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Article FREEMASONRY AND THE POPE. ← Page 3 of 7 →
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Freemasonry And The Pope.
English and other journals which have appeared , or may appear : — We may take this opportunity of adding , it is a matter of history , and never attempted to be denied , that two of the most distinguished Popes of Rome were Freemasons . Leo X . was the Grand
Master of all the Masonic lodges in Rome , and he , had as his Senior Warden no less a person than " Raphael . " And this we may vouch for in our personal knowledge , that many most estimable men amongst the various grades and orders of Roman Priesthood throughout Italy are members of ourOrder , and many of themmost zealous and
excellent Masons . And not a few of these hold hish O rank in the Church of Rome . ( From the Times . ) The telegraph informed us a few days agoas
, much to our surprise as to our satisfaction , that the Pope , in Secret Consistory , had delivered an allocution denouncing all secret societies , and particularly the Freemasons and the Fenians . Although we knew that the Roman Catholic clergy were uniformly hostile to the Fenian movement
, we could hardly have expected that the Pope himself would come forward with such vigour and promptitude to render us a service at such an opportune moment . The text of this unexpected allocution has now reached us , and will be found to-day in another column of our impression . It
will be seen that though it does not denounce the Fenians by name , it is directed against all secret societies , " by whatsoever name called , which conspire against the Church and the civil power . " There have been few secret societies which answer to this description more exactly than the Fenians ;
and tbe Roman Catholic clergy , it has been amplyproved , had as much reason as any other class of the community to assist in the suppression of this disorderly Brotherhood . We may , therefore , congratulate ourselves on having for once the cordial assistance of the Pope in our Irish policy . We
cannot but be very much obliged to so exalted a personage for thus going out of his way to support us against the machinations of Mr . Stephens and Mr , John O'Mahoney . We are , indeed , somewhat afraid that these conspirators and their American allies will derive more satisfaction from the
dignity of being by implication made the subjects of a papal allocution than they will be afflicted b y the tremendoiTS denunciations which are launched against them . Nevertheless , it cannot but be well , so far as it goes , that the head of the Roman Catholic Church should have formallsupported
y his subordinates hi denouncing these foolish and wicked conspiracies . Our New York correspondent latel y informed us that among the extraordinary hallucinations of Fenianism in America was
a rumour that a special order had been issued from Rome , expressed iu true papal latin , "Fenianos non esse -inciuietandos . " If anything can disabuse an Irishman of a favourite delusion , or induce an American to relinquish a smart fabrication , the rumour in question ought to be effectually
dispersed by this papal thunderbolt . But in thus expressing our acknowledgments to the Pope for his well-intentioned services , we must at the same time indulge our surprise at the main , purport of the document before us . The denunciation of Fenianism isas we have saidonly
im-, , plied incidentally . The Papal thunders are more immediately directed against a very different society ; and if the allocution is to have any effect it will somewhat diminish the satisfaction with
which we receive it that it consigns to perdition along with the Fenians all the members of a society which is as numerous in England as in Ireland , and which spreads its ramifications over almost every country in the world . This unhappy society is none other than that of the Freemasons .
" Among the many machinations , " says the Pope , "by which the enemies of the Christian name have dared to assail the church of God , to destroy and sap it by methods alien from the truth , must doubtless be reckoned that wicked association of
men commonly called Masonic . Such an alarming exordium will probably be as surprising- to the Freemasons as to every one else ; but it is only an appropriate introduction to the vehement denunciations which follow . Freemasonry is a " dark society—the enemy of the church and of God ,
and dangerous even to the security of kingdoms . " If Freemasons do not give up their " wicked assemblies , " they must expect to be "hurried along into the abyss of eternal ruin . " They " are kindled with an ardent hatred against the religion of Christ and legitimate authority . " They are the wolves
in sheep ' s clothing of whom it is predicted in the Gospel that they would come to devour the flock They have lost their reason , their acts are "impious and criminal , " and their errors " monstrous . " The Popes , it appears , have long ago detected their snares and deceptions , and one after another have resolved , " without losing a moment , " to " strike and lacerate with a sentence of
excommunication as with a sword this sect breathing crime and attacking civil and sacred life . " No less than four Pontiffs appear to have launched their thunders against these enemies of all justice and religion , and nothing can exhibit the intense iniquity of the society in a stronger light than
that it has survived these excommunications , and " in these disastrous days everywhere show s itself and lifts its audacious front . " The paternal heart , therefore , of the present Pope compels him to suppress these wicked men , and relieve society from such numerous and inveterate evils ; and
terrible are the punishments which he threatens for this benevolent purpose . In tho first place , all the Freemasons are in danger of eternal ruin ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Freemasonry And The Pope.
