Did Minnesota Archbishop Blink?

Edit: the Archdiocese has said that it is opening up public Masses at the end of the month. Governor Walz and Archbishop Hebda have made an agreement, but we’re not sure what that means. Here’s the Archbishop’s statement. Its hard to say what he’s planning on doing, but it sounds like the churches will be open on the 27th and only for 250 people. 

(FOX 9) - Places of worship in Minneapolis and St. Paul will continue to hold services remotely, according to a joint statement from the cities’ mayors.

Just hours after Gov. Tim Walz signed an executive order loosening restrictions on in-person worship services, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter released a joint statement saying the congregations in the Twin Cities will continue to operate remotely.

The statement said the mayors discussed the issue with faith leaders and heard “loud and clear” that they are unified in continuing to hold services remotely.

“Any large in-person gathering amid this pandemic puts people at risk,” the statement reads. “Regardless of your faith and beliefs, we all have a common obligation to our respective communities and congregations. Let’s put their health and safety first.”

Here is the full statement from Frey and Carter: 

We’ve spoken with faith leaders [It doesn’t exactly conjure up Saint John Fischer]  from across our Twin Cities, and what we’ve heard loud and clear is a strong, unified commitment to protecting the health of their congregations and continuing to hold services remotely. Any large in-person gathering amid this pandemic puts people at risk. Regardless of your faith and beliefs, we all have a common obligation to our respective communities and congregations. Let’s put their health and safety first. [Let the soul be damned, I reckon] 

AMDG

David Duke is Catholic Now

Edit: you may have read the book Ethnos Needs Logos: Why I Spent Three Days in Guadalajara Trying to Persuade David Duke to Become Catholic.   Perhaps you also remember when Bill Donahue of the Catholic League made his reductio, "I'm a good Catholic and I agree with David Duke?" Well, Doctor David Duke is Catholic now.  I just received a nice e-mail from Doctor Jones and he confirmed that David Duke told Eric Gajewski when he thought the mike was dead on his show that he was  Catholic.

They have interviewed each other on a number of occasions, but the show in question is here., which is behind a paywall. 

We take a moment to welcome David Duke to the altar and the Church of our ancestors, both spiritual and fleshly.

Maybe the Judaizers over at Patheos will become Episcopagans in protest?


AMDG

"Lucifer" For Austria's Freemasons

"The Lucifer Method" - The veneration of Lucifer in Austria's regular Freemasonry based on three examples.

By P. Paolo M. Siano *


[Katholisches] After my article on the book "God without Church" (2003) I learned that the Freemason Peter Stiegnitz had also written a book that I did not know before and that does not appear on Wikipedia or the Freemason Wiki.

Stiegnitz was initiated in 1970 as a Freemason in the Vienna Lodge Humanitas [1] of the Grand Lodge of Austria (GLvÖ). He belonged to other lodges of the GLvÖ and held various offices and functions at the level of the grand lodge. In civil life he was a university professor in Budapest and an official of the Austrian Federal Chancellery. On his 80th birthday (2016) Stiegnitz received the Merit Award from the GLvÖ through its grandmaster Georg Semler, who described him the year after (at the funeral speech) as "a great man in our covenant."

In this article I turn to this book by the Masonic brother Stiegnitz “The Lucifer Method. Spirit from Contradiction” (Edition Va Bene, Vienna – Klosterneuburg 2009), which is a single praise to LUZIFER.

The book was "printed with the support of the Federal Ministry of Science and Research in Vienna and the cultural department of the City of Vienna, science and research funding" (p. 4). [2] The same cultural department of the City of Vienna (MA7) also supported the recently published pro-Masonic book by Monsignor Michael H. Weninger "Lodge und Altar" (Löcker Verlag, Vienna 2020, see there p. 4).

I present some points from Stiegnitz "The Lucifer Method", which thanks Lucifer:

“Thanks to Lucifer, the lightbringer. [...] Lucifer, God's adversary [...]. This book should lead through his life ”(p.11).

