of Canon Law establishes in Canon 1374 that \u201cA person who joins an association which plots against the Church is to be punished with a just penalty; one who promotes or takes office in such an association is to be punished with an interdict.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Broadly speaking, an interdict can be defined as a canonical penalty or censure that, while it does not break the communion with the Church like excommunication, it does deprive the person of celebrating or participating in sacraments.<\/span><\/p>\n

The wording of the Code of Canon Law approved in 1983 differs from the 1917 version in two respects: the penalty is not automatic and there is no explicit mention of Freemasonry.<\/span><\/p>\n

In response to this, then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, when he was prefect of the Congregation \u2014 today a Dicastery \u2014 for the Doctrine of the Faith in the Vatican, published the 1983 \u201cDeclaration on Freemasonry.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This text by the future Pope Benedict XVI highlights that \u201cthe Church\u2019s negative judgment in regard to Masonic association remains unchanged since their principles have always been considered irreconcilable with the doctrine of the Church.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Therefore \u201cmembership in them remains forbidden. The faithful who enroll in Masonic associations are in a state of grave sin and may not receive Holy Communion,\u201d the text declares.<\/span><\/p>\n

7. The latest Vatican document on Freemasons<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

On Nov. 15, 2023, the Vatican reaffirmed that Catholics cannot belong to Freemasonry and are prohibited from joining a lodge due to their \u201cirreconcilability\u201d with Catholic doctrine.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith made this declaration in a document released at the time, with the signature of its prefect, Cardinal V\u00edctor Manuel Fern\u00e1ndez, a text approved by Pope Francis.<\/span><\/p>\n

The letter was issued in response to a query from Bishop Julito Cortes of the Diocese of Dumaguete in the Philippines, who expressed to the Holy See his concern about the situation in his diocese caused by \u201cthe continuous increase in the number of faithful\u201d who are joining Freemasonry.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u25cf This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA\u2019s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Catholics are strictly prohibited from being Masons or belonging to Freemasonry. Below are seven facts to know in order to not be misled about the matter. Recently, Father Eduardo Hayen, a Mexican priest of the diocese of Ciudad Ju\u00e1rez and director of the weekly publication \u201cPresencia,\u201d pointed out on X that \u201ca Catholic priest cannot […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":91412,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5772],"tags":[5002,1348,6763],"class_list":["post-91411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-faith","tag-bar","tag-catholic","tag-mason"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=91411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91411\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/91412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=91411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=91411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=91411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}