Is Freemasonry on Anyone's Radar Screen?

A guitarist I never heard of, Bruno Battisti D'Amario, died last week and was scheduled for a funeral at the Basilica Santa Maria in Montesanto. And then the fat hit the fan. The man was a freemason. Not just any freemason, but an upper echelon grand poobah in the lodge:

In a statement released in tribute to the musician, the Grand Orient of Italy (GOI) revealed his membership in Freemasonry and, above all, the importance of the responsibilities he had held within it. Bruno Battisti D'Amario was presented as the founder of the Giuseppe Leti lodge in Rome and as the composer of the official anthem of the Grand Orient of Italy. He had also twice served as president of the Regional College of Venerable Masters of Lazio and as a councilor of the Order. [Source]

After that alert the scrambling began. No one knew, including D'Amario's daughter ,that the man was involved in the condemned organization. It's a secret society after all. So the funeral was converted to a private prayer service:

Bishop Staglianò [rector of the basilica] also spoke with the deceased's daughter. According to her testimony, she was unaware of her father's Masonic affiliation. Furthermore, no evidence that Bruno Battisti D'Amario had renounced Freemasonry had been brought to the attention of church officials. Consequently, the Catholic funeral, although initially agreed upon, was ultimately not held.

In their place, a prayer service was held with only family members to entrust the soul of the deceased to God's mercy, in the presence of a priest but without liturgical vestments. Bishop Staglianò also clarified that there was no prohibition against memorial masses being celebrated later for the repose of his soul.

So there you have it. Freemasonry continues to be a condemned organization that Catholics may not join. God help this poor man who died in the arms of such an evil organization. Freemasonry isn't just a friendly, philanthropic group; it's an organization with the goal of destroying the Church. And there's plenty of evidence that they are busy as termites undermining the faith. And there are thousands of lodges in the U.S. with a combined membership of almost 900,000. 

May Catholics be Freemasons? Short answer: HELL NO! The penalty for Catholics joining Freemasonry was explicitly defined in the 1917 code of canon law: excommunication (canon 2335). The condemnation is also implicit in the revised code of 1983, canon 1374. Pope St. John Paul II reiterated it in 1983 when he approved The Declaration on Masonic Association signed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

While there have been joint meetings between upper level Masons and Church officials, the doctrine has not changed. Freemasonry is incompatible with the Catholic faith as Bishop Athanasius Schneider makes clear in his Credo Catechism numbers 108 - 121. Freemasonry is a religious sect, a type of Anti-Church "where all the theological and moral foundations of the Catholic Church are turned into their opposite!" Catholics may not join and "The faithful who enroll in Masonic associations are in a state of grave sin and may not receive Holy Communion."

Among famous Masons is Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes. He was initiated in 1887, resigned in 1889, rejoined in 1902 and resigned again in 1911. In 1914 he wrote a novel, The Valley of Fear, serialized in The Strand Magazine. It was his last novel and indicated his disillusionment with secret societies that advanced their goals through criminal activity and violence. Sad to say, Doyle, who was raised a Catholic, died outside the faith. I think I'll have a Mass said for him. I owe him that for all the enjoyment he's given me over the years. And no one is outside God's mercy.

How much of the crisis in the Church is related to the activity of Freemasons? There is ample evidence of a few highly placed clerics being Freemasons including Cardinal Joseph Bernardin with his infamous seamless garment and Archbishop Annibale Bugnini, chief architect of the Novus Ordo. In view of the many members of the hierarchy dissenting from doctrine and espousing poisonous novelites, one can't help but wonder how many are actually closeted members of the lodge. Just like the efforts by Communists to infiltrate the Church as described by Bella Dodd, would Freemasons not engage in the same plots? After all secret agents within the Church could most effectively undermine her doctrine.

We live in challenging times. Let us all pray the rosary for the freedom and exaltation of Holy Mother Church. Imagine the power of a few converted Freemasons (and Communists) revealing the truth about their activities to undermine the faith. Bella Dodd repented, let us pray for many others walking in her footsteps.

Come, O Holy Spirit, to our aid. Shine Your light of truth on the crisis in the Church.