Never Mind: Rowan Williams apologizes to the Freemasons

by Christopher A. Ferrara

       In a previous column I noted the surprising news that the bogus Anglican "Archbishop" of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, a raving liberal, had nonetheless condemned the beliefs of English Freemasonry as contrary to Christianity. Never mind. As reported by telegraph.co.uk (April 22, 2003), Williams "has been forced to apologise to Britain's 330,000 Freemasons after he said that their beliefs were incompatible with Christianity and that he had rejected them from senior posts in his diocese."

        It seems the Masons of England were outraged that Williams would dare to express "real misgivings about the compatibility of Masonry and Christian profession" — as has the Catholic Church since the 18^th Century, including a 1983 declaration of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith that membership in Freemasonic organizations is a mortal sin that bars one from receiving the sacraments until one abjures his membership. The Masons were even more outraged to learn that Williams "had blocked the appointment of Freemasons to senior appointments" in the Church of England.

        But things really blew apart when Williams’ spokesman let it be known that "the Archbishop was worried about the ritual element of Freemasonry, which has been seen as ‘satanically inspired’" — quite true, of course. That did it. Now Williams would be forced to apologize.

        The letter of apology was addressed to the "Grand Secretary" of the United Grand Lodge of England, "in an attempt to defuse the row prompted by comments he made last year." In the letter, Williams not only apologizes profusely to the grand Masonic pooh-bah, but also reveals that his own father was a member of the Craft. According to telegraph.co.uk: "Williams tries to distance himself from his own reported comments. He claims that his views were never meant to be public and were distorted by the media. He wrote: ‘I have been sorry to learn of the distress of a considerable number of Freemasons ... In replying to private correspondence, I had no intention of starting a public debate nor of questioning the good faith and generosity of individual Freemasons and I regret the tone and content of the media coverage." Williams added that "The quoted statements about the ‘satanic’ character of the Masonic ceremonies and other matters did not come from me and do not represent my judgment. Since my late father was a member of the Craft for many years, I have had every opportunity of observing the probity of individual members."

        I suppose Williams got off easy. As Pope Leo XIII warned in his encyclical on Freemasonry, Human Genus, the Masonic sect does not hesitate to resort to assassination when its activities are exposed. One recalls the assassination of Robert Calvi and others involved with the "Propaganda Due" (P II) Masonic society in Italy, which was implicated in the Vatican bank scandal following the death of Paul VI.

        So much for the moment of sanity from the head of the decrepit Anglican "Church." Now the ecumenical follies can proceed unimpeded by the truth about Freemasonry.