Once Cardinal Mahoney said that Catholics could join the Masons. Wrong...what does he get paid for??

Question

As a lapsed Catholic, even I know that Catholics are forbidden to join the Masons under pain of mortal sin. Mahoney at one time said he thought it was alright. This guy is a Cardinal and technically could be Pope. I ran across a pastoral letter reversing his decision while researching the Archdiocese of L.A. after they threw out some nuns in a land grab to get some money to pay off part of the 660 million pedophile priest scandal.
Masonry has elements of naturalistic religion among other things that are forbidden to Catholics. Anyway this guy is supposed to be schooled in this stuff.

Answer 1

Please cite the documents or provide links to these claims so that the rest of us can do proper research. Thank you.

Freemasonry promotes indifferentism, the heretical (to Christians) belief that all religions are equally legitimate attempts to explain the truth about God but that this truth will never be explained. This is incompatible with Christian faith because Christians believe that God has definitively revealed Himself in the person of Jesus Christ, and desires that all men come to the knowledge of this truth.

Freemasonry's teachings and practices also result in syncretism which is the blending of different religious beliefs into a unified whole. This shown in Masonry's religious rituals, which gather men of all faiths around a common altar, and place all religious writings along side the Bible on the Masonic altar.

The Lodge's practice of requiring its members to swear immoral oaths is also incompatible with Christianity. These oaths require a Christian to swear on the Holy Bible that he will uphold a code of moral conduct that prefers Masons to non-Masons, and to preserve secret passwords and handshakes. Such oaths are immoral because they are trivial and not necessary. These oaths are sworn under penalties of physical torture and death (e.g., having my throat cut across, and my tongue torn out by its roots). These penalties show a lack of respect for God.

For more information, see: http://www.scripturecatholic.com/freemasonfaq.html

With love in Christ.

Answer 2

I am a Freemason and not only am I Catholic, but I come from a very religious family. My uncle is a Catholic Priest, and I had a great aunt who was a nun.

I can't tell others what to do but I can tell you that I find nothing wrong with being both Catholic and a Freemason. I believe God will make that decision. After all it isn't like I am sexually molesting alter boys.

I live a very good life. I help people and try to teach my children morals and values. They also attended Catholic school. If all this is going to be wiped out because I belong to a fraternity of good men, then there is something seriously wrong.

Answer 3

I'll keep it short and simple...

there was an edict from the Vatican banning participation in all "secret societies" which named the freemasons.

several centuries later a new edict was published that did not name the freemasons specifically and several Cardinals in the USA questioned whether or not this meant they Catholics could join freemasonry. so the Vatican came out with another one saying if you are a freemason you are "in grave sin and cannot receive holy communion".

the wording of this implies a strong relationship, in the view of the church, between the Knights Templar and the freemasons. the Templar were disbanded and named heretics and banned from Catholicism (after protecting them for centuries during the Crusades...) however, it turns out that Pope Clement (the Pope who was said to have labelled them heretics) actually ABSOLVED them... do a search on the Chenin Parchment. This is from the scribe of Pope Clement and completely exhonerates the Templar, this will be published soon by the Vatican.

it will be interesting to see if their position on freemasonry changes at all. 700 years of hatred and lies for nothing...

for all the other conspiracy theorists and anti-masons out there; the other element that led to the banning was made against other, non-masonic, groups in Italy at the time that were secretive and that the Vatican feared were "plotting" to over throw them (the Vatican)... so, all societies were banned.

I agree with spike though, the Pope does not determine who gets into heaven; we are all judged by, and only by, God...

Answer 4

The Catholic Encyclopedia states Bible is Skeptic and Concocted
A. THE FORMATION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT CANON (A.D. 100-220)
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03274a.htm
The idea of a complete and clear-cut canon of the New Testament existing from the beginning, that is from Apostolic times, has no foundation in history. The Canon of the New Testament, like that of the Old, is the result of a development, of a process at once stimulated by disputes with doubters, both within and without the Church, and retarded by certain obscurities and natural hesitations, and which did not reach its final term until the dogmatic definition of the Tridentine Council. ("Canon of the New Testament")
There is a lot of confusion about the earliest existing texts of the Bible. The oldest extant manuscript of the Bible is believed to be the Codex Vaticanus, (preserved in the Vatican Library), which is slightly older than the Codex Sinaiticus (preserved in the British Library), both of which were transcribed in the fourth century.
As for the story of Jesus, there were at least 50 gospels written in the first and second century CE. Four of them (Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John) were included in the official canon during the fourth century CE and are found today in every Bible. All of the original copies of the gospels were lost. What we have now are handwritten copies, which are an unknown number of replications removed from the originals.
Rudolf Bultmann, a prominent 20th-century professor of New Testament studies writes about the life of Jesus:
We can now know almost nothing concerning the life and personality of Jesus, since the early Christian sources show no interest in either, are moreover fragmentary and often legendary; and other sources about Jesus do not exist. (Bultmann 8)
Why Word Inspired by God (Bible) has three genealogies of Jesus pbuh.
How could the "inspired words" of God get the genealogy of Jesus incorrect (See Matthew 1:6-16 where it states 26 forefathers up to Prophet David, and Luke 3:23-31 says 41 in number). Or for that matter, give a genealogy to Jesus who had NO father?

Answer 5

Last time I check I was an adult in charge of my own life. Spike and cl_freemason I agree the Pope does not decide who gets to heaven or not.

I'm a Freemason and a Catholic I see no reason why we cannot be Freemasons.

Answer 6

aww, cut the guy some slack-maybe he just figured out that it's God who decides who gets into heaven, and not the pope?