According to Stiegnitz, Lucifer, Devil, Morning Star and Light Bringer was his mother's favorite character (“my mother's favorite figure”, (. 12). According to Stiegnitz, Lucifer is the youngest son of the devil and the brother of "Beelzebub". While Beelzebub directs evil, Lucifer, by order of God, is the diffuser of light and knowledge among men (see p. 16). In addition, Stiegnitz says that Beelzebub is male, whereas Lucifer is "versatile" (p. 18): "He is as beautiful as a woman, but at least like a homoerotic Greek youth," p.18). According to Stiegnitz, "the dull Satanists" have nothing in common with Lucifer (see p. 18). Humans have demonized Lucifer instead of seeing him as an instrument of God. They saw him as the prince of darkness instead of light, the light of God and light of knowledge. Lucifer worships God, says Stiegnitz, he loves man and teaches his method, which is duality, i.e. the need for opposites that enable knowledge and development (see p. 19). The opposites, that is: light – darkness, good – evil, man – woman etc. (see p. 20).

Peter Stiegnitz (left) and Richard Graf Coudenhove-Kalergi, both members of the Masonic Lodge Humanitas in Vienna and high degree freemasons

For Stiegnitz "Lucifer, the light-bearer and motivator of knowledge", p. 24). He, who identifies himself as a Freemason (cf. p. 25), claims that light and darkness need each other (cf. p. 26). Thanks to Lucifer, man had gained knowledge at the behest of God (see p. 82, p. 114). Stiegnitz praises Giordano Bruno's pantheistic thinking and says that the heretic friar was one of Lucifer's favorites, a martyr, a shining spirit (cf. pp. 116-117). Stiegnitz explains that Lucifer is not the prince of darkness, but: "As his name already says, a figure of the spirit that gives people pleasure and light," p. 164). According to Stiegnitz, it was Aaron who invented the story of the serpent of Genesis to demonize the Canaanite god, so the biblical god had nothing to do with it. In this way, Stiegnitz tries to rehabilitate both Lucifer and God (see p. 166–167).

On the one hand, Stiegnitz does not want to identify Lucifer with Satan, but on the other hand he says that Lucifer is the devil (see p. 59) and that the devil is Satan (see p. 167).

The Freemason Stiegnitz believes that religion is a purely human work and that monotheistic religions would fear Lucifer (see p. 175). He complains that not only in Islam, but also in Christianity, especially in Catholicism, there is an "absurd prejudice against the 'devil worshipers'" and also Lucifer (cf. 180). In this context, Stiegnitz says that the “bolted” Freemason Leo Taxil accused the Freemasons in 1886 of “being devil worshipers, so-called Luciferians (…), who declared Satan to be the true god of light (see p. 180). Br. ·. Stiegnitz admits, however, that Taxil was “not so wrong”, since Freemasons and Lucifer “have many similarities” (see p. 180-181)!

Stiegnitz complains that for Pope Leo XIII. not Lucifer,  the Church is the "model of light", and therefore free thinkers are considered agents of darkness (see p. 181). According to the Freemason Stiegnitz, the Church, civilization and progress need Lucifer the “light-bearer” (see p. 182).

It is good to know that the intellectual Luciferism of Br. Stiegnitz is not an isolated case in Austrian Freemasonry, but is a kind of initiation tradition that appears from time to time in Masonic publications. We can already praise Lucifer in Der Zirkel (No. 13–14 from July 1, 1875), the journal of the Loge Humanitas in Vienna, where Freemason  Br. ·. Dr. Jos [eph] Wagner accused the Jesuits of being enemies of reason, enemies of light and knowledge. Then Br. Wagner wrote: "(...) is Lucifer, their main enemy, whom they have always cursed into the abyss of Hell", p. 100). Wagner defined the Freemasons as "children of light", ibid).

Journal of the Vienna Loge Humanitas (July 1, 1875), in which the Viennese doctor and Freemason Joseph Wagner praised "Lucifer" as "light bearer".

