From One Peter Five
Editor’s Note: This is the second part of a longer three-part study of how the Freemasons in the world have responded to Pope Francis and his papacy. Without further introduction, we continue herewith the collection of quotes and varied evidence to show just how much Masonry approves of Pope Francis.
Part Two of Three Parts
Continuation of the collection of quotes:
18) On Saturday, March 2, 2013, Mario Rolleri 33° (thirty-third degree) published on the Spanish-language Masonic news site, Fenixnews, a couple of sentences in defense of human rights, as they were made by the then-Cardinal Bergoglio, in 2009 and 2012. The title of the article is “Bergoglio: The Pope in 02 Phrases” (“Bergoglio: el Papa en 02 frases”).[1] And you see the photo of Pope Francis. But what is strange: the article is dated March 2, 2013 — while on the other hand Bergoglio was elected Pope only 11 days later, i.e., on March 13, 2013! Is it the wrong date on which the article was posted (02 March 2013), or was the name of the future pope already known before his official election? In this regard it is impressive what our colleague Sandro Magister noted in his recent article which is entitled “The Man Who Had to Be Elected Pope.”[2]
19) In days not specified, but in the early days after the election of Pope Francis in March of 2013, the Mason Oscar Bartoli wrote an open letter to the pope rejoicing at his election, and he thus concludes:
But as a half-practicing [sic] Catholic in constant trouble for the inner conflict with my culture of doubt, I want to tell you that I hope, together with the billion and two hundred million other Catholics throughout the world, that his election to the papal throne can really be a moment of genuine revitalization of our faith, battered by the plagues that are surfacing in the life of the Vatican for so long.They need his example for the believers, the just believers, the quasi believers, the agnostics and atheists. And those who, disgusted with the good behavior of the ”bureaucracy” in clerical garb, have at times fled into a personal dialogue with God, overturning dogmas and teachings. Good work, Dear Francis I, and may the Lord protect it, along with his clergy.Oscar.[3]
Oscar Bartoli is an Italian Freemason of the Grand Orient of Italy — Palazzo Giustiniani[4] — a resident of Washington, D.C., member of the Rotary Club of Washington D.C.,[5] and founder of the Italia Lodge 2001 in Washington (in obedience to the Grand Lodge of Washington).[6]
20) The Peruvian Mason Mario Rolleri 33° must have been so excited about the election of Papa Bergoglio that, on March 15, 2013, he posted on Fenixnews the first words of the new Pope. The article ends with the words of the crowd “Long Live the Pope!”[7]
21) Mario Rolleri, 33rd degree and Grand Master of the Grand Orient of Peru [at least in 2017], executive director of Fenixnews, offered interesting public praise of Papa Bergoglio on Sunday, March 17, 2013. Rolleri 33° praised Pope Francis for his humility, humanity, and firmness. Rolleri felt that many things would change in the Church and that “His Holiness Francis” must appoint a new Secretary of State. Rolleri 33° greeted Pope Francis fondly, wishing him an extended and fruitful pontificate.[8] It does not appear that Rolleri ever made a similar greeting to Pope Benedict XVI.
22) On Friday, March 20, 2013, on Fenixnews, Mario Rolleri 33°, in another laudatory article on the new Pope, stated his belief that with Pope Francis Freemasonry could begin a fruitful dialogue.[9]
23) On Friday, March 29, 2013, on Fenixnews, Mario Rolleri 33° reported the long positive testimony about Pope Francis by the Venezuelan Jesuit Luis Ugalde, director of the “Centro de Reflexion y Planificación Educativa” in Caracas. Fr. Ugalde had met Bergoglio in 1983. Father Bergoglio had, he said, saved the lives of many victims of political persecution. Father Ugalde affirmed that Pope Francis would have to change many things in the Church.[10] (Obviously, the Mason Rolleri 33° was content with this idea!)
