The relationship between the Catholic Church and Freemasonry is one of the longest and best-documented chapters in the history of initiatory societies. Within a few years of the birth of the Grand Lodge of London came the first papal condemnation, and since then the Church's official position has remained substantially unchanged, although its reasons and legal forms have shifted. Going through the documents helps us understand the stated reasons for this conflict.
The first condemnation: In eminenti
On 28 April 1738 Pope Clement XII published the apostolic constitution In eminenti apostolatus specula. The document condemned the societies known as "free masons" and forbade the faithful to join them, support them or receive them in their homes, under pain of excommunication.
The reasons given were mainly three:
- the lodges brought together men of different religions and sects, in a way that seemed indifferent to the truth of the faith;
- members bound themselves by oaths to secrecy about what happened at meetings;
- these associations had already been banned by several governments as dangerous to public order.
Secrecy was the most suspicious element: according to the text, if these people were doing nothing wrong they would not have such a need to hide.
Benedict XIV's confirmation
On 18 May 1751 Pope Benedict XIV published the bull Providas Romanorum, confirming his predecessor's condemnation. He repeated the same reasons and added a reference to civil laws prohibiting unauthorised associations. The two eighteenth-century bulls were applied unevenly across states, because in many countries they were never officially published by the civil authorities.
The nineteenth century: secret societies and politics
In the nineteenth century the condemnation was extended to other secret societies. In 1821 Pius VII, with the constitution Ecclesiam a Jesu Christo, condemned the Carbonari, accused of conspiring against religion and against legitimate governments. Leo XII, Pius VIII, Gregory XVI and Pius IX repeatedly reaffirmed the condemnations.
In this period the conflict took on a strong political dimension. In some countries, including France and Italy, part of Freemasonry campaigned for the secular state and supported anticlerical positions. In 1877 the Grand Orient of France removed from its constitution the requirement to believe in God and the immortality of the soul, a decision that also led to a break with English Freemasonry.
Humanum genus
The most extensive document is Leo XIII's encyclical Humanum genus of 20 April 1884. The pope described the history of the world as a struggle between two cities, following St Augustine's image, and placed Freemasonry in the camp opposed to the Church.
The encyclical accused Freemasonry of promoting naturalism, that is the idea that human reason is sufficient unto itself without revelation, and of seeking to separate Church and State and to secularise education and marriage. It asked the bishops to unmask the lodges and instruct the faithful.
| Document | Pope | Year |
|---|---|---|
| In eminenti apostolatus specula | Clement XII | 1738 |
| Providas Romanorum | Benedict XIV | 1751 |
| Ecclesiam a Jesu Christo | Pius VII | 1821 |
| Humanum genus | Leo XIII | 1884 |
| Code of Canon Law, can. 2335 | Benedict XV | 1917 |
| Declaration of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith | John Paul II | 1983 |
The 1917 Code
The first Code of Canon Law, promulgated in 1917, laid down in canon 2335 excommunication for those who joined the Masonic sect or other associations of the same kind that plotted against the Church or against legitimate civil authority.
The 1983 Code and the declaration
The new Code of Canon Law of 1983 no longer explicitly names Freemasonry. Canon 1374 speaks in general of associations that plot against the Church. This change gave rise to different interpretations, and some believed the ban had lapsed.
On 26 November 1983, the day before the new Code came into force, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, then led by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, published a declaration. It stated that the Church's negative judgement on Masonic associations remained unchanged, because their principles were considered irreconcilable with Catholic doctrine, and that the faithful who belonged to them were in a state of grave sin and could not receive Holy Communion. This position has been restated by the Holy See since then, most recently in a note of 2023.
The underlying reasons
Beyond political circumstances, the documents point to some constant reasons:
- the religious relativism attributed to Freemasonry, which admits men of different faiths;
- the oath of secrecy;
- a conception of God, the Great Architect, judged incompatible with the revealed God;
- the claim to a path of moral perfection independent of grace.
For their part, many Masonic obediences state that they are not a religion and do not ask members to give up their faith. The two perspectives start from different premises, which explains the persistence of the conflict.
In short
- The first condemnation was Clement XII's constitution In eminenti of 1738.
- The stated reasons were religious indifferentism, secrecy and danger to public order.
- In the nineteenth century the conflict took on a strong political dimension, culminating in the encyclical Humanum genus of 1884.
- The 1917 Code imposed excommunication; the 1983 Code does not name Freemasonry.
- The 1983 declaration confirmed the ban on membership, restated again in 2023.