In 1922 the famous Richard Nikolaus Graf Coudenhove-Kalergi (1894–1972) was initiated in the same Loge Humanitas in Vienna and also joined the Capitoline Lodge Mozart of the Old and Recognized Scottish Rite (cf. E. Semrau, Enlightenment and Delusion, Innsbruck 2012, p 95). The Austrian philosopher and politician Coudenhove-Kalergi launched the idea "Paneuropa - a proposal" a few months later and founded the Paneuropa Movement in 1923, which was supported by the Freemasons from the beginning, including the Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Vienna Vladimir Misar (cf. Zuber, Richard Graf Coudenhove-Kalergi, as Freemason, in: Yearbook of the research Lodge Quatuor Coronati, No. 32, Bayreuth 1995). Coudenhove-Kalergi hoped for the realization of the United States of Europe.

In his book “Practical Idealism. Aristocracy - Technology - Pacifism ”(Pan-Europa Verlag, Vienna-Leipzig 1925), the Freemason Kalergi writes:

"In the Jewish mythology the European spirit corresponds to Lucifer - in the Greek Prometheus: the bringer of light that carries the divine spark to the earth, [...] the father of struggle, technology, enlightenment and progress" (p.83).

“The spirit of Europe” broke political despotism and the rule of natural forces (see p. 83). According to Coudenhove-Kalergi, Europe only found itself through emancipation from Christianity (see p. 84–85).

I have given only three examples here in which Luzifer or Lucifer is praised by philanthropic and pro-European Austrian Freemasons. The Stiegnitz case, dignitary of the regular Austrian Freemasonry, also confirms the incompatibility between the Church and the Lodge.

* Father Paolo Maria Siano belongs to the Order of the Franciscans of the Immaculate (FFI); the church historian with a doctorate is considered one of the best Catholic experts in Freemasonry, to whom he has dedicated several standard works and numerous essays. Katholisches.info published by him:

The Freemason Lexicon by Eugen Lennhoff 33rd and Oskar Posner and the dialogue between Church and Freemasonry 1974–1980

Masonic Doctoral Thesis by Msgr. Weninger

Brothers.·. Peter Stiegnitz of the Grand Lodge of Austria (1936-2017)

The "Weninger case" - ex-diplomat, priest, curial, Freemason

Freemasonry Declared by a Grand Master

Initiation and Gnosis await the waiting party at the Masonic Association

Baron Yves Marsaudon - A high degree freemason in the Order of Malta

The Lodge Quatuor Coronati, the Grand Master and a Beggar Brother

“Catholic who joins lodge is excommunicated” - Church Historian Paolo M. Siano on Church and Freemasonry

Short answer to a grand master of Freemasonry

Was Karl Rahner a Freemason?

Translation / Note: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Corrispondenza Romana / Freemason Wiki / Berlin State Library (screenshots)

The Vienna Loge Humanitas is considered in the so-called regular Freemasonry as the "mother of all Freemason lodges existing in Austria" (Der Zirkel, No. 13-14 of July 1, 1875). All three persons presented in this article: the doctor Joseph Wagner, the privateer, philosopher and politician Richard Graf Coudenhove-Kalergi and the ministerial official in the Federal Chancellery, Peter Stiegnitz belonged to Humanitas. Stiegnitz and Coudenhove-Kalergi were also high degree Freemasons of the York Rite and the Old and Accepted Scottish Rite. There is no information on Wagner in this regard.

Minister of Science and Research was Claudia Schmied (SPÖ) at the time of going to print, Vienna City Councilor for Culture and Science was Andreas Mailath-Pokorny (SPÖ).


AMDG

The Freemasonic Lexicon of Eugen Lennhoff 33. and Oskar Posner and the Dialogue Between Church and Freemasonry 1974–1980

The International Masonic Encyclopedia by Lennhoff and Posner: on the left the first edition in 1932, on the right the most recent reprint of the new edition from 2000, which Dieter Binder obtained.

