Freemasonry
The candidate of these three degrees is progressively taught the meanings of the symbols of Freemasonry and entrusted with grips, signs, and words to signify to other members that he has been so initiated.
In addition to these bodies, there are further organizations outside of the more traditional Rites of Freemasonry, that require an individual to be a Master Mason before they can join (such as the Rosicrucian Society of England).
There is no single overarching governing body that presides over worldwide Freemasonry; connections between different jurisdictions depend solely on mutual recognition.
The concept of Exclusive Jurisdiction has been significantly challenged in the United States with the increasing recognition of Prince Hall Grand Lodges, a branch of Freemasonry created for African Americans.
[50] The evolution of this practice demonstrates how traditional Masonic principles can adapt to accommodate social progress while maintaining the fundamental aims of regular Freemasonry.
Freemasons are encouraged to join the Holy Royal Arch, which is linked to Mark Masonry in Scotland and Ireland, but completely separate in England.
[59] Conversely, the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia is a fully independent esoteric organization that requires members be United Grand Lodge of England Master Masons.
The dramatic allegorical ceremonies include explanatory lectures and revolve around the construction of the Temple of Solomon, and the artistry and death of the chief architect, Hiram Abiff.
[63] In most Lodges, the oath or obligation is taken on a Volume of Sacred Law, whichever book of divine revelation is appropriate to the religious beliefs of the individual brother (usually the Bible in the Anglo-American tradition).
Alluding to the membership of a lodge of operative masons, they relate it to a mythologised history of the craft, the duties of its grades, and the manner in which oaths of fidelity are to be taken on joining.
[88] This event effectuated the establishment of the Executive Branch of the Federal Government of the United States, which had until then existed only virtually after the US Constitution become operational almost two months earlier, on March 4, 1789.
Jamaican Freemasonry historian Jackie Ranston, noted that: Jamaica served as an arms depot for the revolutionary forces when two Kingston Freemasons, Wellwood and Maxwell Hyslop, financed the campaigns of Simón Bolívar, the Liberator, to whom six Latin American Republics owe their independence".
Nonetheless, widespread racial segregation in 19th- and early 20th-century North America made it difficult for African Americans to join Lodges outside of Prince Hall jurisdictions.
A career Army officer, he lived with his family in Charleston, South Carolina from 1793 to the early 1800s, after leaving Saint-Domingue, now Haiti, during the years of the Haitian Revolution.
[104] The Grand Orient revised its constitution to emphasise "absolute liberty of conscience and human solidarity", removing previous requirements regarding belief in the existence of God and the immortality of the soul.
The United Grand Lodge of England maintains a policy of exclusive recognition based on specific criteria, including belief in a Supreme Being and male-only membership.
While not extending formal recognition, UGLE maintains "excellent working relationships" with both Grand Lodges and collaborates with them on various initiatives, including joint participation in Open House London events at Freemasons' Hall and university recruitment fairs.
[125] As Freemasonry spread, women began to be added to the Lodges of Adoption by their husbands who were continental masons, which worked three degrees with the same names as the men's but different content.
[143] Daniel Roche contests freemasonry's claims for egalitarianism, writing that "the real equality of the lodges was elitist", only attracting men of similar social backgrounds.
[151] According to Adrian Lyttelton, in the early 20th century, Freemasonry was an influential but semi-secret force in Italian politics; with a strong presence among professionals and the middle class across Italy, its appeal spread to the leadership of the parliament, public administration, and the army.
Freemasons took on the challenge of mobilizing the press, encouraging public opinion and the leading political parties in support of Italy's joining of the Allies of the First World War in 1914–1915.
The lodges hailed fascism as the saviour of Italy from Bolshevism; however, Mussolini decided he needed to come to terms with the Catholic Church, in the mid-1920s, outlawing Freemasonry.
[160][161] According to historian Karen Racine, Freemasons in the presidency of Mexico included: Guadalupe Victoria, Valentín Gómez Farías, Antonio López de Santa Anna, Benito Juárez, Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada, Porfirio Díaz, Francisco I. Madero, Venustiano Carranza, Plutarco Elías Calles, Lázaro Cárdenas, Emilio Portes Gil, Pascual Ortiz Rubio, Abelardo L. Rodríguez, and Miguel Alemán Valdés.
[178] However, the matter was clarified when Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI), as the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, issued a Declaration on Masonic Associations, which states: "... the Church's negative judgment in regard to Masonic association remains unchanged since their principles have always been considered irreconcilable with the doctrine of the Church and therefore membership in them remains forbidden.
[183][better source needed] Masonic scholar Albert Pike is often quoted (in some cases misquoted) by Protestant anti-Masons as an authority for the position of Masonry on these issues.
The former archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, appeared to harbour some reservations about Masonic ritual, while being anxious to avoid causing offence to Freemasons inside and outside the Church of England.
[190] In 1933, the Orthodox Church of Greece officially declared that being a Freemason constitutes an act of apostasy and thus, until he repents, the person involved with Freemasonry cannot partake of the Eucharist.
[197] Influenced by Rida, Islamic anti-Masons argue that Freemasonry promotes the interests of the Jews around the world and that one of its aims is to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in order to rebuild the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem.
[198] Through his popular pan-Islamic journal Al-Manar, Rashid Rida spread anti-Masonic ideas which would directly influence the Muslim Brotherhood and subsequent Islamist movements, such as Hamas.
[218] RSHA Amt VII (Written Records), overseen by Professor Franz Six, was responsible for "ideological" tasks, by which was meant the creation of antisemitic and anti-Masonic propaganda.
