Masons and Knights of Columbus bury past

Title

Creator

Millones, Peter

Language

English

Year

1967

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Abstract

News and views on the Ecumenical Movement.

Fulltext

/4tt News and Views on the Ecumenical Movement. NBM Masons and Knights of Columbus Bury Past By Peter Millones Top officials of the predominantly Protestant Masons and the Roman Catholic Knights of Columbus, organ izations whose hostility has roots in the 18th century, announced yesterday they would form joint national pro grams in the “moral civic and social action fields.” In recent years, councils of the Knights and lodges of the Masons on a local level have overcome their an tagonisms enough to bowl or give blood together and to raise funds for civic causes. But the pledge of cooperation rrtade by the top officials at a private meet ing here last month was described by the two organizations in a statement yesterday as “the first time that the highest officials met to explore ave nues of cooperation." The officials represent all 1.2 mil lion members of the Knights of Colum bus, in the United States, Canada Mexico, Puerto Rico and the Philip pines, and 500,000 of the 4 million Masons in the United States. The Masons represented are in 15 North east and Middle Atlantic states. Masonic officials note that there was no one national leader of the Masons and thus policy decisions must be made by sectional leaders- They said they expected other sectional leaders to join the agreement reached by George A. Newbury of Buffalo, sovereign grand commander, for the 15 states and John W. McDevitt of New Haven, sup reme knight of the K. of C. Officials of the two organizations said that the “fraternal” spirit was an outgrowth of the Ecumenical Council which encouraged subsequent discus sions and cooperation among many Protestant, Catholic and Jewish groups. The statement by the two organiza tions did not tell what specific form their cooperation would take. But it said that their objectives would cen ter on three basic areas. These are: "Promotion of true pat riotism and love of country under God; support of positive programs for the development of good citizenship and respect for constituted authority, law and order; and encouragement of programs for youth and to train them for responsible leadership as partici pants in the democratic way of life." Taking note of the new spirit of cooperation, the organization recalled an assertion last October by Irving E. Partridge of Hartford, Conn., a Ma son official who participated in the high-level conferenceA new day has dawned and air is sweeter and purer by reason of a much better understanding on all sides,” he said. Such thoughts are a long way from the papal bull issued in 1738 by Pope Clement XII, in which he condemned the Masons on the ground that their beliefs and rituals amounted to a false religion. Catholics are still forbid den to join the Masons under pain of excommunication. 14 The Cebletaw Called Wicked Masons practice elaborate secret rites and trace their traditions to medieval times. Their practices and beliefs, known as Freemasonry, are perpet uated by a worldwide system of fra ternal organizations that preach “bro therly love, relief and truth and an unfeigned belief in the One, Living and True God.” Pope Clement referred to the Free masons as wicked and said: “If they were not acting ill, they would not by any means have such a hatred of the light.” The Masons are now an organiza tion with secrets but not a secret orgaization. Its meeting places are pro minently identified, its membership rolls are matters of public record and its governing bodies publish an nual proceedings. There are many different degrees or grades of Masons, from entering apprentice to 33'd degree Mason, which is honorary. Elevation is de termined by tenure, work in various projects and evaluations by screen ing committees. Men of all walks of life meet as Ma sons and pledge to adhere to a moral code whose principles are largely con veyed through symbols and allegories connected with the art of building and emphasizing benevolence. It is believed that freemason originally meant a craftsman working with ax, mallet and chisel in freestone. Uprightness is often symbolized by the stonemason’s plumbline and other tools. Founded by Priest Freemasonry came to the United States in 1730, when a Masonic lodge was formed in Philadelphia, with Ben jamin Franklin as one of its mem bers. Many Presidents have been Ma sons. The Knights of Columbus was founded in 1882 in New Haven by a Roman Catholic priest, the Rev. Mich ael McGivney. It was a time when secret organizations were very popu lar and Catholics were not allowed to be members of them, so they formed a similar organization of their own. The K. of C. is a fraternal society oT men belonging to the Roman Ca tholic church and it has traditionally opposed the Mason's practices and be liefs as anti-Christian. The Masons have denied the charge. In a book published in 1920 by the K. of C., titled "The Knights of Columbus in Peace and War,” it was noted that there were periodic waves of anti Catholic prejudice — marked by law lessness and violence — in the United States during the Revolution. “Some of the causes for it.” the book said, “were the participation of Catholics in the anti-Masonic move ment, which was a bitter agitation.” In their statement yesterday, the or ganizations said it was agreed “that the ideal of a belief in the brotherhood of man under the Fatherhood of God, which both fraternities embrace and support, could serve as a social and moral theraphy for the ills of modern society. A REGIONAL GRAND ... From p.s. 12 Hong Kong; on May 23 they will be in Taipei and on the 26th they will be in Okinawa and on May 28 they will be in Osaka. From there they will fly to Tokyo from whence they will go to Seoul, South Korea to con stitute MacArthur Lodge U. D. there, After Korea, they will make a visita tion to our two Lodges in Tokyo after which they will visit the Lodges in Guam before returning to the Philipines. A MAY, 1967 15

Media