By P. Paolo M. Siano *

display

[Katholisches] From 1974 to 1980 there was an official dialogue between representatives of the United Grand Lodge of Germany (VGLvD) and a commission of the German Bishops' Conference. In his article "Freemasonry and the German Bishops' Conference" (in Voices of the Times, No. 6/1981, pp. 409–422), Bishop Joseph Stimpfle (1916–1996), Bishop of Augsburg (1963–1992), Knight of the Holy Sepulcre (1970), president of the above-mentioned Catholic commission, that these Freemasons of the VGLvD presented the Freemasons' International Encyclopedia (abbreviation: IFL) of the Freemasons Eugen Lennhoff and Oskar Posner as "qualified sources" to learn more about Masonic thinking. The IFL (first published in Vienna 1932) is the subject of reprints (1975ff) and a new edition in 2000, the sixth edition of which dates from 2011.

Eugen Lennhoff (1891–1944), a Jewish journalist from Basel, has been a Freemason at the Grand Lodge of Vienna since 1920, and he becomes its grand secretary. He is the editor-in-chief of the Wiener Freimaurer-Zeitung (1923-1933). Raised to the 33rd degree of the Old and Recognized Scottish Rite (AASR), he became the founder and from 1925 to 1931 the Sovereign Grand Commander of the first Supreme Council of the AASR of Austria.

Eugen Lennhoff (Source: Freemason Wiki)

Oskar Posner (1878-1932), doctor in Karlsbad (from 1918 Czechoslovak Republic), has been a Freemason since 1910, first in a Lodge in Breslau (Silesia), then in Karlsbad and finally in Saaz (both German Bohemia). He is co-founder and assigned grand master of the Grand Lodge "Lessing to the three rings" of Czechoslovakia. He wrote the rituals of this grand lodge and a guide for lodge apprentices. From 1924, he headed the lodge magazine The Three Rings, published in Reichenberg in Bohemia. At his suggestion, the Prague research lodge Quatuor Coronati Amicorum Historiae et Philosophiae Artis Regiae Liberorum Muratorum Pragensis was founded in 1927. [1]

In the 1980 declaration of the German bishops on the incompatibility between church and lodge (cf. La Civiltà Cattolica, 1980, III, pp. 487–495), the IFL is mentioned with regard to Masonic relativism. In his doctoral thesis (PUG 2019) discussed here, Msgr. Michael H. Weninger criticizes this declaration and defends German-speaking Freemasonry. In reality, in addition to relativism, we find in the IFL much deeper reasons for the incompatibility between Church and Freemasonry, which were not dealt with by the German bishops: esotericism, magic and occultism.

Now I'll go into the IFL (edition from 1932 in unchanged reprint from 1975) and give the terms in brackets with the respective column number.

1. Anti-dogmatic and relativistic thinking

Obituary notice for Oskar Posner in the Prague daily newspaper


The spirit of enlightenment, which has existed in the roots of Freemasonry since the 18th century, is praised. The Enlightenment fights against the obscurantism of dogma (cf. Enlightenment, 105-106). Freemasonry adopts tolerance from deism (natural religion, without dogmas) (Deism, 329). Freemasonry rejects dogma, any dogma, so it is hostile to the Catholic Church (cf. Dogma, 374). The starting point of Freemasonry is not God as dogma (cf. criticism, 881–882). Masonic ethics is secular, humanitarian, not religious or dogmatic (cf. secularism, 898). Freemasonry has a relativistic understanding of the truth (see Philosophy, 1207; Truth, 1666). Relativism, aptly expressed by the Protagora's sentence “Man is the measure of all things”, is the standpoint of Freemasonry (cf. relativism, 1300–1301). Masonic tolerance is hostile to dogmas (cf. Tolerance, 1585).

I believe that with such an anthropocentric and relativistic basis, Masonic ritualism in itself is magic.

2. Esotericism, Masonic cult

The true teaching of Freemasonry is esoteric e.i.,. reserved for the initiated (cf. esoteric, exoteric, 450). Freemasonry is experience (consecration, initiation, rebirth), it cannot be explained in words (cf. experience, 446). The ritual Masonic works are: symbolic acts to build the Temple of Humanity; a cult without dogmas and a spiritual work in which a “fluid” unites the members (cf. Symbol, 1541–46). Despite statements to the contrary, the IFL makes clear the magical character of the ritual Masonic work (cf. Work as Mysterium, 85; Kultus, Kult, Masonic, 889–890).

