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Freemasons reply that not obliging a member to profess a certain religious viewpoint as a condition of membership is not the equivalent of asserting that no religion can be superior to any other. Personal theological beliefs are not to be discussed in the lodge, thus avoiding arguments with those holding different beliefs. [33]
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 member professes belief in a Supreme Being, that no women be admitted, and that the discussion of religion and ...
Whether Freemasonry is anticlerical often depends on how anticlericalism is defined and which branches of Freemasonry are being referred to. Continental Freemasonry historically had more much anticlerical beliefs than other forms of Freemasonry.
The Vatican has confirmed a ban on Catholics becoming Freemasons, a centuries-old secretive society that the Catholic Church has long viewed with hostility and has an estimated global membership ...
Freemasonry was an important catalyst in the founding of the Knights of Columbus and the Knights of Peter Claver in the United States [131] and the Knights of the Southern Cross in Australia, because one of the attractions of Freemasonry was that it provided a number of social services unavailable to non-members (e.g., devout Catholics).
Freemasonry in the United States is the history of Freemasonry as it was introduced from Britain and continues as a major secret society to the present day. It is a fraternal order that brings men together (and women through its auxiliaries) to gain friendship and opportunity for advancement and community progress.
The Orange Order was founded by Ulster Protestants in County Armagh in 1795, during a period of Protestant–Catholic sectarian conflict, as a fraternity sworn to maintain the Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. The all-island Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland was established in 1798.
A number of Protestant and Eastern Orthodox denominations discourage their congregants from joining Masonic lodges, but this practice differs in intensity according to the beliefs of the denomination.