THE ENLIGHTENMENT AND THE CHURCH
The following is not intended to malign the Roman Catholic Church. The writer, who is not Catholic, regards the Church in many aspects as the most beautiful religion. It must be remembered that the Orthodox (later Roman and Byzantine) Church brought monotheism and morality to the developing world, during and after the Roman Empire. To accomplish this a highly structured faith was the most effective. However, such a structure could be overly authoritative and often be wrongly excessive and would extend its See beyond the bounds of faith. The seed of enlightened thought questioned those infallibilities of the church. Not necessarily the belief. Belief and church are two different things. When they are inseparable, terrible things can be justified in the name of God.
The Enlightenment helped guide the non-Catholic faithful into an acceptably simplified and logical spiritual path. It also induced the leadership of the Church to reconsider many of its concepts and practices.
The printing press, introduced during the Renaissance in 1455, was very influential in religion. Sir Francis Bacon wrote that the three inventions that forever changed the world were gunpowder, the nautical compass, and the printing press. Voluminous printed ideas, including those of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, made censorship very difficult.
In 1455 Gutenberg began printing 200 illustrated Latin bibles. Henry VIII in 1539 introduced the “Great Bible”, written in English to be read aloud in his newly formed Anglican Church. Because of errors and inconsistencies of previous versions, `King James I authorized the revised English Bible, which is the most common version in the world even today, although in the mid-2oth century many later versions have been produced by various Protestant religions.
In England the Church had a significant, if unwilling role in fostering the Enlightenment and Freemasonry. In the 16th century Henry VIII broke with the Roman Church and established the (Anglican) Church of England, however much of the English people remained Catholic. His eldest surviving daughter, Mary I in her five-year reign tried to restore Catholicism to England. However, her sister and successor, Elizabeth I, was adamant in maintaining the supremacy of the Anglican Church. Having no heirs, she was succeeded by King James Stuart (James VI of Scotland, and a Mason) who began the Stuart line of regents and authorized the revised English Bible. His son, Charles I, was beheaded when Oliver Cromwell led a rebellion to establish a republican style government. Charles I son, Charles II overthrew Cromwell’s regime and was tolerant of Catholicism. However, he was succeeded by his brother James II, who became increasingly pro-Catholic and was widely thought to have intended to re-establish the Catholic Church in England. Unrest had developed among England’s predominant Anglicans, which in 1688 led to the nearly bloodless “Glorious Rebellion” which ousted James II who fled to France.
At this point it is important to know that “James” is the English version of the name “Jacob”, Jesus’ brother. (Hebrew “Iakov”, Italian “Iago”, Spanish “Diego”). A rebellion was started in France to restore King James II and the Stuart Line in England and restore the Catholic Church. These were known as the “Jacobites”. Given that England’s House of Stuart came from Kings James VI of Scotland, many Scots were among the Jacobites as well as many English Catholics. Jacobites battled the English 1689, 1708, 1715, 1718, and finally and fatally in Scotland in 1745.
Shortly after the Glorious Rebellion Parliament in 1689 enacted the English “Bill of Rights” (see Appendix I) which in part required future royal houses to be Protestant and selected by Parliament. This Bill of Rights inspired the United States’ Declaration of Independence and was a model for the U.S. Constitution.
Now the Dutch, under the leadership of Statholder William of Orange, of royal blood, conspired with the English (including the ancestor of Winston Churchill) to successfully execute the quick and nearly bloodless Glorious Rebellion to oust James II. Given his participation and bloodline, and that his wife Mary was the daughter King Charles I, William of Orange was chosen by Parliament to be King William III of England, reigning jointly with his wife Queen Mary II. William and Mary had no children, so they were succeeded by Mary’s sister (Queen) Anne, who died childless in 1714. Anne’s closest relative was her German second cousin George of Hanover, who was selected by Parliament to become King George I, whose Hanoverian line continues today (Queen Elizabeth II).
With this historical background, we continue with the Enlightenment, the Church and Freemasonry.
There were many Masonic Lodges in Scotland, England and Ireland, but because of risk of persecution by government and church, most preferred to be independent and conceal their identities (clandestine). Then due to the Glorious Rebellion and the subsequent English Bill of Rights (see Appendix I), this risk went away in the British Isles and Lodges came out into the open and in 1717 the Grand Lodge of London, later to be the Grand Lodge of England was formed, and Freemasonry blossomed. It blossomed so well that the Catholic Church first prohibited Catholics from membership in Masonic organizations and other secret societies in 1738. Since then, at least eleven popes have made pronouncements about the incompatibility of Catholic doctrines and Freemasonry. From 1738 until 1983, Catholics who publicly associated with, or publicly supported, Masonic organizations were censured with automatic excommunication. Since 1983, the prohibition on membership exists in a different form. Although there was some confusion about membership following the 1962-1965 Second Vatican Council (Vatican II), the Church continues to prohibit membership in Freemasonry because it believes that Masonic principles and rituals are irreconcilable with Catholic doctrines. The current norm, the 1983 Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith's (CDF) Declaration on Masonic associations, states that "faithful who enroll in Masonic associations are in a state of grave sin and may not receive Holy Communion" and membership in Masonic associations is prohibited. The most recent CDF document about the "incompatibility of Freemasonry with the Catholic faith" was issued in 1985 eb .But in spite of this stance, Freemasonry thrived openly in France, including aristocracy (including the Marquis de Lafayette), and around the world there are many Roman Catholics who are active Freemasons today.
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