24) On Sunday, March 31, 2013, in another article appreciative of Pope Francis, Mario Rolleri 33° already [so soon after his election] announced that with the new Pope, there will be news of changes and unexpected decisions.[11]
25) On Thursday, April 11, 2013, the Mason Mario Rolleri 33° was still praising Francis on the Fenixnews website, and this time he even called upon the Hebrew Kabbalah for help! In fact, Rolleri compared Pope Francis with the number 13, since he was elected on March 13. Rolleri explained that for the Hebrew Kabbalah, 13 is not a number of “bad luck” but draws the purpose of creation. For the Kabbalists, there is neither good luck nor bad luck. Rolleri wrote that Cardinal Bergoglio did not have the luck to be elected Pope, but rather that he constructed this reality by his own actions.[12] Rolleri invoked the Light of the Creator upon Pope Francis and upon his message of love and care for all human beings.[13]
26) On Saturday, May 11, 2013, again on the Masonic website Fenixnews, Juan Orrego wrote that the Argentine Freemasons, the “Gran Logia de la Argentina de Libres y Aceptados Masones”, welcomed the election of Pope Francis. Orrego notes that the relations between the Church and Masonry in Argentina had improved in recent decades. In the late 1990s, the Masons met with the episcopacy. Today, the relations are very cordial, although the Vatican maintains that the positions of Freemasonry are incompatible with those of the Church. The election of Pope Francis had effected an improvement of the relations between Church and Freemasonry.[14]
27) On 12 June 2014, at the presentation of the book by Ignazio Ingrao The Secret Council (Il concilio segreto — Piemme Publisher, 2013), the Grand Master of the Grand Orient of Italy, Stefano Bisi, stated among other things (about the relations between Church and Freemasonry) that the opening of the Church to the world “seems to find new momentum with Pope Francis. There are many premises for a new season of the Church, in dialogue with the world. Now we need to see whether the expected reforms will follow from them.”[15]
The event was also attended by Marco Politi (Vatican correspondent of Il Fatto Quotidiano) and Alberto Melloni (historian of the “Bologna school”) who also stressed the “new and strong innovative drive” of the Pontificate of Francis who wants “a remodeling of the Church in its appearance” and “a review of the pastoral care of interpersonal relationships.”[16]
Still on the subject of the Pope Francis pontificate, we read in the Masonic Bulletin:
And this “leap forward of the Church in modern society” then and now pleases Freemasonry, which today just as during those hot years has again taken to follow with interest the changes that are outlined Oltretevere [in the Vatican]. […] Politi said that several prelates and scholars in recent years have proposed to hold a Vatican [Council] III, but perhaps, noted the journalist, there is not even a need for it. The season of the Church reforms is, in fact, now already open. [emphasis added][17]
28) To the journalist Andrea Scanzi of the newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano, in 2014, Michela Scolari (the sole custodian of the memories of the Mason Licio Gelli), declared that 6-7 years ago, Pope Francis (then Cardinal Bergoglio) visited Licio Gelli at the Villa Wanda in Arezzo. Gelli, head of the famous P2 Lodge, was a Mason with excellent connections with Freemasonry and the Argentine political class in the 1970s and 1980s. To Scolari, Gelli revealed that he knew Bergoglio since 1973, when Gelli was the Argentinean Plenipotentiary Minister and great friend of Peron.[18]
29) On the website of the Grand Lodge of the Italian Symbolic Rite (made up of Master Masons of the Grand Orient of Italy), we read a speech of March 13, 2014, by the Mason “M: .A :. Dominic P.” who praises Pope Francis and sees in him an opening for reconciliation between Freemasonry and Church.”[19]
30) In the issue of March 2014 of Alpina, the Swiss Masonic magazine, the Mason Pierre-Alexandre Joye writes that Church and Freemasonry are based on different traditions, but with Pope Francis’ election, the South American Jesuit, one can relaunch the Masonic-Catholic dialogue. The spiritualist forces should not be divided, but united for the sake of social justice, human rights, freedom. Church and Freemasonry must not stop at what divides but must aim at what unites.[20]
31) Once more, in the Masonic journal Alpina, in March 2014, in the article “Towards a possible constructive cohabitation?” (in the paragraph “An era more conciliatory”), the Mason Daniele Bui makes it clear that while the incompatibility between the Church and the Lodge remains, however, with Pope Francis many Masons hope precisely for a “more conciliatory” attitude on the side of the Holy See.[21] Bui believes that the grounds of incompatibility does not prevent a joint collaboration between Catholics and Masons for the promotion of human rights.
