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The history of Freemasonry encompasses the origins, evolution and defining events of the fraternal organisation known as Freemasonry.It covers three phases. Firstly, the emergence of organised lodges of operative masons during the Middle Ages, then the admission of lay members as "accepted" (a term reflecting the ceremonial "acception" process that made non-stone masons members of an operative ...
Freemasonry is the oldest fraternity in the world and among the oldest continued organizations in history. [4] Modern Freemasonry broadly consists of two main recognition groups: Regular Freemasonry, which insists that a “volume of sacred law”, such as the Bible, the Quran, or other religious scripture be open in a working lodge, that every ...
During the war, Freemasonry was banned by edict in all countries that were either allied with the Nazis or under Nazi control, including Norway and France. Anti-Masonic exhibitions were held in many occupied countries. Field-Marshal Friedrich Paulus was denounced as a "High-grade Freemason" when he surrendered to the Soviet Union in 1943. [42]
Hundreds of conspiracy theories about Freemasonry have been described since the late 18th century. [1] Usually, these theories fall into three distinct categories: political (usually involving allegations of control of government, particularly in the United States and the United Kingdom), religious (usually involving allegations of anti-Christian or Satanic beliefs or practices), and cultural ...
The letter on Freemasons cited a 1983 declaration, signed by the late Pope Benedict XVI, at the time the Vatican's doctrine chief, stating that Catholics "in Masonic associations are in a state of ...
The Anti-Masonic Party was the earliest third party in the United States. [11] Formally a single-issue party, it strongly opposed Freemasonry in the United States.It was active from the late 1820s, especially in the Northeast, and later attempted to become a major party by expanding its platform to take positions on other issues.
Freemasons usually take a diametrically opposite view, stating that there is nothing in Freemasonry that is in any way contrary to Catholicism or any other religious faith. Whether Freemasonry is anticlerical often depends on how anticlericalism is defined and which branches of Freemasonry are being referred to.