From the grand orient of italy website
“Let’s start from the things that unite us. This morning three workers died on a construction site in Florence. May this fact unite us in mourning, in the respectful thoughts of three men who leave behind families. I think that strong thoughts should be addressed to the victims and their families.” This is how Grand Master Stefano Bisi began by speaking at the seminar on Church and Freemasonry, wanted by the Catholic association Gris, represented by the national secretary Giuseppe Ferrari, and organized in Milan at the Ambrosianum Foundation with the endorsement of the archbishop of the city Monsignor Mario Delpini, who spoke at the event which was attended among others by Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio, former president of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, the president of the Pontifical Academy of Theology Monsignor Antonio Staglianò and Grand Master Bisi, who has always hopes for a thaw in mutual relations, has been the bearer of numerous initiatives to this end and whose dream is, as he revealed in an interview, to walk together with the Pope under the sky of the Great Architect of the Universe.
Below is the speech that the Grand Master gave during the meeting
I would like to thank the Group for socio-religious research and information for this invitation to a meeting which I consider very significant. It is not the first time since I have been Grand Master of the Grand Orient of Italy of Palazzo Giustiniani that I have discussed the complex topic of relations between the Church and Freemasonry. I did it in Turin, Pescara, Arezzo, Matera, Gubbio and I talked about it several times around Italy and before that. I confess to you that the first table I sculpted in my long 41 and a half years of belonging to the Grand Orient of Italy was precisely on this topic. Maybe it was a joke from my older brothers who wanted to better understand why, this young man, I, saw him enter a church for a few minutes which is located along the main street of Siena, along the struscio. The truth is that I wanted to spend a few moments in meditation, away from the noise, the noise of words and chatter. Maybe they wanted to understand why, I, who went to nursery school thanks to a country priest; that I went to middle school thanks to a priest who wanted to help the children of workers, blacksmiths, truck drivers; that I made the first printed newspaper thanks to the parish priest of the neighborhood; my older brothers perhaps wanted to investigate the reason for my choice to seek admission to Freemasonry.
So I’ve been passionate about the topic for a long time. I would like the prelate, the man of the Church in front of me, not to be afraid of me and I would like not to be afraid of him. And I’m pleased to be here today because it means that progress has been made along the path of knowledge and respect. And I hope that the participants in this seminar do not end up in the media pillory as happened to two bishops, from Arezzo and Terni, who participated in public initiatives of the Grand Orient of Italy. Over the course of its more than 300 years of life, no institution has been opposed, fought, mystified, slandered and feared as much as Universal Freemasonry. From the Catholic Church which saw Freemasonry as a potential competitor in the spiritualisation and elevation of Man, to dictators of all colours, up to certain populist political forms which fear the inexhaustible and libertarian strength of its profound human and social charge.
A long history that starts from 1738 and, with ups and downs, between pseudo tolerances and small glimmers of hope, has in fact continued until today without ever resulting in a desirable and true opportunity to change the course of History by opening the doors of constructive dialogue and putting an end to that excommunication which – although attenuated by the modification of article 1374 of the Canon Code with the disappearance of the precise reference to Freemasonry – still hangs over millions of free masons scattered around the globe, many of whom are wondering how to overcome that presumed and substantial dogma of irreconcilability which would preclude any rapprochement between the two realities.
The Church and Freemasonry both place Man at the center of everything, albeit with different bases. For us we must work internally to sublimate his being and strengthen him “in virtue and against vice” to elevate him in that fraternal love aimed at the Good of Humanity and the Glory of the Great Architect of the Universe. The Freemason, who lives in doubt and polishes his own stone, tends towards Good and divine Love by following the steep Path of Knowledge in the constant search for the Truth. By nature and mindset I do not subscribe to the circle of doctors and lovers of irreconcilability, a word that I don’t like and which has never produced bridges on which to unite but has divided men.
I believe, but I use this term only secularly, instead of never thinking that something is impossible to achieve. And, for this reason, in 2016 I greatly appreciated the writing of Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, to whom I sent a letter after the publication of his article entitled “Dear Freemasons” in the newspaper “Il Sole24Ore”. On that occasion I too hoped for the path of dialogue and discussion starting from the things that in some way unite the two institutions. Here is what I wrote: “As the president of the Pontifical Council for Culture wisely recalled, citing the document of the German bishops of 1983, the points of contact between Freemasonry and the Church cannot be ignored, which find common values in the community dimension, in human dignity, in fight against materialism, in charity. In this we can have an open and free discussion, maintaining the differences but reducing the distances that the Philippine bishops instead articulate in their document”. But what matters is perhaps starting from a limited reconcilability and discussing it instead of still professing an absolute, intransigent and dogmatic irreconcilability. Who has the Truth? Man or just God? Cardinal Ravasi himself wrote a few years ago: “The Truth is only one but like the diamond has many faces, we can, from our angle of vision, see only one of these faces”. Those who think they see everything and hold the only Truth are therefore deluding themselves. This is why Freemasons with humility and many doubts perpetually seek it, leaving dogmas to others. But always looking for dialogue and discussion with anyone. At that time there was certainly no shortage of criticism of the cardinal and there was no further development of dialogue. And two bishops present at our initiatives at the invitation did not fail to be the target of heavy attacks. In 2019 the then archbishop of Arezzo-Cortona-Sansepolcro Riccardo Fontana went to one of our conferences for the 150 years of the Benedetto Cairoli lodge organized by the Grand Orient of Italy and in the provincial council room he said: “The historical fences remain but we must look forward, to what unites” and subsequently received the reproach and dismay of circles close to the Episcopal Conference, wrote a newspaper. In October 2022 the bishop of Terni Monsignor Francesco Antonio Soddu took part in the inauguration of the Masonic house showing courage and desire for dialogue. They told him all kinds of things. Yet already in the 1960s, during the pontificate of Paul VI, contacts began between a group of priests, such as Rosario Esposito and Giovanni Caprile and the bishop of Livorno Ablondi and the leaders of the Grand Orient of Italy, to understand each other. Numerous meetings followed but then the death of Paul VI stopped the dialogue.