32) In his last speech as Grand Master of the Grand Orient of Italy (in April of 2014), the lawyer Gustavo Raffi said, according to a report:
“The world is changing at a speed which, a few years ago, would have been completely unimaginable. This ‘liquid’ world — to use the term coined by Zigmunt Baumann — is radically transforming all the ‘rigid’ structures which the sea of the past has deposited on the shores of the present,” said Raffi. “Just look back inside those walls that separate Italy from the Vatican to understand — he added — that something is changing. We observe with care and respect as this Pope is accelerating the timing of an epochal change within the horizon of structures traditionally reluctant to welcome the innovative ferment. And the reflections of his influence echo far beyond the borders of the sacristy. But it’s also up to us. It’s up to us to make the crossing of this liquid reality happen. It is also up to us to deal with the changing contemporary world. With the claim — never betrayed — to be always contemporary to posterity.” “That is what calls us to make our identity as Italians and Freemasons — he observed — and to set sail and navigate with confidence into the future, whatever it has in store for us.”[22]
33) In the May-June 2014 issue of The Wayfarer, Bulletin of the MN-River Valley Lodge # 6 (Grand Lodge AF & A.M. of Minnesota), the “Chaplain” of the Lodge, Dan Ploenzke, in his column “Words of Wisdom,” also quoted an excerpt from the book [sic – a mistake by The Wayfarer] by Pope Francis “Let Us Be Lights of Hope,” which speaks about hope, an openness to the surprises of God and about living in joy. The Mason Ploenzke really liked what the Pope writes about being open to be surprised by God: “Everyone who is a man or a woman of hope — great hope that gives us faith — knows that even in the midst of difficulties God acts and surprises us.”[23] Moving.
34) On August 25, 2014, on the website of the Brazilian Freemasonry, Grand Orient do Brasil, the Mason Barbosa Nunes praises Pope Francis because he is building a new church:[24]
Jorge Mario Bergoglio, “Pope Francis,” formerly called “Cardinal of the Argentine Poor” for his social role. He continues to assume the greater representation of the Catholic Church and of head of state. He has not stopped, he is taking safe steps to build a new church. A new style in the Vatican, an image of a personality which knows and faces challenges ahead. [emphasis added]
The Mason Nunes praises the divine wisdom (“sabedoria divina“) of Pope Francis and hopes that the words of the Pope are the subject of meditation in the days of study of the Masonic Lodges.[25]
35) In 2014, on the occasion of the reunion of the Grand Lodge of Free & Accepted Masons of Florida (USA), the Grand Orator of the Grand Lodge, Gilbert Weisman, not only quoted enthusiastically the work “Morals & Dogma” by the Mason Albert Pike 33rd degree (an esoteric and occultist Mason), but also mentioned some words from the homily held by Pope Francis on 1 January 2014, in which the Pontiff stated that we are all children of the Heavenly Father, that we all belong to the same human family, and that we share the same common destiny; and that we thus all have to work to create a Community of Brothers. Weisman stated that Pope Francis could have addressed such a great speech to a body of Masons.[26]
