Announcing Fr. Charles Murr’s new book of memoirs, Murder in the 33rd Degree: The Gagnon Investigation into Vatican & Freemasonry

In Catholic discourse today, one notices two extremes when the question of Freemasonry and its (past or present) penetration into the Church hierarchy is raised.

Some people, rather like McCarthy with Communists in the 1950s, are inclined to see Freemasons behind every desk and department. Others, reacting against this excess, dismiss the whole idea as nuttery, as a “conspiracy theory” that has no basis in reality.

Both extremes suffer from the defect of being impatient, unhistorical, and unphilosophical. A patient examination of the evidence will indicate that, indeed, some infiltration did occur; as Roberto de Mattei says, history is full of real conspiracies that historians can and do find out about through their research. A truly historical attitude investigates all the evidence rather than prematurely foreclosing the possibilities on account of assumptions, prejudice, or discomfort. A philosophical spirit is courageous about looking into all causes, great and small, certain, probable, and possible.

It may also be germane to point out that we have 250 years of repeated condemnation of Freemasonry by the Roman Pontiffs, who are generally considered to be well-informed about what's going on behind the scenes (whether or not they make good decisions in response to what they know). If they take the matter seriously, shouldn't we too? (For documentation, see my article “Freemasonry and Catholicism: Implacable Enemies.”)

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