English and other journals which have appeared , or may appear : — We may take this opportunity of adding , it is a matter of history , and never attempted to be denied , that two of the most distinguished Popes of Rome were Freemasons . Leo X . was the Grand
Master of all the Masonic lodges in Rome , and he , had as his Senior Warden no less a person than " Raphael . " And this we may vouch for in our personal knowledge , that many most estimable men amongst the various grades and orders of Roman Priesthood throughout Italy are members of ourOrder , and many of themmost zealous and
excellent Masons . And not a few of these hold hish O rank in the Church of Rome . ( From the Times . ) The telegraph informed us a few days agoas
, much to our surprise as to our satisfaction , that the Pope , in Secret Consistory , had delivered an allocution denouncing all secret societies , and particularly the Freemasons and the Fenians . Although we knew that the Roman Catholic clergy were uniformly hostile to the Fenian movement
, we could hardly have expected that the Pope himself would come forward with such vigour and promptitude to render us a service at such an opportune moment . The text of this unexpected allocution has now reached us , and will be found to-day in another column of our impression . It
will be seen that though it does not denounce the Fenians by name , it is directed against all secret societies , " by whatsoever name called , which conspire against the Church and the civil power . " There have been few secret societies which answer to this description more exactly than the Fenians ;
and tbe Roman Catholic clergy , it has been amplyproved , had as much reason as any other class of the community to assist in the suppression of this disorderly Brotherhood . We may , therefore , congratulate ourselves on having for once the cordial assistance of the Pope in our Irish policy . We
cannot but be very much obliged to so exalted a personage for thus going out of his way to support us against the machinations of Mr . Stephens and Mr , John O'Mahoney . We are , indeed , somewhat afraid that these conspirators and their American allies will derive more satisfaction from the
dignity of being by implication made the subjects of a papal allocution than they will be afflicted b y the tremendoiTS denunciations which are launched against them . Nevertheless , it cannot but be well , so far as it goes , that the head of the Roman Catholic Church should have formallsupported
y his subordinates hi denouncing these foolish and wicked conspiracies . Our New York correspondent latel y informed us that among the extraordinary hallucinations of Fenianism in America was
a rumour that a special order had been issued from Rome , expressed iu true papal latin , "Fenianos non esse -inciuietandos . " If anything can disabuse an Irishman of a favourite delusion , or induce an American to relinquish a smart fabrication , the rumour in question ought to be effectually
dispersed by this papal thunderbolt . But in thus expressing our acknowledgments to the Pope for his well-intentioned services , we must at the same time indulge our surprise at the main , purport of the document before us . The denunciation of Fenianism isas we have saidonly
im-, , plied incidentally . The Papal thunders are more immediately directed against a very different society ; and if the allocution is to have any effect it will somewhat diminish the satisfaction with
which we receive it that it consigns to perdition along with the Fenians all the members of a society which is as numerous in England as in Ireland , and which spreads its ramifications over almost every country in the world . This unhappy society is none other than that of the Freemasons .
" Among the many machinations , " says the Pope , "by which the enemies of the Christian name have dared to assail the church of God , to destroy and sap it by methods alien from the truth , must doubtless be reckoned that wicked association of
men commonly called Masonic . Such an alarming exordium will probably be as surprising- to the Freemasons as to every one else ; but it is only an appropriate introduction to the vehement denunciations which follow . Freemasonry is a " dark society—the enemy of the church and of God ,
and dangerous even to the security of kingdoms . " If Freemasons do not give up their " wicked assemblies , " they must expect to be "hurried along into the abyss of eternal ruin . " They " are kindled with an ardent hatred against the religion of Christ and legitimate authority . " They are the wolves
in sheep ' s clothing of whom it is predicted in the Gospel that they would come to devour the flock They have lost their reason , their acts are "impious and criminal , " and their errors " monstrous . " The Popes , it appears , have long ago detected their snares and deceptions , and one after another have resolved , " without losing a moment , " to " strike and lacerate with a sentence of
excommunication as with a sword this sect breathing crime and attacking civil and sacred life . " No less than four Pontiffs appear to have launched their thunders against these enemies of all justice and religion , and nothing can exhibit the intense iniquity of the society in a stronger light than
that it has survived these excommunications , and " in these disastrous days everywhere show s itself and lifts its audacious front . " The paternal heart , therefore , of the present Pope compels him to suppress these wicked men , and relieve society from such numerous and inveterate evils ; and
terrible are the punishments which he threatens for this benevolent purpose . In tho first place , all the Freemasons are in danger of eternal ruin ,