36) In April 2015, before the visit of Pope Francis in July to Latin America, Grand Master Edgar Sanchez Caballero and his Gran Logia Symbolica del Paraguay wanted to meet the Argentinean Pope. The Paraguayan Masons declared that they admired Pope Francis for his leadership of the Church and that they hoped that he could influence the ecclesiastical hierarchy of Paraguay by changing the way of thinking of the Bishops and thus promoting a greater fraternity and a greater openness of the Catholic Church. The Grand Master Caballero expressed his hope in the renewal of the Bishops:
The change of the head of the Catholic Church and the message of the opening given by the current pope – says the Grand Master – was not yet “digested” in the Paraguayan ecclesiastical hierarchy, whose mentality will change as the bishops renew.[27]
37) On April 9, 2015, Mario Rolleri reported on Fenixnews about an interview with Nicolas Orlando Breglia, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Argentina. Breglia was also convinced that, with Pope Bergoglio, the Church was revising its position towards Freemasonry. According to Grand Master Breglia, Pope Francis was raising the banners of Freemasonry.[28]
38) On April 11, 2015, at the Grand Lodge of the Grande Orient of Italy, held in Rimini, Mason Claudio Bonvecchio presented his book The Hour of Dialogue. The Pope, the Church, Freemasonry – interview by Sabatino Alfonso Annecchiarico [L’ora del dialogo. Il Papa, la Chiesa, la Libera Muratoria – intervista di Sabatino Alfonso Annecchiarico] (Mimesis Editrice). A brief summary of the book, which is a new “sweet talk” for Pope Francis:
Faith, reason, humanism, spirituality, pairs of concepts, values – they have diverged in the history of the Christian Church and secular culture. Especially now, with Pope Francis’ impulse, the time of this misunderstanding seems to have ended. The Church of the people’s pope returns to talking about feelings, but also about the rational confrontation with society and history. This book builds a bridge for the most delicate, but most profitable, confrontation. It is a possible document for a new alliance that has man as its object [a “cult of man”]. An initiative of a dialogue without discount on the side of a free, mature rationalism of the Masonic culture, but without foreclosure.[29]
39) In the May 2015 issue of the Bulletin of the York Lodge No. 22 A.F. & A.M. (Kennenbunk-Maine USA), the Mason Donald Beane wrote that the Masons must learn from Pope Francis who speaks of all peoples as part of the Human Family, with one Father for all:
As Masons, we tend to follow the example of Pope Francis who talks of all people as the Human Family. It is a family with one Father for all, who seeks to help us find our way to him through faith and understanding.[30]
40) On June 25, 2015, a Press Release of the Grand Lodge of Italy Obedience of the Piazza del Gesù Palazzo Vitelleschi claimed that the Sovereign Grand Commander Grand Master Antonio Binni had received with homage a copy of the Kabbalistic text “Zohar,” coming from the international organization “Zohar Project.” The GLDI statement specified that the same gift was given to Italian institutions and also to Pope Francis.[31] In this sense, the GLDI seemed to render some oblique or indirect praise to the Roman Pontiff or, in any case, to convey the idea of a certain convergence, tuning, or affinity between the Grand Master Binni and Pope Francis.
