"Freemasonry unambiguously states that it is not a religion, nor a substitute for religion.[44] There is no separate "Masonic" God.[45] Nor is there a separate proper name for a deity in any branch of Freemasonry.[46] There is no general interpretation for any of the symbols.[citation needed] 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.), Grand Geometer or similar. Freemasons use these variety of forms of address to God to make clear that the reference is generic, not about any one religion's particular God or God-like concept.
"Nevertheless, Freemasonry has been criticised for being a substitute for Christian belief. For example, the New Catholic Encyclopedia states the opinion that 'Freemasonry displays all the elements of religion, and as such it becomes a rival to the religion of the Gospel. It includes temples and altars, prayers, a moral code, worship, vestments, feast days, the promise of reward or punishment in the afterlife, a hierarchy, and initiation and burial rites.'[47]" (From Wikipedia)
The most eloquent critics of Freemasonry in the Catholic Church, notably Father William Saunders of Notre Dame Institute, argue that since Freemasonry partakes of quasi-religious rituals and beliefs, Catholics are committing a grave sin by becoming Masons. What they try to hide from their Catholic faithful, however, is the fact that Masonry prohibits discussion of any religious beliefs precisely because it does not want to become another religion that competes with the religions practiced by its members.
In fact, when some Illinois Mormon Masons turned their lodges into religious places of worship, they were expelled by the Masonic Grand Lodge of Illinois. No religious practices are allowed in Masonic lodges, under penalty of expulsion.
There are Catholics, Protestants, Hindus, Muslims - Catholic priests, Jewish rabbis and protestant ministers even - in the Masonic community. The Masons who have studied Freemasonry and have been admitted to the brotherhood know that it is not a religion and that it is not an enemy of their true faith. In fact, because of the Masons' emphasis on righteous living, those who join the Masons become more righteous members of their individual religions. The Catholics have become better Catholics, the Protestants, the Jews, the Muslims, etc. have become more righteous and more tolerant practitioners of their individual religions.
When Masons attend a lodge meeting, they do so not to worship but to meet and practice camaraderie. It is a place where grown men discuss how they can be of service to their fellow men. Religion is farthest from their minds.
What am I saying? I am saying, categorically, that the Catholic Church and other critics of Freemasonry are dead wrong about this sublime society of men who are sworn to righteous living and the defense of freedoms. Fellow Masons treat each other like brothers and the wives, children, sisters-in-law, mothers and mothers-in-law as sacred relations. A Mason will have nothing to fear leaving their children with fellow Masons and their families because Masons consider other Masons and their families as their own.
In contrast, many Catholics would not leave their children alone with Catholic priests or other Catholic elders for fear that those in position of ecclesiastical and lay authority over their children might molest them. Pedophilia is unknown in the Masonic movement, while it is a terrible disease in the Catholic Church. This is also a growing problem in the Protestant churches, of course, but the protestants never claim to be superior to Masons.
The prohibition, under pain of symbolic (not actual) severe corporal punishment, against marrying widows of fellow Masons or children of fellow Masons has erected an impenetrable sexual barrier between Masons and all members of the Masonic family. Furthermore, the Masonic insistence on righteous living is considered by every Mason as a command to go out and seek peace with all men (and women).
When one looks at Masonry and the way it is actually being practiced and contrasts that with the picture being painted by the paranoid zealots in the Catholic Church who are obsessed with the continued demonization of Freemasonry despite the fact that Pope John Paul II had approved the removal of Freemasonry from the list of condemned organizations in 1983, one senses that the Catholic ban on membership in Freemasonry is not only illogical, it is also ridiculous.
The Masons had been condemned by the Vatican since the mid-18th century and all Catholics who would become Freemasons were subject to excommunication. In 1983, the Code of Canon Law, signed by then Pope John Paul II, dropped Freemasonry from the list of organizations membership in which would automatically result in excommunication. This was big, very big. It was something that the Masons had been waiting for over more than two centuries. But, the paranoid zealots in the Catholic Church were not to be deterred. They would continue to demonize Masonry if that was the last thing they did before they - presumably - joined their maker.