2.1 Elements of alchemy, hermetics, kabbalah, magic

Masonic ritual, drawing by Oskar Posner

 Klattau 1927

The IFL makes clear the presence of elements of esoteric / occult sciences in the symbolic-ritual system of German-speaking Freemasonry, regardless of the claims of individual Freemasons. Alchemical elements and influences can be found in the rituals and symbols of Freemasonry, for example on the topic of death and rebirth (cf. Alchemy, 41; Hexagram, 695). Also elements of the Jewish Kabbalah (cf. Kabbalah, 806–809). All ritual works are magical. In Freemasonry we find elements of magic, including the symbolism of light (see Magic, 979; Word, The Lost, 1723; Tarot, 1555). Hermes Trismegistos is an important point of reference in alchemy, magic and Freemasonry (cf. Hermes Trismegistos, 689–690). The figure of King Solomon is important for Freemasons, combined with magical, alchemical, Kabbalistic traditions (cf. Solomon, King, 1373/74). Kabbalistic, alchemical and Gnostic elements can be found in the Masonic degrees (cf. degrees, 702; degrees Schotten, 1401–1402).

2.2 Old secrets, mysticism, initiation, death – rebirth

The IFL combines Freemasonry with the ancient pagan mysteries in relation to the Masonic ritual of symbolic and spiritual death and rebirth (cf. Mysteries, 1080–82; initiation rite, 741; rebirth, 1701). The Masonic initiation is indelible, you remain a Freemason forever see Character indelebilis, 265f). Freemasonry is a mystical art (cf. master commitment, 1020), which enables rites and symbols to unite with God (cf. mysticism, 1087f; Unio mystica, 1620; snake, mystical, 1394). The legend of Hiram, according to which every master mason is shaped, is reminiscent of the old human sacrifices made by Masons (cf. Bauopfer, 135f). The symbolic human sacrifice (“symbolic victim death”) of the new master takes place in the third degree (cf. Hiram, 700).


The Wiener Freimaurer-Zeitung was managed by Lennhoff from 1923 to 1933

2.3 Unification of opposites (light – darkness…), the “Lucifer”…

The IFL rejects the accusations of Luciferism against Freemasons as fantastic and lies, especially those of the 30th degree of the AASR, which are believed to be in contact with the angel of light "Lucifer" or "Eblis" (cf. Taxil, 1558-61; Luciferian Freemasonry, 962). The IFL teaches that the initiates seek the union of opposites, the reconciliation of the enemies: light – darkness, good – evil, life – death (cf. Light Symbolism, 934). In Freemasonry, the double triangle or hexagram represents the union of opposites, including the principle of the builder and the principle of destruction (see Triangle, 379). The old dualism teaches the existence of two principles: good and evil, God and the devil (see Dualism, 387). However, I note that the logic of initiation of the union of opposites can lead one to believe in the union of god and devil. In fact, the IFL also speaks of the Freemason Mario Rapisardi (1844–1912), who in his poem “Luzifero” sings the “final victory of truth and justice” (cf. Rapisardi, 1279) and praises Lucifer against God.

The 30th degree of the AASR, the New Templar, teaches "the victory of freedom of conscience" (cf. Ritter Kadosch, 1320) and includes the 28th degree, which contains elements of alchemy and the cult of light against dogmas (cf. Sun, 1318).

In the first three degrees, the chair master of the lodge represents the logos master builder of the world. He embodies the opposites, he is the son of the sun and the moon, male and female (cf. moon, 1053). The chair master, the 1st and 2nd supervisors of the lodge are connected to the three pillars of the box of wisdom-strength-beauty and are therefore the three small lights of the lodge, i.e. light bearers (see columns, 1382f). I note that the word light bearer literally means Lucifer.

