While many Christian denominations either allow or take no stance on their members joining Freemasonry, others discourage or prohibit their members from joining the fraternity.
Catholic Church
The Roman Catholic Church has been among the most persistent critics of Freemasonry. The Church has prohibited its members from being Freemasons since the papal bull In eminenti apostolatus, promulgated in 1738 by Pope Clement XII. Since then, the Vatican has issued several papal bulls banning the membership of Catholics in Freemasonry under threat of excommunication. In 1983, the Canon Law was changed to read, "A person who joins an association that plots against the Church is to be punished with a just penalty; however, a person who promotes or directs an association of this kind is to be punished with an interdict", eliminating the penalty of excommunication for Masons. Joseph Ratzinger, who later became Pope Benedict XVI, wrote in a letter that those who enroll in Masonic associations are in a state of grave sin and may not receive Holy Communion.Declaration on Masonic Associations The penalty of excommunication is not declared in the current code of canon law, but membership remains forbidden.Catholic Library: Declaration on Masonic Associations at newadvent.org. Retrieved 2011-10-20. The aforementioned letter does not form part of Canon Law and, during his tenure, Benedict XVI did not make any attempt to change Canon Law to explicitly mention the ban on Freemasonry.
The Catholic Church argues that the philosophy of French Freemasonry (the Grand Orient, not the dominant variety of Freemasonry or the branch that is active in the English-speaking world) is antithetical to Christian doctrine and that it is at many times and places anti-clerical in intent."French Masonry and above all the Grand Orient of France has displayed the most systematic activity as the dominating political element in the French "Kulturkampf" since 1877." From Masonry (Freemasonry) from the Catholic Encyclopedia The 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia argued that some of the ceremonials in the Scottish Rite and the Masonic use of Biblical imagery are anti-Catholic."The Kadosh (thirtieth degree), trampling on the papal tiara and the royal crown, is destined to wreak a just vengeance on these "high criminals" for the murder of Molay and "as the apostle of truth and the rights of man" to deliver mankind "from the bondage of Despotism and the thraldom of spiritual Tyranny"." From the article Masonry (Freemasonry) in the Catholic Encyclopedia However, these claims do not appear in subsequent editions.New Catholic Encyclopedia, 1967 ed, Volume 6, pp 132–139, McGraw-Hill, New York. The most recent edition (2002) does not contain any article on Freemasonry.
From the earliest pontifical documents on the subject, and in particular in the Encyclical Humanum Genus by Pope Leo XIII (20 April 1884), the Magisterium of the Church, which may not change, has denounced philosophical ideas and moral conceptions in Freemasonry that were considered opposed to Catholic doctrine. For Leo XIII, they essentially led back to a rationalistic naturalism, the inspiration of its plans and activities against the Church.
During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, conflict between Catholicism and Freemasonry broke out into disputes over secular education, discrimination in employment, and in some European countries, the expulsion of religious orders.
Catholic ban on Freemasonry since the Second Vatican Council
In 1974, Cardinal Franjo Šeper, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, sent a letter that seemed to relax the previous absolute ban on Freemasonry,Clarification concerning status of Catholics becoming Freemasons at EWTN.com. Retrieved 2011-10-16.Cardinal Franjo Šeper, then prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, sent a letter dated July 19, 1974, to John Cardinal Krol which concluded that "Canon 2335 regards only those Catholics who join associations which plot against the Church." from The Pastoral Problem of Masonic Membership 1985 by William A Whalen, distributed by the American Bishop's Conference causing confusion"Since many bishops stated in their reply to an earlier survey that confusion had been generated by a perceived change of approach by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith" From Introduction to Letter of April 19, 1985 to U.S. Bishops Concerning Masonry and leading many Catholics to become Freemasons."In good faith many of these men had asked their pastors and/or bishops for permission to join the Lodge. Some converts were received into the Church during these years and were not asked to relinquish their Masonic affiliation." The Pastoral Problem of Masonic Membership, William Whalen, 1986. In 1981, the Congregation clarified this stance in a letter to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, entitled Declaration Concerning Status of Catholics Becoming Freemasons, stating that Šeper's private letter, now made public, had engendered unfavorable interpretations of Catholic doctrine. The Congregation's letter also affirmed that the prohibition against Catholics joining Masonic orders remained. In 1983, the Church revised the Code of Canon Law in a way that did not mention Freemasonry, causing some Freemasons to claim that the ban on Catholics becoming Freemasons may have been lifted."As can be seen, no longer does the Canon impose excommunication on Catholic Masons, or even mention Masons directly.", the attitude of the church has been to regard Freemasonry as an acceptable sphere for fraternal interaction." From Roman Catholic Church Law Regarding Freemasonry by Reid McInvale, Texas Lodge of Research. Later that same year, the Vatican reaffirmed the ban."Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger then issued the November 26, 1983, document, which reaffirmed the historic position against Freemasonry. This statement had also been specifically approved by John Paul II." The Pastoral Problem of Masonic Membership In 2000, a letter written by Father Thomas Anslow, a judicial vicar, indicated a more permissive attitude to Freemasonry, although this was retracted two years later, with Anslow claiming that the analysis was faulty., Paul M. Bessel's website. In 2023, Pope Francis maintained the Catholic position on Freemasonry.