And let’s go to current times. Both during the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI and that of Pope Bergoglio there was no significant attempt at openness. The then Cardinal Ratzinger, in the role of prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, intervened with a “Declaration” on 26 November 1983 – approved by Pope Wojtyla – in which he maintained that “the negative judgment of the Church remains (…) unchanged with regards to Masonic associations, since their principles have always been considered irreconcilable with the doctrine of the Church and therefore membership in them remains prohibited”.
The text did not speak of excommunication but added that the faithful registered in the lodges “are in a state of grave sin and cannot access Holy Communion”. Pope Francis made the famous statement “who am I to judge?” at the beginning of his pontificate aimed at homosexuals, he then opened the doors to divorced people but he forgot that among the Freemasons there are also many Catholics who are prevented from receiving communion and when it came to granting credentials to a Freemason ambassador said “no”.
Finally, the last act took place last November with the document made known by the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith signed by Prefect Victor Hernandez with the approval of the pontiff. Catholics remain prohibited from joining Freemasonry. A solution to the problem of reconcilability between the Catholic faith and membership of Freemasonry appears not to be close, through no fault of ours, but in the meantime let’s talk about it. Just like we do today. Let’s start again from what Father Josè Ferrer Benimeli and Father Giovanni Caprile stated: desiring, encouraging, attempting, conducting dialogue prudently “does not mean betraying the Catholic faith, nor opening the doors to presumed enemies, nor giving in to irrefutable ideas. It involves only the patient search for common points of understanding, the desire to exchange the real goods possessed by each, the tension so that the truth (without any possessive adjective) has the upper hand, the search for union for the good of all”.
Freemasonry is a great tree of Freedom that sways in the wind but does not break and continues to work for the good of Humanity by creating better men, available to listen and which makes Tolerance a principle that everyone should practice with great love. This is why we speak today – in broad daylight and without preconceived plans – in the various meetings organized in every part of Italy with exponents of all religions and we strive to find syntheses that can help people overcome prejudices, conflicts, wars, fanaticism and selfishness which are the evil of a Society. Why is the Masonic lodge beautiful and why does the ecclesiastical authorities not like it? Because under the same sky – which represents Creation – every man is the brother of the other, the bond of brotherhood is independent of faith. We just need to believe in the Great Architect of the Universe. The starry sky is the same for the Buddhist, for the Catholic, for the Waldensian, for the Islamic, for all those who believe in a supreme being. For all those who have the awareness that we are a point within something greater which is the universe, which we can call god. And as Vito Mancuso says, “by saying God I mean a reality perceived as bigger and more important than one’s own self. This something more important can be called in many ways, but the essential point is that, by perceiving it, one lives for a different and higher value than oneself”, that is, “the real difference is not between those who believe and those who do not believe, but between those who surpass themselves and those who don’t. Between those who know a god, and those who only know their own self.” In short, look beyond. Towards the sky or infinity, which are the same thing.
We leave our brothers free to adhere to any religion and practice it. Absolute truths and the walls of the mind do not belong to us and must be torn down for us. As for the feared danger for the Church of exposing itself to a dangerous dialogue with the Freemasons because it is against the Faith, I add that I do not think in the slightest that this thesis can lead to such extremes consequences. Reconciliability, on the contrary, if well rooted and illuminated by reason, can only strengthen it. And give all men the opportunity to meet on bridges of light to travel together while respecting the different paths. Our doors are perpetually open. The world has changed, the breach of Porta Pia dates back to 1870 and, as Paul VI said, it is a date desired by Providence because it leaves the spiritual power to the church and the government of earthly things to the civil authority. In 2010 the then Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone went to the Breccia monument together with the President of the Republic Giorgio Napolitano. An important act. And it would be even more significant if tomorrow, February 17, the anniversary of the fire of Giordano Bruno, a man, dressed in white, walked a few hundred meters to gather in front of the Nolan monument. Maybe? I hope that the dialogue continues, I would like the compatibility between belonging to a Masonic lodge and belonging to the Catholic faith to be declared. I say this because the path in this direction is still long, and many brothers experience access to the sacraments in a clandestine way because they know that they are in a state of grave sin. From the canon code the word excommunication has been removed but the effects are the same.
We move forward with tolerance and trust. I want to quote a thought from Luciano De Crescenzo who says: doubt the men who have certainties, they are usually the most intolerant and anti-democratic, however when you encounter question marks, prefer those who have doubts, they are usually almost always people open to dialogue , tolerant.
Well, I prefer these people. And I would like to remember, among these people, Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini who was at home here. I still remember today a response from him in the Corriere della Sera to a reader who wrote to him: “I am an atheist but I see Beauty around me”. Martini replied: “I, a Catholic, and you, an atheist, are fundamentally united by the same wonder of Creation.” This message, which is also a universal response, still seems very beautiful to me today. My wish – which is also a hope – is that one day a Pope and a Grand Master will be able to meet and travel a part of the way together, in the light of the sun. It comes to me to say in the light of the Great Architect of the universe.
Ecclesiastical Freemasonry 