The Vatican today confirmed the ban according to which Catholics may not become Freemasons, i.e. members of a centuries-old secret society that the Catholic Church has not looked favorably on for a long time and which has up to six million members worldwide, reports N1.
Active membership of believers in Freemasonry is prohibited due to the irreconcilability of Catholic doctrine and Freemasonry," the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said in a letter published by Vatican media today.
The letter, dated November 13 and co-signed by Pope Francis, is a response to a Filipino bishop who is alarmed by the growth of Freemasons in his country.
The congregation announced last Sunday that transgender people can be baptized, godparents or witnesses at Catholic weddings.
The letter about the Freemasons mentions a declaration from 1983, signed by the late Pope Benedict XVI, then Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, according to which Catholics "in Masonic associations are in grave sin and cannot receive Holy Communion."
Masonic lodges are mostly exclusively male associations, associated with mysterious symbols and rituals. They are also sometimes associated with conspiracy theories according to which these fraternities greatly influence world events.
According to the United Grand Lodge of England, contemporary Freemasonry "is one of the oldest social and humanitarian organizations in the world."
The group claims 180.000 male members, with two women's lodges in England with an additional 5.000 members, and estimates there are around six million Freemasons worldwide.
The association listed Prince Philip, husband of the late Queen Elizabeth, former Prime Minister Winston Churchill, late actor Peter Sellers, former English football coach Alf Ramsey, as well as writers Rudyard Kipling and Arthur Conan Doyle as famous Freemasons from history.
See more:
Download the app and follow the news
FOLLOW US ON
