Papal Bulls Against Freemasonry
( Last updated on 14 Feb 2011 22:45
)
At least several Popes have hated Freemasonry. As far as I know, members of the Roman Catholic Church are still forbidden, by their Pope but not by the Freemasons, from joining the Freemasons to this day.
Pope Clement XII issued a Papal Bull in 1738, called "In Eminenti", in which he denounced Freemasonry because it admitted to its Altars men of all Religions and imposed obligations its members would not reveal at the confessional. The next year he issued an edict threatening all who visited Lodges with a fine of 1000 crowns of Gold and the torture of the rack. Several Masons were imprisoned and tortured by the Inquisition. See "The Story of Freemasonry" page 19. Pope Clement XII was certainly no fan of any Freedom of Religion! What a nice Christian man he must have been to want to torture those who went a meeting!
Being under threat of fine, imprisonment, torture or being Burned at the Stake by either the Catholic Church or by a government under the control of the Catholic Church, just might be the reason that caused the Freemasons to become a so-called Secret Society. Real good chance!!
On 13 Mar 1826 Pope Leo XII issued a Papal Bull against Freemasonry called Quo Gravior in which he also bitched about other Secret Societies. Since about 5/6 (>83%) of the population of the Earth does not give a dead rat's behind what any Pope declares, such a condemnation means very little to anyone except to the few Catholics that believe everything the Pope says. Judging from the number of Catholics I know who are also Masons, I would guess that even very few Catholics pay much attention to what the the various Popes have ever said against Freemasonry. We as Freemasons do not really care what any Pope has to say as he is just another elected man who just happens to have a bully pulpit and a printing press to spread his hatred of those he dislikes. Even the Freemasons who are Catholics do not care what the Pope has to say about Freemasonry. They simply do not bother to tell their Parish Priest that they belong to the Masons. Helps keep the peace that way. There is nothing in Freemasonry that the Supreme Being should ever find objectionable, even if a lowly Pope on Earth objects to it. The Pope is not even close to being the same as the Supreme Being even though the Pope may think he is the Supreme Being's representative on Earth. The Pope is simply another elected politician who runs the country known as the Vatican.
As far as I know, Freemasonry, unlike the Catholic Church, has never had anyone to be killed because of that persons religious beliefs.
The action of the Church is summed up in the papal pronouncements against
Freemasonry since 1738, the most important of which are:
Clement XII, Constitution "In Eminenti", 28 April, 1738; •
Benedict XIV, "Providas", 18 May, 1751; •
Pius VII, "Ecclesiam", 13 September, 1821; •
Leo XII, "Quo graviora", 13 March, 1825; •
Pius VIII, Encyclical "Traditi", 21 May, 1829; •
Gregory XVI, "Mirari", 15 August, 1832; •
Pius IX, Encyclical "Qui pluribus", 9 November, 1846; •
Pius IX, Allocution "Quibus quantisque malis", 20 April, 1849; •
Pius IX, Encyclical "Quanta cura", 8 December, 1864; •
Pius IX, Allocution "Multiplices inter", 25 September, 1865; •
Pius IX, Constitution "Apostolicæ Sedis", 12 October, 1869; •
Pius IX, Encyclical "Etsi multa", 21 November, 1873; •
Leo XIII, Encyclical "Humanum genus", 20 April, 1884; •
Leo XIII, "Præclara", 20 June, 1894; •
Leo XIII, "Annum ingressi", 18 March, 1902 (against Italian Freemasonry); •
Leo XIII, Encyclical "Etsí nos", 15 February, 1882; •
Leo XIII, "Ab Apostolici", 15 October, 1890. •
[NOTE: The information between these lines came from Catholic Encyclopedia, I think.]
Also see:
1738 -
1826
-
Altar
-
Burned
at the Stake -
Catholic
-
Catholic
Church -
Earth
-
Freedom
of Religion -
Freemason
-
Freemasonry
-
Inquisition
-
Lodge
-
Masons -
Papal
Bull -
Pope
-
Pope Clement XII
-
Pope Leo
XII -
Quo
Gravior -
Religion
-
Roman Catholic
Church -
Secret
Society -
Supreme
Being -
"The
Story of Freemasonry" -
Vatican
-