Freemasonry

Can a Catholic be a Freemason?

No. In 1983 the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith declared that the Church’s negative judgment on Masonic associations “remains unchanged since their principles have always been considered irreconcilable with the doctrine of the Church and therefore membership in them remains forbidden”, and that “the faithful who enrol in Masonic associations are in a state of grave sin and may not receive Holy Communion”. Declaration on Masonic Associations In November 2023 the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, with Francis’s approval, repeated that active membership is forbidden because Catholic doctrine and Freemasonry are irreconcilable. Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, note of 13 November 2023

What changed in 1983 was the penalty, not the judgment. The 1917 Code excommunicated those who enrolled by the act itself, with only the Holy See able to lift it. 1917 Code of Canon Law, can. 2335; Declaratio de canonica disciplina quae sub poena excommunicationis vetat ne catholici nomen dent sectae massonicae aliisque eiusdem generis associationibus The present Code abrogated it, Can. 6 and says that one who joins “an association which plots against the Church is to be punished with a just penalty”, and one who promotes or leads it with an interdict. Can. 1374 The Code names no association; the 1983 declaration explains that such associations “are contained in wider categories”. Declaration on Masonic Associations

Local law can be stricter, since a bishop may add penalties to those of the universal law. Can. 1315 The Diocese of Lincoln, in Nebraska, placed Catholic Freemasons under interdict in 1996, with excommunication after a month’s persistence, Diocese of Lincoln, legislation of 19 March 1996 and the bishops of the Philippines provide an interdict for a publicly known member who will not leave after a warning. Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, guidelines of 2003

Nor is it for a local authority, or a member, to judge a particular lodge harmless: “It is not within the competence of local ecclesiastical authorities to give a judgment on the nature of Masonic associations which would imply a derogation from what has been decided above.” Declaration on Masonic Associations For a Catholic who is or has been a member, the Catechism’s rule applies: “Anyone conscious of a grave sin must receive the sacrament of Reconciliation before coming to communion.” CCC 1385

Gerrit van Honthorst, Christ before the High Priest, c. 1617. National Gallery, London.

Jn 18:20

2088

The first commandment requires us to nourish and protect our faith with prudence and vigilance, and to reject everything that is opposed to it. There are various ways of sinning against faith: Voluntary doubt about the faith disregards or refuses to hold as true what God has revealed and the Church proposes for belief. Involuntary doubt refers to hesitation in believing, difficulty in overcoming objections connected with the faith, or also anxiety aroused by its obscurity. If deliberately cultivated doubt can lead to spiritual blindness.

1385

To respond to this invitation we must prepare ourselves for so great and so holy a moment. St. Paul urges us to examine our conscience: "Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself." 1 Cor 11:27-29. Anyone conscious of a grave sin must receive the sacrament of Reconciliation before coming to communion.

1374

A person who joins an association which plots against the Church is to be punished with a just penalty; one who promotes or takes office in such an association is to be punished with an interdict.

915

Those who have been excommunicated or interdicted after the imposition or declaration of the penalty and others obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to holy communion.

§1. When this Code takes force, the following are abrogated:

1/ the Code of Canon Law promulgated in 1917;

2/ other universal or particular laws contrary to the prescripts of this Code unless other provision is expressly made for particular laws;

3/ any universal or particular penal laws whatsoever issued by the Apostolic See unless they are contained in this Code;

4/ other universal disciplinary laws regarding matter which this Code completely reorders.

§2. Insofar as they repeat former law, the canons of this Code must be assessed also in accord with canonical tradition.

1315

§ 1. Whoever has power to issue penal laws may also reinforce a divine law with a fitting penalty.

§ 2. A lower legislator, taking into account can. 1317, can also:

1° reinforce with a fitting penalty a law issued by a higher authority, observing the limits of his competence in respect of territory or persons;

2° add other penalties to those laid down for a certain offence in a universal law;

3° determine or make obligatory a penalty which a universal law establishes as indeterminate or discretionary.

§ 3. A law can either itself determine the penalty or leave its determination to the prudent decision of a judge.

From the Catechism

From the Social Doctrine

In the Code

From the Magisterium