Papal ban of Freemasonry
[10][11] Also in 1736, on 26 December, Andrew Michael Ramsay delivered an oration to a masonic meeting in Paris on the eve of the election of Charles Radclyffe as Grand Master of the French Freemasons.
[12] This ban, and the Italian investigation led,[13] in 1738, to Pope Clement XII promulgating In eminenti apostolatus, the first canonical prohibition of Masonic associations.
"[27] In Praeclara gratulationis publicae, Leo XIII namely stated about Freemasonry: "Although We have spoken on this subject in the strongest terms before, yet We are led by Our Apostolic watchfulness to urge it once more, and We repeat Our warning again and again, that in face of such an eminent peril, no precaution, howsoever great, can be looked upon as sufficient.
May God in His Mercy bring to naught their impious designs; nevertheless, let all Christians know and understand that the shameful yoke of Freemasonry must be shaken off once and for all; and let them be the first to shake it off who are most galled by its oppression–the men of Italy and of France.
With what weapons and by what method this may best be done We Ourselves have already pointed out: the victory cannot be doubtful to those who trust in that Leader Whose Divine Words still remain in all their force: I have overcome the world.
[36] Under 1917 CIC, books which argue that "Masonic sects" and similar groups are "useful and not harmful to the Church and civil society" were prohibited.
"[49][further explanation needed][h] The CES permitted, within its jurisdiction, converts to Catholicism to retain their Swedish Rite membership,[47] "but only with the specific permission of that person's bishop.
"[51] In early 1968, The Tablet reported that Vatican sources had "been quoted as saying that Catholics are now free to join the Masons in the United States, Britain and most other countries of the world.
However, the European Grand Orient Lodge of Masons, established primarily in Italy and France, is still considered anti-Catholic or, at least, atheistic," and that "the CDF 'let it be known that Catholics joining the Freemasons are no longer automatically excommunicated.
Vatican sources added that this wording would be changed to modify the Church's position when the new Code of Canon Law was completed.
"[52][i] Informal dialogues between Catholic Church and Masonic representatives took place after Vatican II in Austria, Italy and Germany.
It "contained serious faults in philosophical-theological and, above all, historical terms," according to Professor Zbigniew Suchecki, and "was never officially recognized by" the Catholic Church.
"[61] In 1980, after six years of dialogue with representatives of the United Grand Lodges of Germany and investigation of Masonic rituals,[discuss] the DBK produced a report on Freemasonry listing twelve conclusions.
"[93] "Those who knowingly embrace" masonic "principles are committing serious sin" and,[93] according to Law's parenthetical commentary on Whalen, that offense might be punishable under canon 1364.
[94] Caparros et al. elucidates that, in cases where "registration into an association entails apostasy, heresy, or schism" then the offense is punishable under canon 1364.
[95] Nevertheless, citing CDF (1983), Caparros et al. states that "those masonic associations that would not be covered by" canon 1374 have "principles [which] are still seen to be incompatible with the doctrine of the Church.
In 1996, Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz, of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lincoln, legislated that Catholic members of masonic associations in the diocese, incur a latae sententiae censure of a one-month interdict during which they are forbidden to receive holy communion; those who continue membership incur a latae sententiae censure of excommunication.
Father Thomas Anslow, Judicial Vicar of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, replied to Patterson that "the matter is too complex for a straightforward 'yes' or 'no' answer.
"[100] Because he was "unaware of any ideology or practice by the local lodges that challenges or subverts the doctrine and interests of the Catholic Church," Anslow wrote that his "qualified response" is "probably yes."
"[110] Bishop Gianfranco Girotti, regent of the Apostolic Penitentiary, told the 2007 Freemasonry and the Catholic Church conference, at the Pontifical Theological Faculty of St. Bonaventure in Rome, that doctrine has not changed.
[112] Likewise, reacting to the news of an 85-year-old Catholic priest, Rosario Francesco Esposito, becoming a member in a Masonic lodge,[113] Girotti told Vatican Radio in May 2007 that the CDF 1983 declaration "remains in force today[update].
[91]The "irreconcilable principles" that the Church believes Freemasonry possesses include a "deistic God,"[r] naturalism,[86] and religious indifferentism.
"[121] According to Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, DBK (1980) and CBCP (2010) "are significant texts as they address the theoretical and practical reasons for the irreconcilability of masonry and Catholicism as concepts of truth,[t] religion,[u] God, man and the world, spirituality, ethics, rituality and tolerance.
The KoC, though accepting African-American members early on in its history, soon came to identify in many of its councils with segregationist and anti-black viewpoints, leading to the denial of membership to many prospective black candidates.
