Papal Condemnations of Freemasonry

Pope Pius VI 1795-1799

Pope Pius VI 1795-1799

During the last quarter of this 18th century during which Masonry had spent 72 years to prepare for 1789 and the bloodshed which was to last many years, Peter's Seat had been occupied by Pius VI, who was destined to die in exile. His first Encyclical of December 25, 1775, is the acknowledgment of the tears he has shed, "Nostrarum Vim Pacrymarum Exquirit," those tears caused by the so-called philosophers, fanatical enemies of the Church, professors of lies. "Magistros Mendacissimos," leaders of sects of perdition who, with their erroneous beliefs, penetrate into the seats of the Academies, in the houses of the notables, in the Courts of Kings, and what is still more horrible, even penetrate in the Lord's Sanctuary, "Etiam in sanctuarium insinuant."

Alas! Those "Sects of Perdition" at the hour of the Revolution dragged along too many members of the regular and secular Clergy whose names appear on the lists of Masonic lodges: "Corruptio optimi pessima." What of the situation today?