Gail,
A Google Search found the following:
Q): What is the Catholic Church's official position on Freemasonry?
Are Catholics free to become Freemasons?
(A): In 1983, Canon 1374 clarified the misunderstandings that were
presented with Vatican II. The Canon states that a person who joins
an association that plots against the church is to be punished with
an interdict (excommunication).
Cardinal Ratzinger, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine
of Faith issued a new declaration following this announcement of the
new Code. The new Canon 1374 has the same essential import as the old
Canon 2335, and the fact that the "Masonic sect" is no longer
explicitly named is irrelevant;
The Church's negative judgment on Masonry remains unchanged, because
the Masonic principles are irreconcilable with the Church's teaching
("earum principia semper iconciliabilia habita sunt cum Ecclesiae
doctrina" )
Catholics who join the Masons are in the state of grave sin and may
not receive Holy Communion and,
No local ecclesiastical authority has competence to derogate from
these judgments of the Sacred Congregation.
("Quaesitum est," AAS 76 (1984) 300. (From No. 553, pp. 482-87)
CLARIFICATION CONCERNING STATUS OF CATHOLICS BECOMING FREEMASONS
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
On 19, July 1974 this Congregation wrote to some of the Episcopal
Conferences a private letter concerning the interpretation of canon
2335 of the Code of Canon Law which forbids Catholics, under the
penalty of excommunication, to enroll in Masonic or other similar
associations.
Since the said letter has become public and has given rise to
erroneous and tendentious interpretations, this Congregation, without
prejudice to the eventual norms of the new Code, issues the following
confirmation and clarification:
the present canonical discipline remains in full force and has not
been modified in any way;
consequently, neither the excommunication nor the other penalties
envisaged have been abrogated;
what was said in the aforesaid letter as regards the interpretation
to be given to the canon in question should be understood--as the
Congregation intended-merely as a reminder of the general principles
of interpretation of penal laws for the solution of the cases of
individual persons which may be submitted to the judgment of
ordinaries. It was not, however, the intention of the Congregation to
permit Episcopal Conferences to issue public pronouncements by way of
a judgment of a general character on the nature of Masonic
associations, which would imply a derogation from the aforesaid
norms.
(Rome, from the Office of the S. Congregation for the Doctrine of the
Faith, 17 February 1981.)
I hope this helps
God bless
Sara
-- Sara (sara_catholic_forum@yahoo.co.uk), April 25, 2003.
The communists took over in 1917, inspired by the philosophy of Karl
Marx, a satanist. Marxism is an anti-Christ philosophy, which is what
Our Lady came to warn us about, and because of our sins, communism
has spread throughout the whole world. The concept of communism is
atheistic materialism. Freemasonry proposes a world without Jesus
Christ - naturalism. Communism proposes a world without God - atheism.
The Jews rejected Jesus Christ because He did not bring the
liberation they were looking for. Jesus preached a spiritual Kingdom,
a religion of love, a religion of forgiveness. The Jews were no
longer open to a religion of love, forgiveness and compassion. Anyone
who is against Christ is an anti-Christ. China, a communist state, is
using its power to destroy the freedoms left in the world in order to
initiate the reign of the anti-Christ.
The New World Order is about world control - to take away the
freedoms we have, primarily the freedom to worship Almighty God and
His Son Jesus Christ. The United Nations, the World Court, the Peace
movement, the Earth Charter (which will eventually replace the Ten
Commandments and the natural law) wants to control the entire world -
this is what Our Lady came to warn us about. Malichi Martin and
others say that the smoke of Satan has entered the Church. Sister
Lucia says we are under diabolical infestation of the Roman Catholic
Church.
The third secret of Fatima basically refers to the internal
destruction of the Church, the loss of Faith - the real crisis in the
Church. The message of Fatima was not only to pray the rosary and
wear the scapular, but to live a holy and virtuous life. How many
people have we converted to Jesus Christ? How many days go by that we
don't think of Jesus Christ? Do we live a life that brings others to
Christ? The enemy is not just in Russia or China, but within us. Will
we not do something everyday to combat that enemy? We should all be
real living apostles. All of us are called to be apostles of Jesus
Christ and to bring into this world the reign of Christ the King!
-- Ed Richards (loztra@yahoo.com), April 28, 2003.