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Article THE PAPAL ALLOCUTION AGAINST FREEMASONRY. ← Page 7 of 16 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Papal Allocution Against Freemasonry.
The Allocution itself gives the key to this interpretation . Of course it implies , everywhere , that the Papacy is infallible , and that Freemasonry " is a dark society , the enemy of the Church and of GOD , " which may be taken to mean that all enemies of the Eoman Catholic hierarchy are to be ranked as the enemies
of Gov . But we have heard of old , and so have our fathers before us , that the enemies of God , —and with all reverence be such words uttered , —have been the very Popes who have ruled
over that portion of the Church . Therefore this denunciation amounts to no more than those who oppose the pretensions of the Papacy it condemns as not owning its supremacy . The same idea is also prominent in the phrase that "they
are wolves in sheep's clothing , " a scriptural figure which the mediaeval brethren applied to the Popes , and , —since they learned the jargon of those who wrote against them in every language in Europe , —they have adroitly re-charged upon us . For centuries the press teemed Avith works , at one time termed platonic , at another mystic , at others chivalric , alchemical ,
astrological , poetical , and enigmatical , which were Masonic in tendency , construction , and doctrine , but set forth under a disguise only to be penetrated by those who were of the brotherhood . Matthew Paris tells us how the Popes , by the treachery of some false brethren , at last became aware of the secret method
of reading these productions . Then came a master-stroke of policy . The inquisition had been busy burning poets for heresy , when the profane world could see no heretical dogmas in some very bad poetry , and fearing that the key must become open to all , the hand of persecution was stayed , and the inquisitors
snubbed for finding in poetical fables an amount of heresy which the Pope declared did not exist . Our own Chaucer , Dante , Petrarch , Boecacio , and hosts of other writers of their age , had all , more or less , experienced the tender mercies of the inquisitors , on account of Freemasonry .
On the subject of our oaths , which The Times feels pretty sure the Pope must be misinformed about , we shall say no more than that certain parts of them are effete and quite unnecessary . Our readers will readily perceive that the qualification , used in
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Papal Allocution Against Freemasonry.
The Allocution itself gives the key to this interpretation . Of course it implies , everywhere , that the Papacy is infallible , and that Freemasonry " is a dark society , the enemy of the Church and of GOD , " which may be taken to mean that all enemies of the Eoman Catholic hierarchy are to be ranked as the enemies
of Gov . But we have heard of old , and so have our fathers before us , that the enemies of God , —and with all reverence be such words uttered , —have been the very Popes who have ruled
over that portion of the Church . Therefore this denunciation amounts to no more than those who oppose the pretensions of the Papacy it condemns as not owning its supremacy . The same idea is also prominent in the phrase that "they
are wolves in sheep's clothing , " a scriptural figure which the mediaeval brethren applied to the Popes , and , —since they learned the jargon of those who wrote against them in every language in Europe , —they have adroitly re-charged upon us . For centuries the press teemed Avith works , at one time termed platonic , at another mystic , at others chivalric , alchemical ,
astrological , poetical , and enigmatical , which were Masonic in tendency , construction , and doctrine , but set forth under a disguise only to be penetrated by those who were of the brotherhood . Matthew Paris tells us how the Popes , by the treachery of some false brethren , at last became aware of the secret method
of reading these productions . Then came a master-stroke of policy . The inquisition had been busy burning poets for heresy , when the profane world could see no heretical dogmas in some very bad poetry , and fearing that the key must become open to all , the hand of persecution was stayed , and the inquisitors
snubbed for finding in poetical fables an amount of heresy which the Pope declared did not exist . Our own Chaucer , Dante , Petrarch , Boecacio , and hosts of other writers of their age , had all , more or less , experienced the tender mercies of the inquisitors , on account of Freemasonry .
On the subject of our oaths , which The Times feels pretty sure the Pope must be misinformed about , we shall say no more than that certain parts of them are effete and quite unnecessary . Our readers will readily perceive that the qualification , used in