Catholicism and Freemasonry? Pontifical Academy of Theology President Bishop Staglianò Explains Why they are Incompatible
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The president of the Pontifical Academy of Theology in an interview with the Vatican media clarifies the reasons for the incompatibility between the Catholic faith and Masonic thought: "Our idea of God is not dictated by human reason but by Revelation. Also distant on the profound meaning of brotherhood and charity." The faithful who join the lodges are in a state of grave sin: they cannot access communion. This interview followed the participation of the bishop in a Maonic event of the Italian Grand Orient Lodge in Milan.
“The Masonic heresy is fundamentally aligned with the Arian heresy.” The president of the Pontifical Academy of Theology explained to Vatican media the irreconcilability between the Catholic Church and Freemasonry. “After all – says Bishop Antonio Staglianò – it was Arius himself who imagined that Jesus was a Great Architect of the Universe (as Freemasonry considers the Supreme Being, ed.) denying the divinity of Christ. This is why the Council of Nicaea, whose 1700th anniversary we will soon celebrate, forcefully affirms the truth about Jesus who is begotten and not created, God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God".
The idea of the "Architect of the Universe" or the great "Watchmaker" advocated by Freemasonry is incompatible with the Catholic idea of God. “Because - Staglianò goes into detail - this idea is the fruit of human reason that tries to imagine a god while the God of Catholics is the fruit of the very Revelation of God in Christ Jesus. In essence, it is the fruit of a historical event in which God became flesh, approached men, spoke to all human beings, destining them for his salvation"
Also, the concept of brotherhood expressed by Freemasonry is distant from the concept of brotherhood of the Catholic faith. Monsignor Staglianò maintains that "our fraternity is established on the sacrament of God's love in Jesus, it is established on the Eucharist, not just on the generic idea of being brothers". The same reasoning, adds the prelate, can be applied to Christian charity which "has nothing to do with Masonic philanthropy. Christian charity corresponds to the historical event of a God who died and rose again for us and asks his children not only to be philanthropic but to be, possibly, crucified for love".
The president of the Pontifical Academy of Theology highlighted the total incompatibility between being Catholic and joining Freemasonry by underlining that "within Freemasonry plots of occult power develop which are in contradiction with Christian action. In short, when we talk about irreconcilability we are referring to profound contradictions. We cannot even appeal to the polar opposition of the theologian Romano Guardini to say that they can be together."
He further explained that esotericism (spiritual doctrines that are very often secret and reserved for initiates) - common of Masonic teachings. “Even in Catholicism we talk about Mystery. But the Gospels tell us that the Mystery hidden over the centuries does not stop being Mystery but stops being hidden. Because the Mystery hidden throughout the centuries has been revealed."
Reiterating the long standing condemnation of Freemasonry by the Church over the centuries, Monsignor Staglianò is keen to recall the latest response to a bishop from the Philippines of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith dated 13 November 2023 and approved by Pope Francis with which it is reiterated that active membership remains prohibited: "The faithful - he concludes - who join the lodges are in a state of grave sin and absolutely cannot access Communion".
Edited from Vatican News Italian
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