Why does Freemasonry – an organization condemned by the Catholic Church – openly support Pope Francis?
In an unprecedented development, for the first time in history, this organization, labelled by previous pontiffs as the “synagogue of Satan”, is openly welcoming and embracing the Roman Catholic Pontiff.
Pope Francis’ election sparked an almost jubilant outpouring of support and welcome from Freemasons around the world. In fact, as reported by the Masonic Press Agency (www.masonicpressagency.blogspot.com), several Grand Lodges in Latin America, Europe and Asia simultaneously welcomed the election of the new Catholic Pope – unprecedented in the history of the Catholic Church.
The Italian Freemasons congratulated him immediately the day after his election. In fact, the Grand Master of the Grand Orient of Italy expressed his joy regarding the election of Pope Francis. On March 14, 2013, the day after the pope’s inauguration, with seemingly uncanny prophetic foresight, Italian Grandmaster of Freemasonry Gustavo Raffi said that “nothing will be as it was before”:
With Pope Francis, nothing will be as it was before. It is a clear choice of fraternity for a Church of dialogue, which is not contaminated by the logic and temptations of temporal power.
A man of the poor far away from the Curia. Fraternity and the desire to dialogue were his first concrete words. Perhaps nothing in the Church will be as it was before. Our hope is that the pontificate of Francis, the Pope who ‘comes from the end of the world’ can mark the return to the Church-Word instead of the Church-Institution, promoting an open dialogue with the contemporary world, with believers and non-believers, following the springtime of Vatican II.
The Grand Lodge of Argentina officially welcomed the election of Pope Francis. Argentinian Grand Master Angel Jorge Clavero said:
The Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, an institution rooted in our country since 1857, salutes the naming of our co-patriot Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio as Pope Francis. A man of austere life consecrated to his devotions, the designation of the new pontiff of the Catholic Church supposes a great recognition of the Argentine Nation…In the name of all, the Grand Lodge of Argentina greets our co-patriot Cardinal who just received such a high world distinction.
During the January trip of Pope Francis to the Philippines, among the groups who welcomed him was the Grand Lodge of Masons, who bought a full page ad in the January 16, 2015 edition of the leading newspaper in the country, the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
“The Synagogue of Satan”
It is worth reminding the reader that for the Catholic Church, membership in freemasonry means automatic excommunication. Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI), then Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, on November 26, 1983, emphasized:
The faithful who enroll in Masonic associations are in a state of grave sin and may not receive Holy Communion…. Consequently, neither the excommunication nor the other penalties envisaged have been abrogated.
Numerous popes have condemned freemasonry throughout the ages. Pope Leo XIII called freemasonry the “synagogue of Satan”. In his letter to the Italian people dated December 8, 1892, Leo XIII writes:
Let us remember that Christianity and Freemasonry are essentially incompatible, to such an extent, that to become united with one means being divorced from the other. Let us, therefore, expose Freemasonry as the enemy of God, of the Church and of our Motherland.
A Satanic Religion in Disguise
Freemasonry is nothing more than Satanic worship – beautifully packaged as a “humanitarian” movement to unsuspecting victims.
One of the prominent leaders of freemasonry was Albert Pike, grand commander of the Scottish Rite of freemasonry. In 1871, shortly before the pontificate of Pope Leo XIII, Pike wrote about the true nature of the “light” which masons seek in his book “Morals and Dogma”, traditionally handed out to high degree Freemasons only: “LUCIFER, the Light-bearer! Strange and mysterious name to give to the Spirit of Darkness! Lucifer, the Son of the Morning! Is it he who bears the Light …? Doubt it not!”
Pope Gregory XVI, who was one of the foremost opponents of Freemasonry, was able to seize documents from the masonic lodge known as “Alta Vendita”. The documents were later on published in a book, and disseminated through various lectures. The “Alta Vendita” documents chillingly summarizes a plan to infiltrate and destroy the Catholic Church from within, a plan which may even require a century:
Our ultimate end is that of…the final destruction of Catholicism, and even of the Christian idea … The Pope, whoever he is, will never come to the secret societies; it is up to the secret societies to take the first step toward the Church, with the aim of conquering both of them. The task that we are going to undertake is not the work of a day, or of a month, or of a year; it may last several years, perhaps a century; but in our ranks the soldier dies and struggle goes on … What we must ask for, what we should look for and wait for, as the Jews wait for the Messiah, is a Pope according to our needs…You will contrive for yourselves, at little cost, a reputation as good Catholics and pure patriots. This reputation will put access to our doctrines into the midst of the young clergy, as well as deeply into the monasteries. In a few years, by the force of things, this young clergy will have overrun all the functions; they will form the sovereign’s council, they will be called to choose a Pontiff who should reign …
End Time Prophecies Concerning the “False Prophet” of the Book of Revelation
Various reputable prophecies and visions by saints and mystics warn us about the rise of the “False Prophet” of the Book of Revelation – a religious leader in the “end times” (the times preceding the Second Coming of Christ) who will conspire with the Anti-Christ to lead the world into error.
In her messages to Fr. Stefano Gobbi, founder of the Marian Movement of Priests, Our Lady warned that “Satan would enter in even to the Summit of the Church.”
The black beast like a leopard indicates Freemasonry; the beast with the two horns like a lamb indicates Freemasonry infiltrated into the interior of the Church, that is to say, ecclesiastical Masonry, which has spread especially among the members of the hierarchy. This Masonic infiltration, in the interior of the Church, was already foretold to you by me at Fatima, when I announced to you that Satan would enter in even to the summit of the Church.
The messages are contained in the book “To the Priests: Our Lady’s Beloved Sons”, which has an imprimatur and nihil obstat. The Marian Movement of Priests has hundreds of priests, bishops and Cardinals as members, and more than 7 million lay members.
In the Church-approved apparitions of Our Lady of La Salette, Our Lady warns us:
Rome will lose the faith and become the seat of the Antichrist. For now is the time of all times, the end of all ends. The Church will be in eclipse, the world will be in dismay…Now is the time; the abyss is opening. Here is the king of kings of darkness, here is the Beast with his subjects, calling himself the savior of the world.
St. Francis of Assisi was given a vision of the end time Tribulation Period, when a false pope will take over the pontificate: “At the time of this tribulation a man, not canonically elected, will be raised to the Pontificate, who, by his cunning, will endeavour to draw many into error and death.”
Finally, Blessed Catherine Emmerich saw an odd relationship between “two popes” during the end times:
I saw also the special relationship between the two popes…I saw how baleful (harmful) would be the consequences of this false church. I saw it increase in size; heretics of every kind came into the city (of Rome). The local clergy grew lukewarm, and I saw a great darkness.
I saw again a new and odd-looking Church which they were trying to build. There was nothing holy about it… They built a large, singular, extravagant church which was to embrace all creeds with equal rights: Evangelicals, Catholics, and all denominations, a true communion of the unholy with one shepherd and one flock…