FREEMASONRY: FOUNDATION OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION Researched and Compiled by Pauly Fongemie for Catholic Tradition PART 8: EXTERNAL MODE OF PROCEDURE OF MASONRY N PROTESTANT COUNTRIES (Continued.) B.----INTERNAL MODE OF PROCEDURE OF MASONRY IN PROTESTANT COUNTRIES. (Continued.) (b)----Masonry does not exact belief in a Personal God Catholics frequently misunderstand the import of the controversy which has been going on more or less actively in Masonry since the Grand Orient of France erased from its Constitutions that paragraph of Anderson's Masonic Constitutions, which states that "If a man rightly understands the Art, he will never be a stupid atheist or an irreligious libertine." The rupture between the Anglo-American Grand Lodges and the Grand Orient of France does not prove that Anglo-American Masonry is an uncompromising champion of belief in a Personal God in contradistinction to the atheism of Latin Masonry. On this point a series of observations may help to throw some light. Firstly, "A rupture of communications is nothing more than a schism in Masonry, which leaves the essential doctrines of the Craft and its spirit unimpaired. No one acquainted with Masonic history is ignorant of the long and bitter feud existing between the Grand Lodges of England (Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, pp. 65, 68), yet in 1813, the differences were patched up and harmony was restored. So there were dissensions in Brazil (pp. 125, 126); in France (pp. 288-290) . . . in Ireland (p. 370) . . . in the United States (pp. 491, 477, 727, etc.); and, during these dissensions, Masonic intercourse was interrupted; but the doctrine, the spirit of Masonry, was ever, at bottom, the same."  Secondly, "All Masonry is full of ambiguity. The texts of 1723 and 1738 of the fundamental law concerning Atheism are purposely ambiguous. Atheism is not positively condemned, but just sufficiently disavowed to meet the exigencies of the time, when an open admission of it would have been fatal to Masonry. [Emphasis added] It is not said that Atheists cannot be admitted or that no Mason can be an Atheist, but merely that if he rightly understands the art, he will never be a stupid Atheist, etc., i.e., he will not hold or profess Atheism in a stupid way, by statements, for instance, that shock religious feeling and bring Masonry into bad repute. And even such a stupid Atheist incurs no stronger censure than the simple ascertaining of the fact that he does not rightly understand the Art, a merely theoretical judgment without any practical sanction. Such a disavowal tends rather to encourage modern positivist or scientific Atheism. Scarcely more serious is the rejection of Atheism by the British, American and some German Grand Lodges in their struggle with the Grand Orient of France. The English Grand Lodge, it is true, in its quarterly communication of March 6, 1878 (Chr. 1878, I, 161), adopted four resolutions, in which belief in the Great Architect of the Universe [Ibid.] is declared to be the most important ancient landmark of the Order, and an explicit profession of that belief is required of visiting brethren belonging to the Grand Orient of  France, as a condition for entrance into the English Lodges. Similar measures were taken by the Irish, Scottish and North American Grand Lodges. But this belief in a Great Architect is so vague and symbolical, that almost every kind of Atheism and even of 'stupid' Atheism may be covered by it. Moreover, British and American Grand Lodges declare that they are fully satisfied with such a vague, in fact, merely verbal declaration, without further inquiry into the nature of this belief, and that they do not dream of claiming for Freemasonry that it is a 'church,' a 'council,' a 'synod.' Consequently, even those are acknowledged as Masons who, with Spencer and other naturalist philosophers of the age, call God the hidden all-powerful principle working in nature.  . . . Pike himself (Morals and Dogma, 643 et seqq.) avows: 'A man, who has a higher conception of God than those about him and who denies that their conception is God, is very likely to be called an atheist by men who are really far less believers in God than he.' Thus the whole controversy turns out to be merely nominal and formal. Moreover, it is to be noticed that the clause declaring belief in the Great Architect a condition of admission, was introduced into the text of the Constitutions of the Grand Lodge of England only in 1815, and that the same text says: 'A Mason therefore is particularly bound never to act against the dictates of his conscience,' whereby the Grand Lodge of England seems to acknowledge that liberty of conscience is the sovereign principle of Freemasonry prevailing over all others when in conflict with them.  . . . Thus the Grand Orient of France is right from the Masonic point of view as to the substance of the question; but it has deviated from tradition by discarding symbols and symbolical formulae, which, if rightly understood, in no way imply dogmatic assertions and which cannot be rejected without injuring the work of Masonry, since this has need of ambiguous religious formulae adaptable to every sort of belief and every phase of moral development. from this point of view, the symbol of the Great Architect of the Universe and of the Bible are indeed of the utmost importance for Masonry. Hence several Grand Lodges, which at first were supposed to imitate the radicalism of the French, eventually retained those symbols."   . . . to many exoteric Masons in England and America the suppression of all mention of the Great Architect of the Universe by the Grand Orient of France came as a shock. To that we have only to say that it is a pity they are not better acquainted with the foundations and tendencies of the society to which they are so closely bound. This remark is all the more important in view of what remains to be said on the subject. Preuss states that "the declaration (of the French Grand Orient) is but the logical outcome of the principles of esoteric Masonry, as we have seen in our study of the Masonic God and Jehovah. The naturalism of Masonry, the deification of human passion, can have, in logical minds, no other outcome."  Again, "G.O.D. The initials of Gomer, Oz, Dabar. It is a singular coincidence, and worthy of thought, that the letters composing the English name of Deity should be the initials of the Hebrew words Wisdom, Strength, and Beauty: the three great pillars or metaphorical supports of Masonry. They seem to present almost the only reason that can reconcile a Mason to the use of the initial 'G' in its conspicuous suspension in the East of the Lodge in place of the Delta . . . the initials conceal the true meaning." Thirdly, in the chapter on the God of American Freemasonry, Preuss shows that the letter 'G ' signifies not the Supreme Being in Three Divine Persons Whom we Catholics adore and worship and in Whose Inner Life we already share in germ by Divine Grace, but the Hermaphrodite Divinity of Masonry. [Ibid.] . . . Fourthly, it may be pointed out that during the Great War friendly relations were resumed between the greater part of the American Grand Lodges and the French Grand Orient. The American Freemason urged this re-affiliation of the Grand Orient because the latter openly teaches the true Masonic doctrine, viz., "the essential divinity of man," the doctrine that has made  Masonry a universal society above and beyond all religious confessions and having to serve as handmaid to no church or sect." Many Lodges and Masonic writers admitted that the suppression of the articles about God and the immortality of the soul meant a return to the Masonry of 1717 and to the Constitutions of 1723. CONCLUSION In the early part of the nineteenth century, Blessed Anna Maria Taigi made the following prediction to Pope Leo XII (1823-1829): "Holy Father, Freemasons are not now making much stir, but little by little their audacity will increase and the time will come when they shall appear complete masters. But God will crush them in terrible fashion and in a way which will appear miraculous." God has, of course, the power to intervene in human events as and when it may please His Sovereign Wisdom to do so, but ordinarily He acts through secondary causes. The Sovereign Pontiffs have repeatedly signified God's will to the world in the matter of Secret Societies and the rulers of the world who have not listened to the voice of "the Christ on earth," to use St. Catherine of Siena's phrase, will have a terrible account to render before the judgment-seat of Christ the King; "the mighty shall be mightily tormented." (Wisdom vi, 7.) One line of action insisted upon by the Sovereign Pontiffs is the tearing off of the mask from Freemasonry, for efficacious action supposes clear and definite knowledge of the aim and methods of the enemy. In this series of articles an attempt has been made to point out Masonic responsibility for the organized inculcation of the great error of modern society and of the modern intelligence, namely, the attempting to maintain the reign of reason over sense in the natural order, while refusing the domination of the supernatural over the natural. Both modern society and the modern intelligence are weakening under the prolonged experiment in naturalism. Both are oppressed by the supremacy of matter, the inevitable result of the refusal to accept the order of the world as it is. The