41) On August 24, 2015, Oscar Bartoli, Italian Mason of the Grande Oriente d’Italia,[32] resident in Washington, D.C. and a member of the Rotary Club of Washington D.C.,[33] founder of the Italia Lodge 2001 in Washington (at the obedience of the Grand Lodge of Washington),[34] published on his website an article by Rosario Amico Roxas which is all a form of praise for Pope Francis.[35]
42) On September 4, 2015, the same Oscar Bartoli reported in the article, “This communist and anti-Catholic Pope (according to some),” that some of his own acquaintances (one of his friends, his former pastor, and an intimate friend of cardinals and curial members) see in Pope Francis a danger to the Catholic Faith and to society (e.g., too much “easiness” or “laxity” in the practice of the declaration of nullity of marriage, excessive openings toward the divorced and remarried and toward homosexuals, confusion among believers, a forced and indiscreet welcome of immigrants, too much sympathy shown to Fidel Castro, too much hostility shown to Trump and the Republicans, a philo-U.S. democratic attitude). At the end of the article, Mason Bartoli then commented as follows: “Pope Francis follows the example of the divine Poet: ‘Do not look back after them, but see and go on.'”[36]
43) Oscar Bartoli also cared for an esoteric periodical, Stenterello, which, in October 2015, praised Pope Francis as “a Pope with a prophetic and revolutionary language,” and as “a bridge maker among the peoples.”[37]
44) From 15 to 19 January 2015, Pope Francis was in the Philippines. In those days, a photo appeared in the Internet of a poster – or of a supposed page of a Philippine journal (Philippine Daily Inquirer) – with a welcome to the pontiff (“Welcome to Pope Francis, the Pope of Mercy and Compassion”), a welcome given on the part of the Grand Lodge of the Philippines.[38] Someone said that this piece of news is false[39] (“fake news”), but it does not seem very convincing in the light of the following points.
45) In fact, in the official journal of the Philippine Grand Lodge, The Cabletow (vol. 92, n. 1, May-June 2015), Grand Master Thomas Rentoy III candidly states that, after having observed the liberal views of Pope Francis (“after the elevation of Pope Francis to the Holy See and noting the pontificate’s liberal views”) up to the end of 2014, his predecessor Grand Master Alan Purisima, in a letter to Pope Francis, then asked that the Holy See declare that the Freemasonry of the Philippines is compatible with the Catholic Church and that its members are not any longer subject to excommunication. Moreover, the Philippine Masonry recently requested from the Filipino Bishops a chaplain so as to celebrate Mass every Sunday at the Grand Lodge.[40] We do not yet know the Pope’s response to this request from the Philippine Freemasonry. We do know, however, the answer of the Philippine Bishops (CBCP). We shall see it in the next section.
46) In the issue 4 (November-December 2015) of the magazine The Cabletow, the Mason Jesse D. Alto announced that the Grand Master in charge, Thomas Rentoy, had managed to obtain permission from the Philippine Catholic Church that a Catholic priest may celebrate Mass every Sunday at the headquarters of the Grand Lodge of the Philippines. Alto also wrote that, with this permitted event, centuries of erroneous beliefs, finally, were to be eradicated which had taught that the teachings of Freemasonry were contrary to those of the Catholic Church. Even more so, Alto further “perfumed with incense” Pope Francis himself by enthusiastically citing some passages from the pope’s Christmas homily. The Mason Alto thereby apparently wants to convince us that both Masons and Catholics together teach that man is a spiritual being.[41]
[1] http://www.fenixnews.com/2013/03/02/bergoglio-el-papa-en-02-frases/
[5] http://stenterellonewsletter.blogspot.it/: “Oscar Bartoli, lawyer, journalist, collaborates with many Italian media. He resides in the United States since 1994 and lives in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and Bangalore (India). Being a Rotarian for a long time, he is now part of the Washington Rotary Club.”
[6] S. Bisi (Gran Maestro GOI), L’abbraccio telematico con i fratelli americani ha inaugurato una nuova via di comunicazione massonica, in Stenterello – Periodico di Approfondimento Esoterico, Newsletter, Anno II, Ottobre 2014, p. 4.
[7] “‘Hermanos y hermanas de la noche buena, ya sabes que el deber del cónclave era dar un obispo en Roma y parece que mis hermanos cardenales le han recogido en el fin del mundo … pero estamos aquí.’ Estas son las primeras palabras del primer Papa Francisco de la Iglesia Católica. Jorge Mario Bergoglio, argentino, de 76 años, un jesuita, 266 º Papa, es también la primera en Sudamérica. El humo blanco que anunció al mundo su elección se produjo en la quinta votación, el segundo día del cónclave. Una encuesta realizada en más de lo necesario, hace ocho años, para la elección de Benedicto XVI. La chimenea de la Capilla Sixtina comenzó a fumar a 19.06, la plaza de San Pedro repleta de fieles desde la mañana estalló en un rugido: ‘¡Viva el Papa! ¡Viva el Papa‘” http://www.fenixnews.com/2013/03/15/el-argentino-bergoglio-es-papa-francesco/
[8] “We see an important and key task that His Holiness Francis must still resolve: it is that of the Vatican Secretary of State. Knowing Bergoglio’s thinking, he will surely choose a firm follower of his ideas.
