Roman Catholicism: Freemasonry

By Sister Katherine

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Here are five reasons why, according to the book “Western Esotericism and Rituals of Initiation” by Henrik Bogdan, State University of New York Press, Albany, 2007, Catholicism is Freemasonry, and Freemasonry is Catholicism :

1. The Acknowledgments Page of the book Western Esotericism and Rituals of Initiation by Henrik Bogdan makes the following statements:

“My greatest debt and deepest thanks are owed to J.A.M. Snoek (University of Heidelberg) without whose encouraging help this work would have suffered severely. I am deeply grateful to Wouter J. Hanegraaff (University of Amsterdam) for sharing his unpublished articles and for making it possible for me to spend a semester at the department of the history of hermetic philosophy and related currents, University of Amsterdam.

I also wish to acknowledge with thanks Mikael Rothstein (University of Copenhagen) who read a draft version of the book and offered his criticism at a seminar arranged for the occasion by the department of religious studies, Göteborg University….

Thanks are also due to Antoine Faivre (Sorbonne University) who kindly allowed me to visit him and discuss my book….

To my colleagues from Göteborg University thanks are especially due to my dear friend Jonathan Peste who not only offered valuable criticism to my text, but also showed an unfailing support throughout these years; I should also like to record my appreciation to the members of the Higher Seminar at the department of religious studies.

…, and I would like to mention with gratitude my two colleagues from the time in Amsterdam Olav Hammer and Jean-Pierre Brach. Many thanks are due to Matthew Scanlan who shared information on masonic terminology and the early history of Freemasonry. Mention of gratitude should also be made to Kenneth Grant for kindly answering my letters concerning Aleister Crowley and Gerald Gardner.

…I wish to express my gratitude to the Swedish Foundation for International Cooperation in Research and Higher Education (STINT) for awarding me a grant that enabled me to spend six months at the department of history of hermetic and related currents, University of Amsterdam;…and to the ARIES Netherlands, where I presented a part of my work at a lecture. I also offer my sincere thanks to S. Brent Morris, editor of Heredom, Transactions of the Scottish Rite Research Society, for kindly supporting me with articles that were of use to me.

The staffs of many libraries have been generous and helpful, and I would in particular like to mention those of Göteborgs Universitets-bibliotek; the British Library; the Warburg Institute; University of London; the Library of the United Grand Lodge of England; the Library of the University of Amsterdam; the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica, Amsterdam; and the Archives and Library of the Grand East of the Netherlands, the Hague.”

Notice the author’s involvement with various Universities in order to study the subject.

Henrik Bogdan, according to the back cover of this book, “teaches in the Department of Religious Studies and Theology at Göteborg University in Sweden.” I have to wonder if Henrik Bogdan is a Greek Letter Fraternity member, a Jesuit, or a Catholic Knight himself? This would explain his profound involvement with “the right people” in writing this book. [John 3:19 (KJV)]

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2. Page one in the Introduction of the book  Western Esotericism and Rituals of Initiation states the following:

“…, there hardly are any scholarly works dealing in depth with Western rituals of initiation. There are a number of reasons for this situation, but chief among them is the connection of Western initiatory societies with Western esotericism…. scholars such as Antoine Faivre and Wouter J. Hanegraaff have demonstrated how Western esotericism has developed from a subject deemed unworthy of scholarly interest, to a fruitful and challenging field of research that has received wide academic recognition.”

This is rather revealing, considering the Academic position of the author. Was this his “initiation” into international recognition to further his University’s Departmental research? After all, University Professors are required to constantly produce research that furthers their University’s mission and goals. [2 Timothy 3:7 (KJV)]

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3. Chapter 2, page 27, of the book  Western Esotericism and Rituals of Initiation  defines “ritual” in the following manner:

“The terms rite and ritual derive from the Latin ritus and ritualis (belonging to ritual). The Latin word ritus means “custom” and was primarily used in juridical and religious language. Rituale can be found in the first edition of Rituale Romanum of 1614 where the word implies the prescribed order where the religious services of the Catholic Church should be acted out.”

It continues on with the fact that by 1910, the word ‘ritual’ had a completely different meaning from its original form [Ephesians 6:12 (KJV)]. What a strange occurrence!

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4. The Pre-Vatican II Freemasonic Catechism:

In “The Pre-1730 Ritual Evidence Section” of Chapter 4 “The Craft Degrees of Freemasonry” (Western Esotericism and Rituals of Initiation, page 81) we see the following statement:

“The Dumfries No. 4 MS., c.1710, is the earliest catechism that contains a more speculative and religious approach to the rituals. After a prayer and a short preface, the MS. Contains a large section on the history of masonry, based on the the legendary history found in the Old Charges. The practice of masonry is called a Royal Secret—which in those days was not an idle term—and it is stated in the text that the mason should be ‘true to god and the holy catholick church.’”

Both Freemasonry and the Roman Catholic Church use a Catechism. Moreover, note the lower case “g” for god in the previous quote. The King James Bible is very explicit about what God thinks of the word god. Genesis 3:5 (KJV) shows the true nature of how Freemasonry tries to make man into his own god, and Exodus 20:3 (KJV), the First Commandment, harshly rebukes the sin of worshiping other gods (false idols). Finally, the second sentence of this statement unquestionably proves that Freemasons are Catholics [Revelation 17:2 (KJV)]!

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5. Similarities betwixt Freemasonic Titles and Roman Catholic Knighthood Titles [Matthew 23:5-7 (KJV)]:

• • Knighthood Titles from Table 5.1. The degree system of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite (“Western Esotericism and Rituals of Initiation”, p. 98):
    • 13° Knight of the Royal Arch (Lodge of Perfection)
    • 15° Knight of the East or Sword (Chapter)
    • 17° Knight of the East and West (Chapter)
    • 18° Knight Rose-Croix (Chapter)
    • 21° Noachite or Prussian Knight (Areopagus)
    • 22° Knight of the Royal Axe or Prince of Libanus (Areopagus)
    • 25° Knight of the Brazen Serpent (Areopagus)
    • 27° Knight Commander of the Temple (Areopagus)
    • 28° Knight of the Sun (Areopagus)
    • 29° Grand Scottish Knight of St. Andrew (Areopagus)
    • 30° Knight Kadosh (Areopagus)

 

• • Knighthood Title from Inner Order, Rectified Scottish Rite in Table 5.2. The degree system of the Rectified Scottish Rite (“Western Esotericism and Rituals of Initiation”, p. 99):
    • 6° Chevaliers Bienfaisants de la Cité Sainte

Note: This degree is French for ‘Beneficial Knights of the Holy City.’

 

• Knighthood Titles from Chapter Degrees in Table 5.3. The degree system of the Swedish Rite (Western Esotericism and Rituals of Initiation, p. 100):
  • VII° Very Illustrious Brother, Knight of the East
  • VIII° Most Illustrious Brother, Knight of the West
  • [XI°] (Knight Commander’s degree) Most Enlightened Brother, Knight Commander of the Red Cross

Thus, here are my questions to those who might try to gainsay or resist the information I have presented [1 Corinthians 4:5; Luke 21:15 (KJV)]:

1. If Freemasonry is unrelated to Roman Catholicism, then why does the Acknowledgments Page mention various University Department of Religious Studies and University Department of the History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents contributors, reviewers, and supporters?
2. Why are University Professors and scholars collaborating with a University Professor who specializes in Religious Studies and Theology in writing a book to show the history and the similarities betwixt the different branches of Freemasonry?
3. Why is a University publishing a book about Initiation Rituals and Western Esotericism, the foundation of Freemasonry?