Understanding Roman Catholic anti-masonry

There are some things to be said in defense of the Roman Catholic verdict on Freemasonry. The Vatican's critique holds a much higher intellectual standard than most other anti-masonry. They do not present any wild conspiracy theories, they do not accuse the Masons of being secretly satanic, and they usually go out of their way to find out the facts. More importantly, there are theological and historical reasons for Catholic anti-masonry which make at least a little sense.

1. First, we should remember that modern Freemasonry arose in a protestant country, Britain. This makes it less likely that those who designed it were aware of what the Catholic church might think of their organization. Or that they -- who had tolerance as one of their cardinal points -- even considered the possibility of objections from Rome. Had there been astute Catholics among them, some details in Freemasonry might have been different.
   
   
2. Second, after the Grand Lodge of England announced its existence publically in 1717, the following decades saw a chaotic and explosive development of secret societies, esoteric clubs and whatnot on the European continent. Secret fraternities, more or less inspired by Freemasonry, was a novel idea that became fashionable. By no means all of these secret societies were actually Masonic. Many called themselves "Freemasons" but had little or nothing in common with the original British tradition. Among the popular "secret" clubs of that time one finds everything from drinking dens to political parties, sex clubs, dark cults and true Freemasonry in various versions. It took quite some time before the Freemasons managed to establish landmarks and sort out the real Masons from the others.
   
   The first contacts between the Roman Catholic church and societies claiming to be Freemasons happened in Catholic countries on the continent (France, Spain) during that chaotic time. It is very likely that the first papal condemnation against Masonry (1738) was based on experiences referring to groups which modern masons would call "irregular".
   
   
3. Third, we should be aware of that the Catholic church only says that Freemasonry is incompatible with Roman Catholicism. It has not said that Freemasonry is inherently evil. With the exception of some more fanatical Catholic organizations, notably "Opus Dei" and certain Jesuits, the church does not actively campaign against Masonry. The reason for any Masonic apologetics versus the Catholic church is therefore not so much self defense as a search for truth and better understanding. We believe that most of the Catholic criticism is mistaken. This webpage is designed to show how and possibly why.

One should also remember to make a difference between what the Vatican has said and written -- which is official church policy -- and what individual Catholics may write and say. Among the latter one finds some criticism that is of poor quality. This webpage deals chiefly with criticism that appears on Roman Catholic webpages. Not all of the anti-masonic points referred to here are official RCC doctrines.