One thing is certain: with Francisco, you can be kind; one can be different and he will accept it. One can be a sinner and he will know how to forgive. But the Argentine government must keep in mind that the new Pope is not the person with whom to maneuver politically, nor to play.
We therefore offer a warm welcome to His Holiness Francis and wish him a long and fruitful pontificate. It may be anticipated that, for those of us who are Roman Catholic, surely many things will change. Besides the name, [there is] the face and the style.” http://www.fenixnews.com/2013/03/17/francisco-bergoglio-de-origen-humilde-es-nuevo-papa/
One thing is certain: with Francisco, you can be kind; one can be different and he will accept it. One can be a sinner and he will know how to forgive. But the Argentine government must keep in mind that the new Pope is not the person with whom to maneuver politically, nor to play.
We therefore offer a warm welcome to His Holiness Francis and wish him a long and fruitful pontificate. It may be anticipated that, for those of us who are Roman Catholic, surely many things will change. Besides the name, [there is] the face and the style.” http://www.fenixnews.com/2013/03/17/francisco-bergoglio-de-origen-humilde-es-nuevo-papa/
[9] “To Freemasonry itself, the election of a pope matters little or nothing, since it has been persecuted in a permanent way, without valid arguments and with the aggravating [fact] that the Pope who condemned Masonry, for two years was blind and depended upon his advisors. In light of the questionable conduct which the members of the Roman Curia fell into, is it valid to sustain such conduct? Is it valid that we keep quiet? Is it time for the Masons to get down to work through dialogue in depth about this topic? I believe that a sincere, respectful, profound dialogue, leaving aside historical antagonisms, between Church and Masonry can be very beneficial for both institutions and schools of thought and life. I believe that this pope, because of his formation and of the charism of his [Jesuit] Order, may be willing to initiate a kind of dialogue which, with the passing of time, can yield more than interesting fruits. If they knock on our door, are we able to open it?” http://www.fenixnews.com/2013/03/20/el-papa-argentino/
[10] “He adds that Pope Francis has the task of changing many things in the Church: ‘Some things have accumulated over thousand years, from a court palace in the external style, which does not always allow the Gospel to be seen and translated, for which the symbol of St. Francis is very important.'” http://www.fenixnews.com/2013/03/29/algunos-perseguidos-de-venezuela-y-paraguay-lo-pueden-contar-gracias-a-bergoglio/
[11] “The reign of Francis will be marked by the news of changes, by the unexpected decisions in a court that had become stagnant and by the irrevocable commitment of the Pope to the most dispossessed of the world.” http://www.fenixnews.com/2013/03/31/francisco-viajo-a-roma-convencido-de-que-no-seria-elegido/
[12] “Cardinal Bergoglio had no ‘luck’ to be elected Pope, Pope Francisco created that reality with his actions, and they have not been few.” http://www.fenixnews.com/2013/04/11/cual-es-la-relacion-del-nuevo-sumo-pontifice-y-el-numero-13/
[13] “Que la Luz del Creador ilumine a Francisco y su Fuerte mensaje de Amor y Cuidado por todos los seres humanos.” http://www.fenixnews.com/2013/04/11/cual-es-la-relacion-del-nuevo-sumo-pontifice-y-el-numero-13/
[14] Here is the final part of the article: “Las relaciones entre la Iglesia en la argentina y los masones mejoraron en las últimas décadas. Incluso, a fines de los ‘90 los masones se reunieron oficialmente con el Episcopado. De hecho, hoy los vínculos son muy cordiales. Pero el Vaticano sigue considerando incompatibles sus posiciones. Por tanto, afirma que un católico no puede ser masón. La elección de Francisco obró como una mejora de la relación.” http://www.fenixnews.com/2013/05/11/la-masoneria-argentina-expreso-su-reconocimiento-por-el-papa-francisco/
[15] Massoneria e Chiesa, in Erasmo notizie, Bollettino d’informazione del Grande Oriente d’Italia, Anno XV, N° 11-12, 30 June 2014, Rome, p. 6.
