"It is I, the accused, who would have to judge you" Bishop Marcel Lefebvre

 

PONTIFICAL DOCUMENTS ON FREEMASONRY

 Benedict XIV: fighting indifferentism (continued)

There are some cases in which a spontaneous agreement can be reached in the face of an event or a catastrophe, such as an earthquake, a tsunami or a cyclone, in which everyone is in the same misfortune; or in times of war, etc. In that case, agreeing with a group of another religion to help others is a specific action that does not compromise the faith; it is an act of charity and something perfectly normal. But it is dangerous to create permanent institutions, because they do not have the same principles.

I remember very well that we had similar difficulties in Cameroon. The government had proposed aid to private schools. Some found it very clever to say: “There are Catholic and Protestant private schools; let us unite to present our demands, demands and programs, and thus we will be stronger ”… and it turned out that those who, despite the advice of the bishops, acted like this, were fooled by the Protestants, because one fine day the latter decided that You had to accept everything that the government proposed, whether in the programs or in the implantation of schools, since there were things that were inadmissible for a Catholic. It was something that almost ruined Catholic schools. There was a breakup and the situation was worse than before.

The same thing happens with the unions. There is a true notion of justice, since that of non-Catholics is only more or less good, and when it comes to discussions, the latter are rather tempted to lead the workers to rebellion. Saint Pius X had to intervene, on this issue, before the German unions, which were divided over the creation of interdenominational unions, and he advised them against it in a letter in which, in a few words, he said to Catholics: “You have principles that you apply in practice, but they do not have clear principles or convictions and they change them; it is impossible to work together ”.

Let's go back to the reasoning of Bene-dicto XIV against Masonry: «The second is the narrow and impenetrable secret pact, by virtue of which everything that is done in these conventicles is hidden, for which we can rightly apply this sentence ... good people always love advertising; crimes are covered with secrecy.

This verification is related to the third reason, which refers to the application of the secret: «The third is the oath that they take to keep this secret inviolably, as if anyone could be allowed to rely on the pretext of a promise or an oath , to refuse to declare if he is questioned by a legitimate authority, as to whether what is done in any of those conventicles, is not something against the State and the laws of Religion or of the rulers.

There is a secret and, in addition, after having sworn it, nothing can be said in court. That is illegitimate. No one can undertake under oath to refuse to respond to those who have the right to ask, or to those who have to know things that affect the field of State security and even for the existence of religion.

Benedict XIV continues with the fourth reason:  "The fourth is that these societies are no less contrary to civil laws than to canonical norms."

Civil and canonical laws prohibit these conventicles, associations and secret meetings, of which nothing is known, since all societies that meet without the permission of the public authority are prohibited by civil law and also by canonical law. "The fifth is that already in many countries such societies and aggregations have been proscribed and banished by the laws of secular princes."

Obviously, it could be objected that princes act this way because these societies hinder them  - and that this does not mean that they are always bad - but the Pope relies on secular Catholic princes who believe that they cannot tolerate these associations that hide and they work in secret.

Then he gives the sixth reason: "These societies are held in a bad light by prudent and honest people, and to join them is to get dirty with the stains of perversion and malignancy."

The Pope relies on the opinion of prudent and honest people, and then insists, like his predecessor, before the prelates, bishops, ordinary of the place, ecclesiastical superiors and also before the princes and heads of State to ask them to fight against these secret societies .

This, then, is the second document of Benedict XIV. Leo XII adds a reflection: he reproaches the governments and heads of state for not taking into account the warnings of the Popes, so that the secret societies continued to expand and spread evil. Let us quote: «I wish the rulers of that time had taken into account those decrees that demanded the salvation of the Church and the State.

If only they had believed themselves obliged to recognize in the Roman Pontiffs, successors of Saint Peter, not only the pastors and heads of the whole Church, but also the indefatigable defenders of dignity and the diligent discoverers of the dangers of princes.

If only they had used their power to destroy the sects whose pestilential designs had been revealed to them by the Holy Apostolic See. They would have killed them since then. But it was because of the fraud of the sectarians, who carefully hide their secrets, was it because of the reckless convictions of some sovereigns who thought that there was nothing in it that deserved their attention or should persecute; They had no fear of the Masonic sects, and from there it turned out that a great number of other more daring and more evil were born. It seemed then that, in a way, the Carbonari sect enclosed them all within its bosom. This happened to be the main one in Italy and other countries; it was divided into many branches that only differ in name, and it was decided to attack the Catholic religion and all legitimate sovereignty ». As we can see, the Pope does not hesitate to point out this new sect, which openly attacks the Catholic religion and the legitimate authority of the State.