The logical conclusion from the de-listing of Freemasonry is that Catholics were allowed henceforth to become Masons. This was the prevailing conclusion of many Catholics post-1983 and many Catholics, by the hundreds of thousands, started joining Freemasonry. Catholics are still joining Masonic lodges in droves to this day.
Those Catholics who became Masons after 1983 are still practicing Catholics, their faith strengthened because of the Masonic call for righteous living. In contrast, the general (non-Masonic) Catholic population continues to abandon the Catholic Church. Church attendance is at an all-time low in the world, yet the Catholics who joined Masonry continue to worship as Catholics.
It is truly ironic that some very influential people in the Catholic faith, first and foremost the current Pope, still think of Masonry as the enemy. In November, 1983, the current Pope (Benedict XVI, then Cardinal Ratzinger), prevailed upon Pope John Paul II to issue a clarification, stating that Freemasonry was still an enemy of the Catholic Church and Catholics were forbidden, under pain of mortal sin, from joining the Masons.
Any impartial observer of life in the 21st century, however, knows that the true enemy of the Catholic faith is modernity. As the world turns increasingly to science and to technological progress, people's religiosity is taking a hit at an alarmingly increasing pace. Catholics are staying away from their parish churches, staying away from the priesthood, openly defying bans against divorce, birth control and - in some cases, abortion - and are in open revolt against the priesthood that they suspect are either defenders, enablers or practitioners of pedophilia.
One of the emerging countervailing forces that the Church could turn to is Freemasonry, which promotes righteous living and belief in God. Yet, some important voices in the Catholic church apparently are hell-bent on continuing the deep chasm that divides the Church and Freemasonry. Pope John Paul II, who in the 1980s obviously saw that Freemasonry was not a threat, and who was forced by the heavy hand of Cardinal Ratzinger to issue his "clarification," must be turning in his grave.
If one is looking for proof that Masonry is not a religion and certainly not one that competes with the Catholic faith, one only has to look at the fact that the Catholics who have become Masons are generally better Catholics than those Catholics who only know about Masonry from priests who are rabidly anti-Mason. This proof is sadly not available to everyone, only to those who are deeply involved in the Masonic movement.
The accession of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger to the Papacy was the worst thing that could happen to Catholic Masons. Cardinal Ratzinger was the head of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, the very agency in charge of the Inquisition and the enforcer of the Catholic vendetta against the Masons. Many Catholic Masons are hoping that there will be another Pope soon and that the next Pope would not be as hostile towards the Masons.
But what about the charge that Freemasonry uses religious symbols in its rituals? Masonry traces its roots to antiquity and the symbols are the accumulation of the rich traditions from which the society derives. Masons do not regard the symbols as religious symbols but are rather part and parcel of the Masonic culture. The words "In God We Trust," for example, are ingrained in American culture but are not a religious symbol, which is why in America, where there is a strict separation of church and state, those words are allowed in its currency.
The Masonic "G" and the square and compass - which are the most recognizable symbols of Masonry, stand for the Grand Geometer (the Grand Architect of the Universe) and the two tools of engineering and architecture. Belief in the Grand Geometer, or the Grand Architect, is the least common denominator with all religions. The members are expected to supplement this belief with their own religious beliefs. The Christians call the Grand Geometer "God," the Muslims "Allah," the Jews "Yahweh," etc.
Masons believe that the universe was created by a Supreme Being, but they are not required to believe in any one religion. The members themselves decide which particular religion they are to practice. This proves, except to the paranoid zealots in the Catholic Church, that Masonry is not a religion but a secular way of life.
There is currently widespread fascination with Freemasonry as a result of books and movies that have been shown worldwide and that have become blockbuster successes. Foremost of these is The Da Vinci Code best-selling book and movie. National Treasure, a movie that stars Nicolas Cage, is about Freemasonry in the U.S. Americans are being unduped, if there is such a word, meaning that they are coming out of the circle of the fooled and duped and are seeing in the light of day that Freemasonry is not that secret society that some priests and bishops had warned Catholics about.
Freemasonry is perhaps one of the last stands that the world has erected against the very powerful forces that argue for atheism and the worship of science and technology. Freemasonry is, indeed, an ally of Catholicism and not its enemy.