[16] Ibid., p. 7. Emphasis added.
[17] Ibid.
[18] Cf. A. Scanzi, In un film racconterò segreti e verità di Gelli, in Il fatto quotidiano, 6 settembre 2014, p. 13.
[19] M:. A:. Domenico P., Massoneria e Chiesa: Papa Francesco, Or:. Ravenna, 13.3.2014, in http://www.ritosimbolico.it/rsi/2015/05/massoneria-e-chiesa-papa-francesco/. Reported are some words of the Mason Dominic P.: “One glimmer of light for the mutual understanding and conciliation comes, in my opinion, from the interview that the Pope gave last year to Eugenio Scalfari, the director of the newspaper La Repubblica. A conversation which I would call ‘disturbing’ but in a good way. […] When the pope is asked the question: ‘Your Holiness, is there a single vision of the Good? And who decides what it is?’ he replies surprisingly that ‘Each of us has a vision of good and of evil. We have to encourage people to move towards what they think is Good […] Everyone has his own idea of good and evil and must choose to follow the good and fight evil as he conceives them. That would be enough to make the world a better place.’ These are words by which one is authorized to call into question one of the motives which, historically, the Catholic Church accused Freemasonry of, namely: ‘the Masonic method is […] incompatible […] because it is based on a symbolic and relativistic concept of the whole which is completely unacceptable for a Christian […]’ He remembered a recent speech of C: M mo :. TO:. [“Dearest Master Architect”]. The age-old question of relativism; it seems to me, in fact, anxiously boring and captious; and rightly so, the mentioned speech of M: .A :. concluded that “the true nature of modern relativism […] conjugates with dogmatism.” Nothing could be further from Freemasonry, but it would seem even far from the mind of Francis for His reference to good and evil and the value that each of us can give to the good and to evil is equivalent to an admission of relativism, which would seem unthinkable in a pope. In this sense the pope’s expressions provides a glimpse into an unexpected widening of the Catholic conscience that explains his often repeated call to Mercy. […] In this announced process, if it is confirmed, it is highly likely that the Pope — and with him the Catholic Church — will meet with Freemasonry; and it will be inevitable just to honor the principles we believe in, sit down to a consultation table and to strip down the heavy trappings that men — and not the institutions — have put up as a separation fence between what is inside (the just way) and what it is outside (the unjust, the different, the other way).” [emphasis added]
[20] Cf. Alpina, Magazine maçonnique suisse – Grande Loge Suisse Alpina, Nr. 3/2014, p. 3.
[21] “However, many have suggested that behind the latest and most revolutionary events coming from the Vatican since Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation there is a Masonic design. It is rumored that even the election of the new Pope is the work of the Lodges. After a closed-in papacy like the one of Ratzinger, it is likely that there are many of the affiliates to hope in the advent of a more conciliatory era thanks to the Jesuit Bergoglio. This is at least the idea of Giacomo Galeazzi, Vatican correspondent of La Stampa, and Ferruccio Pinotti, journalist and writer (who is long since interested in Freemasonry) in their recent book The Masonic Vatican. Lodges, Money, and Occult Powers: the secret of the Chrch of Pope Francis [Vaticano Massone. Logge, denaro e poteri occulti: il segreto della Chiesa di Papa Francesco].” D. Bui, Verso una coabitazione costruttiva?, in Alpina, Nr. 3/2014, pp. 8-9 [emphasis added]. See also http://www.freimaurerei.ch/i/alpina/artikel/artikel-2014-03-01.php
[22] Raffi, il “mondo liquido” e la missione della massoneria, in Erasmo notizie, bollettino del Grande Oriente d’Italia, anno XV, numero 7-8, 30 April 2014, Rome, p. 6, our boldening.