Pius VII: against sacrilege

At that time Leo XII presented a third document:  "Our predecessor Pius VII, in happy memory ... published the Constitution of September 13, 1821, which begins: Ecclesiam a Jesu Christo . " This document deals with the condemnation of the Carbonari sect with serious penalties. The French Revolution had passed and was materially pacified, but since 1821 it could be seen that the activity of the sects had only increased to spread the revolution throughout Europe. «The Church that Our Lord Jesus Christ founded on a solid stone, and against which Christ himself said that the gates of hell should never prevail, has been assaulted by such a great number of enemies that, if the word had not promised it divine, which cannot be absent, it would have been believed that, subjugated by her strength, by her cunning or malice, she was already going to disappear ». It must be assumed that Pius VII then saw all the effects of the French Revolution: the assassination of the King of France, the extermination of priests and religious, the destruction of churches, and ruins and persecutions everywhere: «What happened in ancient times has also happened in our deplorable age and with symptoms similar to those previously observed and announced by the Apostles saying: Some impostors are to come who will follow the ways of impiety (Jud. 18). Nobody ignores the prodigious number of guilty men who have united, in these difficult times, against the Lord and against his Christ, and have done everything necessary to deceive the faithful by the subtlety of a false and vain philosophy, and tear them away from the bosom of the Church, with the mad hope of ruining and turning this very Church upside down.

To more easily achieve this end, most of them have formed the occult societies, the clandestine sects, thus boasting of associating more freely a greater number for their conspiracy and perverse designs.

It is a long time since the Church, having discovered these sects, rose up against them with strength and courage, exposing the dark designs that they formed against religion and against civil society. It has been a long time since She has drawn general attention to this point and moves to ensure that the sects cannot attempt to carry out their guilty projects. But it is necessary to regret that the zeal of the Holy See has not obtained the effects that She expected ... »

The Popes themselves recognized that their efforts had been in vain. Saint Pius X used to say: “We strive to fight against liberalism, modernism, progressivism… and we are not listened to. That is why the worst misfortunes will come upon humanity. Men want everything to be allowed: freedom for all sects, freedom of association, of the press, of speech ... Evil will only spread more and more and we will reach a society in which it is no longer possible to live, such as the of communism ”.

Pius VII also groans because he sees:

«... that these perverse men have not given up on their undertaking, from which all the evils that we have seen have resulted».

It's very clear. The misfortunes of the French Revolution are due to these sects.

“Even more,” the Pope adds, “these men have dared to form new secret societies. In this regard, it is necessary to point out here a new society, recently formed and spreading throughout all of Italy and other countries, which, although divided into various branches and bearing various names, depending on the circumstances, is nevertheless, one, both for the community of opinions and points of view, and for its constitution. Most of the time, it appears designated under the name of Carbonari. He appears a singular respect and a wonderful zeal for the doctrine and the person of the Savior Jesus Christ who sometimes has the guilty audacity to call him the Great Teacher and head of that society.

But this speech, which seems smoother than oil, is nothing more than a trap used by these perfidious men to more safely wound those who are not warned, those who approach with the outside of the sheep, while inside they are butcher wolves ».

Here again the grounds of accusation against these groups are announced: «They swear that at no time and under no circumstances will they reveal anything that is related to their society to men who are not admitted there, or who will never deal with those from the lower grades things relative to the higher grades. '

In Masonry there is not only a secret, but also degrees, and the members of a higher degree are given the oath not to reveal anything to those of the lower degrees, so everything inspires distrust: «Also those clandestine meetings that they have following the example of many other heresiarchs, and the aggregation of men of all sects and religions, sufficiently show, even if other elements are not added, that it is necessary not to give any confidence in their speeches ».  Little by little the Popes were gathering information, especially about those who were converted.

Pius VII knew of some books in which certain things were revealed: «His printed books, in which we find what is observed in his meetings, and especially in those of the higher degrees, his catechisms, his statutes, all prove that The Carbonarians have for the main purpose of propagating indifferentism in religious matters, the most dangerous of all systems, granting everyone the absolute freedom to make a religion according to their own inclination and ideas, and to desecrate and stain the Passion of the Savior with some of their guilty rites ».