The Irreconcilability of Catholicism and Freemasonry - The American Spectator | USA News and PoliticsThe American Spectator | USA News and Politics

A new declaration by the Vatican reaffirms its opposition to one of its ancient enemies, Freemasons.

The Catholic Church first formally condemned Freemasonry in 1737 .

S.A. McCarthy : The Vatican notes that active membership in Freemasonry by a member of the faithful is forbidden because of the irreconcilability between Catholic doctrine and Freemasonry .

Pope Clement XII banned all Catholics of any and every state from participating in Masonry to any degree under penalty of excommunication.

Over the next 150 years or so , six different popes condemned Freemasonry .

Pope Pius IX wrote no less than six papal declarations against the society.

Pope Leo XIII leveled two chief charges against Masonry: pantheism and naturalism.

Pope St. Pius X reiterated the ban on Catholic participation in Freemasonry with the 1917 Code of Canon Law.

Fr. Michael McGivney founded the Knights of Columbus in 1882 to combat the rise of Masonry.

In 1917 , the Militia of the Immaculata , a fraternal Catholic organization rooted in evangelism, with the Blessed Virgin Mary as its patroness.