In 1777, the Grand Orient de France recognised the antiquity of the Lodge of Perfect Equality, said to have been formed in 1688.

[5][6] Shortly after his death, a schism occurred, with the larger party becoming what Louis-Philippe d'Orléans, Duke of Chartres, renamed[2] the Grand Orient de France in 1773.

[20] The New Catholic Encyclopedia of 1967 (written after the Second Vatican Council) says that modern historians see Freemasonry's role in the French Revolution as exaggerated.

[27][28][29][30] The Grand Orient was implicated in the Affaire des Fiches, where it was accused of collecting[31] and holding information on the religious and political affiliation of army officers, passed on by a member of the government,[32] having been collected with the intention of blocking practicing Catholics and non-Republicans from further advancement.

[33] The Grand Orient of France advanced the principle of laïcité, a French concept of the separation of church and state and the absence of religious interference in government affairs.

[35] During the first decade of the 21st century, the Grand Orient de France was concerned about a "silent revolution" of a return of religion in society.

[38] In 2013, the Grand Orient of France stated its support for the legalization of same-sex marriage in France in a press release condemning the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Paris, André Vingt-Trois, for his public statements against same-sex marriage; in the statement, the GOdF described the bill as one which seeks to "ensure Republican recognition of free marital choice of individuals who wish it, in the name of equal rights".

The statement issued by the GOdF continues with a call for organized religions to abstain from interfering in private affairs and restrict their activities to purely spiritual matters, and not to interfere with the democratic process.

[39] The Grand Orient of France belongs to the Continental tradition of Freemasonry (known to its practitioners as "Liberal Masonry"),[40] the defining features of which are complete freedom of religious conscience and deliberate involvement in politics.

This is antithetical to the "Anglo-American" tradition of Freemasonry, which remains male only and requires a belief in Deity but which otherwise bans discussion of both religion and politics.

Unlike Anglo-American Freemasonry, the Grand Orient of France does not require candidates for membership to believe in a Supreme Being, and allows the discussion of political issues and religion in lodge.

It upholds a series of guiding principles or ideals (valeurs), which individual members are expected to defend, and which the Grand Orient as a corporate body promotes.

[41] In discussions at all levels, up to and including the President, the Grand Orient claims to exert a beneficent influence on the French Government.