The Mystery of Freemasonry Unveiled by Jose Maria Caro y Rodriguez
- Very Average Joe
- 6 hours ago
- 8 min read
The Mystery of Freemasonry Unveiled by Jose Maria Caro y Rodriguez (b. 23 June 1866 – d. 4 December 1958) was first published in 1925. He was a bishop at the time and was later elevated to Cardinal of Chile in 1946.
The author relies on various sources, including freemasons like Albert Pike, ex-freemasons and other researchers. Those who are well-versed on the topic will recognize many of the sources, although there are a few that are French and possibly less known to an English-speaking audience.
The text is about 250 pages long and organized into 6 parts, each containing two to seven chapters.
Part I: The Nature of Freemasonry
Part II: An Essentially Untruthful Society
Part III: Doctrines of Masonry
Part IV: The Origin of Masonry and Its Relation to Other Sects
Part V: Masonry’s Method of Action
Part VI: Condemnation of Masonry
As one can see from just reading the headings, there is some overlap and therefore repetition. The text reads fine, it is not as if this overlap makes it unreadable. If anything, more specifics could be included, especially the background behind some historical events, but it is apparent that the author intends brevity.
Below are some key points, not intended to be a summary. These are grouped not exactly as the book does since, as mentioned above, there is overlap and repetition.
Organization
● Freemasonry consists of Grand Lodges (also called Grand Orients, Federations, Sovereign Councils, Masonic Powers). Each Grand Lodge is composed of smaller Lodges or Offices.
● Each Grand Lodge is headed by the Grand Master, under which is the Council or Executive Committee. This Council is elected in its legislative body called the Assembly (also called Convent), composed of representatives from the smaller Lodges.
● All rites have three symbolic degrees: apprentice, companion and master. The number of philosophic degrees “varies from five or seven to ninety-two in the case of the Rite of Memphis”.
● It is normal practice to conceal the objectives to not merely outsiders but even its members of the lower degrees. For example, it is explicitly stated that there are “secrets” yet to be revealed to the 29th degree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite.
● An oath of secrecy is required with the severest of penalties including death.
● Lodges are formed and maintained by keeping a secret that can only be shared amongst freemasons to satisfy the curiosity seeker. Frequent banquets are given to encourage “fraternity” and networking for business opportunities.
● Recruitment tactics, as recommended by Adam Weishaupt, include passing off individuals of good repute to be members. For example, it was often repeated that Pope Pius IX was a freemason (which is false). Even for those individuals who are actually members, they being at the lower degrees are unaware of the true aims whilst their upright image suits the movement.
● For more practical purposes, lawyers are targeted as well as teachers, particularly those in seminaries, and those in public office to monopolize the power for the benefit of the lodges.
● Selection for initiation is calculated for the benefit of freemasonry and its objectives, even more so for the higher degrees.
● Many freemasonic symbols and rituals have Jewish Kabbalistic origins.
● Outside of the Judeo-Masonic Order of B’nai-B’rith, there are exclusively Jewish orders in cities such as Rome and London.
Objectives & Means
● During and prior to the 1700s, members were to profess the national religion or obey the “moral law” and “never will he be a stupid atheist or an irreligious Libertine”. However, over time, whatever vague rules existed were watered down; “by resolutions adopted in 1878, the Grand Lodge of England requests faith in the Grand Architect of the Universe.”
● Although explicitly stating that it does not concern itself with religion, only “respect” the religious faith of its members, it is also known to have explicitly stated its intent to destroy Catholicism. For example:
In some lodges of the 30th degree (the Knight Kadosh) of the Scottish Rite, which according to Ragon is the “NON PLUS ULTRA” in high philosophic Masonry, makes the initiate trample on a crucifix, telling him: “Trample upon this image of superstition, the king, and the Pope. (Dom Paul Benoit, La Franc Maconnerie, 292–293).
● Freemasonry is ultimately religious in the sense that it claims to be about “morality”. They profess “liberty”, “fraternity” and “equality” which, although disguised, ultimately leads to the destruction of all authority, order and property.
● Words have double meanings, one meaning for freemasons and one meaning for most other people.
● Likewise, symbols and rituals deliberately have multiple meanings even if it is seemingly based on what is found in other religions. Christian symbols and rituals are used to fool the uninitiated and to mock Christianity. Scriptural references are used with totally different meanings than what the Church has traditionally taught.
● Tactics seldom address the target directly. For example: instead of explicitly discussing taking away the temporal powers of the Pope, “Italian unity” was used; rather than banning or discouraging children from religious duties, create distractions such as sports.
● Freemasonry invented the distinction between Catholicism and “Clericalism” in the late 1890s, the latter being the intervention of the clergy in politics whilst claiming to respect the former. This is to avoid the appearance of fighting against Catholicism.
● The “Great Architect of the Universe”, although confused for God, is actually “Nature”. Naturalism negates God which eventually leads to atheism.
● The term “architect” also presupposes someone who works with existing materials whereas God created everyone from nothing.
● The worship of “Nature” is logically represented by and points to the sun and later the flesh such as the “cult of Phallus”, not unlike some pagan worship.
● According to freemasonry, Satan (or Lucifer) is the good angel of light who shared the secret with Eve about making human beings like God. (This is similar to a version of gnosticism.) This is consistent to their idea of “liberty” which includes absolute freedom from authority.
● Also note that sun worship is tied to Lucifer.
● Under the guise of “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity”, it promotes freedom of conscience and humanism and also aims to destroy ecclesiastical and civil authority structure and property.
