The Church has prohibited its members from being Freemasons since the papal bull In eminenti apostolatus, promulgated in 1738 by Pope Clement XII.
Joseph Ratzinger, who later became Pope Benedict XVI, wrote in a letter that those who enroll in Masonic associations are in a state of grave sin and may not receive Holy Communion.
[6] From the earliest pontifical documents on the subject and in particular in the Encyclical Humanum Genus by Pope Leo XIII (20 April 1884), the Magisterium of the Church, which may not change, has denounced philosophical ideas and moral conceptions in Freemasonry that were considered opposed to Catholic doctrine.
For Leo XIII, they essentially led back to a rationalistic naturalism, the inspiration of its plans and activities against the Church.
[8] During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, conflict between Catholicism and Freemasonry broke out into disputes over secular education, discrimination in employment, and in some European countries, the expulsion of religious orders.
[9] In 1974, Cardinal Franjo Seper, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, sent a letter that seemed to relax the previous absolute ban on Freemasonry,[10][11] causing confusion[12] and leading many Catholics to become Freemasons.
Whilst it is recognized that Masonry is not atheistic (Masons aligned with the United Grand Lodge of England are asked if they believe in God or another supreme being before joining and only accept candidates that do),[17] its use of the expression Supreme Architect of the Universe—a term attributed to the Protestant theologian John Calvin—is seen by some Christian critics as indicating Deism, the belief that God created the Universe but did not intervene in the world after this.
Whereas the constitutions of previous lodges of operative Masonry stated that "The first charge is this, that you be true to God and Holy Church and use no error or heresy",[21] in 1723, the constitution of the Grand Lodge of England was modified to state that Masons are no longer expected to follow the religion of the country they live in and, now, were only obliged to follow the moral law, regardless of denominations.
Some specific areas in which Freemasons were accused of aiming for an improper separation of church and state were: Catholic critics of Freemasonry observe that it refuses to promote one faith as being superior to any others, while at the same time it also uses rituals that can appear religious to outsiders.
[31] Anderson's The Constitutions of the Free-Masons, 1723, likens the guidance of moral truth to a religion in which all men agree and said that the specifics of Mason's religious faith are their own opinions to leave to themselves.
[32] Freemasons reply that not obliging a member to profess a certain religious viewpoint as a condition of membership is not the equivalent of asserting that no religion can be superior to any other.
In some instances, these are relatively small church bodies which broke from the mainline Protestant denominations in recent decades, citing as their reason their opposition to theological liberalism or diversity.
The largest by far of the Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Methodist church bodies in the US have not taken a stand against Freemasonry, and many Masons are active members of them.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States and a progressive, mainline Protestant denomination, takes no stance on its lay congregants being members of Masonic organizations including Blue Lodge Freemasonry, Scottish Rite Freemasony, York Rite Freemasony, the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine (Shriners), or the Order of the Eastern Star (OES).
[65] The Southern Baptist Convention is mistakenly understood to prohibit Freemasonry, but leaves such as a matter of individual conscience,[66] largely due to the findings within the SBC 1993 Report on Freemasonry,[67] in which it states: In light of the fact that many tenets and teachings of Freemasonry are not compatible with Christianity and Southern Baptist doctrine, while others are compatible with Christianity and Southern Baptist doctrine, we therefore recommend that consistent with our denomination's deep convictions regarding the priesthood of the believer and the autonomy of the local church, membership in a Masonic Order be a matter of personal conscience.
Shortly after becoming a Freemason, Smith introduced the church's temple endowment ceremony, which contained some symbols and language closely paralleling some of the rituals of Freemasonry.
This was supposedly due to several factors, but the church's practice of polygamy and the strong anti-Mormon sentiment of the era greatly contributed.
The Encyclopedia of Mormonism, a quasi-official 1992 publication, clarified the church's position by stating that "the philosophy and major tenets of Freemasonry are not fundamentally incompatible with the teaching, theology, and doctrines of the Latter-day Saints."
[71][72] In 2008, Glen Cook, a practicing Latter-day Saint, became the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Utah, and subsequently held national and international masonic offices [73] Another Latter-day Saint Freemason, Mark E. Koltko-Rivera, who authored an introduction to Freemasonry entitled "Freemasonry: An Introduction."
The Philippine Independent Church, officially the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI), do not prohibit Freemasonry and allows its clergy and members to join Masonic organizations.
[79] In keeping with the geometrical and architectural theme of Freemasonry, the Supreme Being is referred to in Masonic ritual by the attributes of Great Architect of the Universe (sometimes abbreviated as G.A.O.T.U.
Freemasons use these varied forms of address to make clear that the reference is generic and not about any one religion's particular identification of God.
[83] The Rosicrucian symbol of the Rose Cross is also found in certain rituals of appendant bodies to Freemasonry which require candidates to be Master Masons.
Nor is there any documented evidence to support Arthur Edward Waite's (1857–1942) speculation that Fludd may have introduced a Rosicrucian influence into Freemasonry.
Below are some of the more common quotations used on the internet in the attempt to establish the claim that Masons worship Satan, with some notes about them: First Conjuration Addressed to Emperor Lucifer.
Emperor Lucifer, Master and Prince of Rebellious Spirits, I adjure thee to leave thine abode, in what-ever quarter of the world it may be situated and come hither to communicate with me.
I command and I conjure thee in the Name of the Mighty Living God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, to appear without noise and without ....[88]This quote is often attributed to "Arthur Edward Waite, 33°" on Christian Anti-Masonic websites, as if it were an authoritative statement from a "high level" Mason, but Waite is not identified as a 33rd degree Mason anywhere in the book the quote is taken from.
However, as with Waite, Hall is not identified as a 33° Mason anywhere in the book, nor is there a record of his reception of the 33° cited in any readily available source that does not include the above quotation.
At the same time he is pain, which is the Re-action of the pleasure of action, and death — which is the revolution of life — Satan, burning in his own hell, produced by the fury of his own momentum — the expansive disintegration of the nebulæ which is to concentrate into new worlds"[98]This quotation is taken from Helena Blavatsky's magnum opus, The Secret Doctrine, and is often presented by Anti-Masons as evidence of Satanism on the part of Freemasonry.
[101][102] The occultist Aleister Crowley, who called himself "The Great Beast 666" claimed to be a Freemason, and his association with Freemasonry is one major reason why some conservative Christians see it as an occult organization.