A few years back the subject of Freemasonry in Malta was given certain importance in our media. Several newspapers wrote different features on the subject. Fingers pointed in the direction of a member of the judiciary as being a Freemason. Then the subject sort of died down.
Recently it was brought up again. The government, as it did then, said that it considers the holding of high public positions and membership in Freemasonry as incompatible.
Interestingly, while we are discussing this subject in Malta it is also being discussed in the Philippines where the Catholic bishops are working on catechesis concerning Freemasonry after discussing the need for it at their recent plenary session.
Some bishops at the early July assembly said catechesis is urgently needed because many Filipino Catholics see their membership in Masonic organisations as compatible with their religion. One bishop said several known Masons among his parishioners go to Mass daily and are most generous with their time and resources.
"These men have not joined the Masons to hurt the Church but to get ahead in business or in politics," the bishop said. He said he did not know how he could bring himself to refuse them Communion or other sacraments.
A 1983 declaration by the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said Masonic principles "have always been regarded as irreconcilable with the Church's doctrine". The declaration added: "Catholics enrolled in Masonic associations are involved in serious sin and may not approach Holy Communion."
Masonic literature says faith is the centre of human life, but no one has a right to tell another what to believe. The movement has obscure roots that some historians trace back to stonemason guilds in Europe in the Middle Ages.
Philippine bishops' guidelines issued in 1990 declared that a publicly known Mason may not receive Communion, act as a sponsor for the sacraments or be admitted as a member of a religious organisation. Citing Canon 1184 of the Code of Canon Law, the conference said church funeral rites might be denied a Mason who showed no signs of repentance before his death.
If the bishop allows church funeral rites, no Masonic services are to be conducted in the church or cemetery immediately before or after the church rites "to avoid public scandal", according to the guidelines.
Archbishop Diosdado Talamayan of Tuguegarao said the Church should have guidelines for dealing with families of Masons. "When a Mason dies, you don't deal with the Mason but with his family, who are active Catholics," he said. He said that, although priests are forbidden to celebrate the funeral Mass for a Mason in church, "we should be able to say Mass for the family somewhere, perhaps in the mortuary".
Freemasonry, introduced in the Philippines during Spanish colonial rule in the 1800s, was "bitterly anti-clerical... more militant than its American counterpart", Jesuit historians Fr Miguel Bernad and the late Fr Pedro de Achutegui wrote in Religious Revolutions in the Philippines.
For fairness' sake one should also note that Reynold Fajardo, grand secretary of the Freemasons Grand Lodge of the Philippines, said Masonry is not a religion but a fraternal organisation.