law of material "progress" makes the nations that have so haughtily proclaimed their independence with regard to the Supernatural less and less self-sufficing, and brings them more and more under the tyranny of economic changes. Modern Science, constraining the intelligence to the continual contemplation of matter and its manipulation, leaves it largely incapable of grasping the order of the world and even of maintaining what has come down from the past. The turning away from the Supernatural has resulted both in the decadence of philosophic speculation and in perversion of the actual material progress, which the human mind has chosen instead of the spiritual. Every new discovery is being turned principally to purposes of war and destruction. One need only glance at the modern paraphernalia of a nation's armament: explosives, poison-gases, etc., for a confirmation of this statement. Man has, in great measure, succeeded in overcoming the limitations of matter. By the rapidity with which he can communicate with and proceed to distant parts of the globe, he is, in a certain very inferior sense to be sure, approaching the angelic mode of action. But the dIsorder, consequent upon the abandonment of the Supernatural, leads to every conquest being made subservient to an almost demoniacal hate. Only by the understanding of God's plan of communication of Supernatural Life through incorporation Into the Mystical Body of Christ and by accepting It whole-heartedly can the process of decay and division be arrested. We have thus seen something of the organization and methods of the forces working for Naturalism. Readers may also, it is hoped, have caught a glimpse of the unity of history. Just as all the efforts which culminated in the death on Calvary of Our Lord Jesus Christ, True God and True Man, were either controlled or inspired by the the leaders of the Jewish people who had rejected the Supernatural Life in Person, so all the efforts making for the destruction of the Supernatural Life of the Mystical Body in the modern world are largely controlled by the leaders of the same people. In a striking passage in one of his works, Father Billot, S.J., says: "Anyone, who gives even a glance at what is going on all over the world, will easily see that Christ and the Cause of Christ are alone in question. That this may stand out clearly, take the Evangelical Narrative of the Passion of Jesus. Wherever mention is made of Caiphas and of the whole Council of the Synagogue, insert instead that secret and world-wide Masonic association . . . which has inscribed on its banner: Let us crush Jesus of Nazareth, let us cut Him off from the land of the living and let His name be remembered no more! [Emphasis added] When Herod and his army are spoken of, put in their place the legion of those whose god is their belly, as the Apostle says, and who in theatres, papers, books, pictures . . . despise and mock at Christ in bestial fashion. Instead of Pilate, understand most of the present-day rulers of the world. For Caesar, substitute Democracy, and for Barabbas those who defend the rights of socialism and anarchy. Thus you have the key to the secrets of the world: thus you have a really scientific grasp of history, by the highest causes. The modern Pilate would like to leave Christ in peace, but he fears both Caiphas and Caesar, because just as the Caiphas of old pretended to be concerned about Caesar's interests, so now Masonry cries out: If you let this man go, you are no friend to Democracy. The modern Pilate hesitates and wavers, sometimes delivering up Jesus to Herod, sometimes pointing out the dangers of freedom being given to Barabbas, sometimes chastising and scourging Him in Whom he finds no cause for punishment, hoping to satisfy the demands of the conspirators without being compelled to have recourse to extreme measures. In the end, he will deliver up the Holy One to their will and then shall be consummated the mystery of iniquity, when shall be revealed 'the man of sin, the son of perdition, who opposeth and is lifted up above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself as if he were God . . . whom the Lord Jesus shall kill with the spirit of His mouth; and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming . . . that all may be judged who have not believed the truth.' " (2 Thess. ii, 3.) Put the modern successors of Caiphas above and behind Masonry and the picture painted by Father Billot receives its final touch. For Catholics, who alone have integral Truth, there is no other foundation of life, individual or social, than the one foundation laid by God, Jesus Christ. God is the end of man, individually and socially. Jesus Christ, God Incarnate, is the Way to the End and the