[24] Barbosa Nunes, A verdade no Papa Francisco, in https://www.gob.org.br/a-verdade-no-papa-francisco-artigo-de-barbosa-nunes-para-o-diario-da-manha/
[25] See ibid.
[26] “As Pope Francis pointed out in his New Year’s Day Service on January 1, 2014: ‘We are all children of one Heavenly Father, we belong to the same Human Family, and we share a common destiny. This brings a responsibility for each to work, so that the world becomes a Community of Brothers who respect each other, accept each other in one’s diversity, and take care of one another.’ He could just as well be speaking to a body of Freemasons.” http://grandlodgefl.com/archive_2014/grand_oration_2014.html
[27] http://m.ultimahora.com/masones-quieren-saludar-al-papa-y-poner-fin-al-conflicto-la-iglesia-n886764.html
[28] “Do you see a change in the Catholic Church since Jorge Bergoglio was appointed as Pope? ‘We have no confrontation with Bergoglio. On the contrary, the Pope appears raising our flags. When he comes in, he says that he is republican, secular, democratic and anticlerical. For all that we were sanctioned and excommunicated. If he raises our flags, after having fought us for so long, I realize that the Church is revising her position.’” http://www.fenixnews.com/2015/04/09/masoneria-el-resurgir-de-una-sociedad-que-ha-hecho-historia/
[31] http://www.granloggia.it/ufficiostampa/zohar-il-libro-dello-splendore ; https://giving.kabbalah.com/the-zohar-project/
[33] http://stenterellonewsletter.blogspot.it/:“Oscar Bartoli Avvocato, giornalista pubblicista, collabora con molti media italiani. Risiede negli Stati Uniti dal 1994 e vive tra Washington D.C., Los Angeles e Bangalore (India). Rotariano di lunga data, attualmente fa parte del Washington Rotary Club.”
[34] S. Bisi (Gran Maestro GOI), L’abbraccio telematico con i fratelli americani ha inaugurato una nuova via di comunicazione massonica, in Stenterello – Periodico di Approfondimento Esoterico, Newsletter, Anno II, Ottobre 2014, p. 4.
[35] R. Amico Roxas, Papa Francesco ultima spiaggia del cattolicesimo cristiano, in http://oscarb1.blogspot.it/2015/08/papa-francesco-ultima-spiaggia-del.html
[37] Cf. Editoriale – Creare ponti per una migliore e reciproca comprensione, in Stenterello – Periodico di Approfondimento Esoterico, Newsletter, Anno II, October 2015, pp. 1-2.
[38] https://veritas-vincit-international.org/2015/01/17/grand-lodge-of-masons-buy-full-page-newspaper-ad-to-welcome-pope-francis/
[39] http://www.traditioninaction.org/ProgressivistDoc/Snap/A_176_Philippines_1.jpg
[40] Cf. MW Thomas G. Rentoy III, A Revitalized, Relevant and Revered Philippine Freemasonry: Our Committment, Our Covenant, in The Cabletow, The official organ of the M.W. Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the Philippines, Vol. 92, n. 1 – May-June 2015, Manila, pp. 22-23 (14-23).
[41] VW Jesse D. Alto, Realisation in Oneness, in The Cabletow, The official organ of the M.W. Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the Philippines, Vol. 92, n. 4 – November-December 2015, Manila, pp. 11-12.
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