Theological objections One of the persistent Catholic criticisms of Freemasonry is that it advocates a deist or naturalist view of creation.
Whilst it is recognized that Masonry is not atheistic (Masons aligned with the United Grand Lodge of England are asked if they believe in God or another supreme being before joining and only accept candidates that do),"We do ask a man if he believes in God and that is the only religious test." Freemasonry and religion, from the Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon its use of the expression Supreme Architect of the Universe—a term attributed to the Protestant theologian John Calvin—is seen by some Christian critics as indicating Deism, the belief that God created the Universe but did not intervene in the world after this."The nature of the Masonic God is best seen in their favorite title for him: the Supreme Architect. The Masonic God is first of all a deistic God, who is found at the top of the ladder of Masonic wisdom", Jolicoeur and Knowles, pp. 14-15 cited in "The Pastoral Problem of Masonic Membership", sent out as a part of the Letter of April 19, 1985 to U.S. Bishops Concerning Masonry by Cardinal Bernard Law This was a common sentiment that arose in the Enlightenment, though Catholics consider it heresy.Deism , in the European Enlightenment Glossary As a counter-argument, Freemasonry contends that “Supreme Architect” is a neutral term acceptable to all, regardless of sect or denomination: It merely reflects the fraternity’s desire to bring together members of all deity based religions, by not using any one specific religion’s term for their supreme being.
A specific charge made in the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia against Freemasonry is that the introduction of speculative Masonry in the early eighteenth-century specifically aimed at "dechristianising" the old operative masonry lodges. However, this charge was dropped from subsequent editions.
Whereas the constitutions of previous lodges of operative Masonry stated that "The first charge is this, that you be true to God and Holy Church and use no error or heresy",Quote from The Builders by Joseph Fort Newton, 1914 in 1723, the constitution of the Grand Lodge of England was modified to state that Masons are no longer expected to follow the religion of the country they live in and, now, were only obliged to follow the moral law, regardless of denominations.Article I of This change is construed by the Catholic Church as moving towards a deistic view.
Catholics also object to various rituals and teachings of Freemasonry:
Separation of church and state
American Freemasons are consistent advocates of freedom of religion, as found in the First Amendment"Amendment I - Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.From the Constitution of the United States of the US Constitution.Masonic Compact hosted at www.albanymasons.org The idea that the Establishment Clause means a strict separation of church and state is interpreted by the Catholic Church as a veiled attack on its place in public life.Pope Leo XIII Etsi Nos (On Conditions in Italy), Item 2 It called opposition to state religion "Religious Indifferentism", by which no religion was acknowledged as true or revealed. The papacy also described Freemasonry as a leader in the cause of popular sovereignty, as the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia noted."If the Bloc has been established, this is owing to Freemasonry and to the discipline learned in the lodges. The measures we have now to urge are the separation of Church and State and a law concerning instruction. Let us put our trust in the word of our Bro. Combes" from quoted as footnote 158 in the article Masonry (Freemasonry) in the Catholic Encyclopedia This reference to the Masons is not present, however, in the New Catholic Encyclopedia.
Some specific areas in which Freemasons were accused of aiming for an improper separation of church and state were:
Compulsory state-supported secular education in Italy in 1882, entailing a prohibition on religious education. Christians also complained that "religious houses [were] suppressed, the goods of the Church confiscated, marriages contracted in despite of the laws and without the rites of the Church.""the position of the religious authorities as to the education of the young utterly ignored" Pope Leo XIII Etsi Nos (On Conditions in Italy), Item 2 The introduction of civil marriage in Mexico in 1857Oscar J. Salinas Mexican Masonry- Politics & Religion
Religious indifference