Church is Christ continued or the Mystical Body of Christ. It is through Christ that God regards the world of men and nations. In God's plan each nation is meant, in its own circumstances, while aiming at the temporal prosperity of its subjects, not only not to hinder, but to favour their attaining their Final End----Definite Incorporation into the Mystical Body in Heaven. Accordingly, as the Catholic Church participates in the Spiritual Kingship of Christ, she has direct power in Spiritual matters and indirect power in Temporal matters, political, social, etc., that is, power to deal with Temporal matters in so far as they interest the order of the Divine Life. All Catholics should be united in striving to bring about the reconstruction of Society on this basis of the recognition of the Kingship of Christ. [Ibid.] This recognition is fundamental and indisputable. As Civil authority is a participation in the temporal Kingship of Christ, it is incumbent upon those who are the depositories of that authority to aim at this recognition. For Catholic rulers and citizens to leave the Kingship of Christ out of account is to forget the realities of the world as they know it by Faith to be. Differences there may be between Catholics with regard to the best means of assuring the triumph of Reason over Sense in the subordinate natural order, but they must be united and enthusiastic for the reign of the Supernatural over the Natural and must see to it that the enemies of the Supernatural do not profit by differences in the Catholic Body to make permanent the exile of Our Lord Jesus Christ and His Church from the social life of their country. The words of the great French Catholic writer, Louis Veuillot (1813.1883), are worth quoting: "We lose ground perhaps more on account of the truths that good men have not the courage to proclaim than because of the errors that the wicked have been cunning enough to multiply.  . . . It is not the Catholic Religion that you make acceptable to them but your persons, and the fear of ceasing to be amiable deprives you in the end of the manly courage of stating the full truth. Why are they loud in your praises? Because of your weak silences and cowardly denials." The weakness and disunion of the Catholics of Louis Veuillot's day are largely responsible for the difficulties of French Catholics today. First and foremost it is the duty of all Catholics worthy of the name and wishful to be known as most loving children of the Church, to reject without swerving whatever is inconsistent with so fair a title; to make use of popular institutions so far as can honestly be done, for the advancement of truth and righteousness; to strive that liberty of action shall not transgress the bounds marked out by nature and the law of God; to endeavour to bring back all civil society to the pattern and form of Christianity which We have described. It is barely possible to lay down any fixed method by which such purposes are to be attained, because the means adopted must suit places and times widely differing from one another. Nevertheless, above all things, unity of aim must be preserved, and similarly must be sought after in all plans of action. Both these objects will be carried into effect without fail if all will follow the guidance of the Apostolic See as their rule of life and obey the bishops whom the Holy Ghost has placed to rule the Church of God. (Acts xx, 28.) The defence of Catholicism, indeed, necessarily demands that in the profession of doctrines taught by the Church all shall be of one mind and all steadfast in believing, and care must be taken never to connive, in any way, at false opinions, "never to withstand them less strenuously than truth allows. In mere matters of opinion it is permissible to discuss things with moderation, with a desire of searching into the truth, without unjust suspicion or angry recriminations." (Pope Leo XIII: Encyclical Letter Immortale Dei.) "We preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews indeed a stumbling block, and unto the Gentiles, foolishness: But unto them that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." (1 Corinthians, i, 23, 24.) In the same city, in which He had been received with shouts of triumph and glad hosannas on Sunday, five days afterwards a mob howled for His death. And when He was being led out to execution "there followed Him a great multitude of people, and of women who bewailed and lamented Him." (Luke xxiii, 27.) The bad were organized, the good were not. So it has been down the ages when the same drama was being re-enacted in His Mystical Body, Catholics must unite, "for He must reign." (1 Cor. xv, 25.) DENIS FAHEY, C.S.Sp. 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