● Freemasonic “morality” can simply be stated as “the end justifies the means”. The rituals for some degrees involve vengeance, murder and revolution. This is falsely attributed to the Jesuits.
● Materialism and equality lead to (atheistic) communism.
● An Anti-Masonic International Congress was held in Trent in 1896. Their conclusions were based on “more than 150 volumes of Masonic works”. Four of the 12 concluding points are reproduced below.
1. That Freemasonry is a religious sect and Manichean; that the ultimate word of their secrets and of their mysteries is the cult of Lucifer or Satan, adored in the back-stage-lodges as the Good God, in opposition to the God of the Catholics, whom the initiate blasphemers call Evil God.
3. That in order to implant in the world this irreligious Naturalism Freemasonry endeavors to accustom men to place all religions on an equal footing, the only true one together with the false; substituting for the Catholic atmosphere, the Masonic atmosphere, through the medium of the press and of godless schools.
8. That Freemasonry is directly responsible for modern Socialism because it has substituted for the Christian ideal, that of Social happiness which is its own ideal. It has also substituted for the Christian social hierarchy, governed by justice, and tempered by charity, a pretended equality of all men, among themselves. Masonry is making men forget that it is in the future life where each one will be recompensed according to his works and is teaching them that happiness can be found only in material pleasures here below, and that all have a strict right to an equal part of this happiness.
11. That to break up the family irremediably, Freemasonry tries to pervert women, not only making them enter their lodges, as they always succeed in doing but because it is the soul of the movement called "feminism," or "emancipation of women" destined to bring disturbance and disorder into families based on the vain desire for a completely unattainable reform.
● Freemasonry may not have initiated the protestant movements but it suits its anti-Catholic aims to support it, since to overtly go against them will invite opposition from every Christian denomination/sect. According to the German freemasonic magazine Latimia: “Protestantism is half Masonry.” (Of course, some protestant groups and countries condemn freemasonry.)
● Although there is no known definitive origin of Freemasonry, it makes claims that it descended from the Templars, Solomon and even Cain but none have any solid supporting evidence. In any case,
[t]here is no doubt that Masonic activity against the Catholic Church is no more than the continuation of the war against Christ practiced by Judaism for the last 1900 years and indeed that has been rendered possible by the help of secret, deceit and hypocrisy adjusted to the circumstances of the Christian world against which Judaism has but to wage its war.
● The Golden International (high finance), Red International (communism), Black International (Judaistic groups) and Blue International (freemasonry) are run by those connected to freemasonry.
● Freemasonry executes its plans by infiltrating existing organizations, particularly the government, press and seminaries.
● They also use other societies that they run. These include, for example, the International Society of Workers, International Society of Free Thinkers, Young Italy and Young Europe, League of Teachers, Education League and League for the Defense of Human Rights.
● Others include the Theosophical Society:
Madame Blavatsky, the promoter or founder of Theosophy in Europe, was also a member of the Masonic Lodges; her successor, Anna Besant, President of the Theosophical Society in 1911 was Vice President and great Teacher of the Supreme Council of the International Order of Co-Masonry, and among us, in our city, the brother Masons are the ones that contribute mostly to spread the Theosophical Society.
History
● Generally, persecution of the Church includes the destruction or confiscation of church property, prohibition of worship, murder of clergy and religious, and usurping the education system.
In Mexico, for example, wearing ecclesiastic dress has been forbidden for many years. There, as in France and in other countries, religious teaching is prohibited in public schools. In the United States, Masonry is insistent on doing away with private teaching in order to oblige all children to attend public schools. In various countries, Masonry has discredited religious congregations, at the same time that it was sheltering all kinds of immoral or subversive associations; it has expelled and persecuted them as it has never persecuted anarchists or subversives anywhere.
● Freemasonry has infiltrated governments in order to execute its aims. The French Revolution is an example:
[T]he President of the Grand Symbolic Lodge, speaking at a banquet honoring one of the members of the Cabinet, said: “You will find it very natural, my brothers, that by a logical connection I may include in the same toast the entire government. For a long time you have heard our adversaries claim that France is in the hands of Freemasonry. They are not right. Today they can say so. With Brother Felix Faure all the members of the Cabinet, with the exception of two or three, are of our great family. Yes, we have a government of Freemasons, and Freemasons worthy of the name.” (Copin Albancelli, Le Drame Maconnique: Le Pouvior Occulte Contre La France, 139–140).
● The author provides examples of freemasonic activity, categorized into “religious” and “politics” and organized by region including Spain, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Russia, England, USA, Central America and South America, amongst other places, mostly in the 1800s and early 1900s. In addition to the French and Russian revolutions, it was also responsible for the 1910 coup d’état in Portugal.
● Italian Freemasonry as early as September 1914 intended for Italy to enter the war and in the following months stirred pro-war sentiments. Italy eventually entered the war in May 1915.
● There are no few high-level “suicides” or assassinations of traitors and outsiders who were against their aims. These include, in no particular order, Gustave III of Sweden, Emperors Joseph II and Leopold II, Tsar Alexander I, Louis XVI of France, Maximilian I of Mexico, President of Ecuador Gabriel García Moreno, amongst many others.
● According to Benoit, all the uprisings since 1789, with perhaps the expectation of three or four, were executed by freemasonry.
● In the 6th and final part, the author briefly runs through a few papal condemnations of freemasonry starting with Clement XII in 1738 and including Leo XIII. These are covered on this website.
● Even civil authorities in protestant regions banned freemasonry to varying degrees of effectiveness. For example: Holland prohibited it in 1735; in Switzerland, Geneva in 1738, Zurich in 1740 and Bern in 1745; and Russia in 1822.
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