The high degree freemasonry founded by Lennhoff in Austria. This double-headed eagle has been a Masonic symbolism of the 33rd degree since 1758

Finally, I discovered that the favorite text of the IFL about the connections between Freemasonry, ancient mysteries, magic and the union of opposites is the symbolism of the mystery associations (Berlin 1924; reprint, Schwarzenburg 1979) by Freemason August Horneffer (1875-1955), which is Freemasonry connects with magic, praises magic (p. 218), praises Goethe's fist, which closes the covenant "with the devil" (p. 220), and affirms the divinity of man as a gnostic and mystical teaching (p. 234f ).

* Father Paolo Maria Siano belongs to the Order of the Franciscans of the Immaculate (FFI); the church historian with a doctorate is considered one of the best Catholic experts in Freemasonry, to which he has dedicated several standard works and numerous essays. Katholisches.info publishes him

Translation / Note: Giuseppe Nardi
Picture: IFL / Corrispondenza Romana / Freimaurer-Wiki / AASR-Austria (screenshots)

[1] For those interested in history, a few additions from the translator (GN):

Like Lennhoff, Oskar Posner came from a Jewish family. Lennhoff came to Vienna in 1914 as a journalist, where he devoted himself to Freemasonry as a networker after the war. He also represented his grand lodge in the Association Maçonnique Internationale and from 1926 to 1930 headed the central office of the General Masonic League.

As a journalist, he initially worked for the left-liberal daily Wiener Allgemeine Zeitung, which supported the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (SDAP), and became its editor-in-chief in 1924/25. In 1933 he resigned as editor of the Wiener Freimaurer-Zeitung because he became the chief editor and special reporter for the foreign department of the Vienna daily newspaper Telegraf, which appeared from 1932–1938 until Austria joined the German Empire. His left-wing radical editor Siegfried Klausner brought him to the Telegraph. The editor, owner and most of the newspaper's journalists were of Jewish descent. The newspaper was a subsidiary of the left-wing radical daily Der Abend, which was founded in 1917 as a left-liberal newspaper and became radicalized in 1918. Both newspapers were made in tabloid style with lurid titles and a mouthpiece for Socialist and Communist positions as well as popular front theses. The mother paper was therefore officially discontinued after the armed attempted coup by the left-wing radicals in February 1934 and the ban on the SDAP. One of the main opponents of both papers was National Socialism. When the Austrian government imposed precensorship in 1933, Lennhoff was appointed to the editorial team. Overall, the Telegraph corrected its line to avoid a ban. The paper moderated the course from left-wing radicalism to a more neutral one and slowly approached the government of Engelbert Dollfuss and the so-called "patriotic direction", whereby it could continue to appear after the events of February 1934. The paper now emphasized above all the shared hostility of Christian Social and Social Democrats ("proletarian party") against National Socialism. This was fought as "fascism" and ridiculed with radical language. The National Socialists called the Telegraf editorial office a "Jewish booth" and said of Lennhoff: "The Jew and Freemason leader Eugen Lennhoff, the foreign politician Bondys and representative of the Telegraf journals at the League of Nations." The newspaper was the leading and most popular tabloid in Vienna. After Austria's annexation to the German Empire, Lennhoff fled to London with the owner of the Telegraph, Karl Franz Bondy, where he continued his journalistic work against National Socialism and died in 1944.

Siegfried Klausner, who went into hiding with the Communist partisans of Yugoslavia during the war, continued his journalistic work at the daily Volksstimme, the central organ of the Austrian Communist Party (KPÖ), after the war.

AMDG

Brother." Peter Stiegnitz of the Grand Lodge of Austria (1936-2017)

Peter Stiegnitz, Ministerial Officer of the Federal Press Office and High-Level Freemason. Two of his books.

By P. Paolo Maria Siano*

Peter Stiegnitz (Budapest 1936 – Vienna 2017), a Jew who survived the Nazi persecution and emigrated to Austria in 1956 in the wake of the Hungarian Uprising, was a writer, sociologist, ministerial official of the Federal Press Service in the Austrian Federal Chancellery and, finally, a visiting professor at the University of Budapest. In 1970, Stiegnitz was initiated as a Freemason in the Vienna Lodge Humanitas, which belongs to the Grand Lodge of Austria (GLvÖ). [Richard Nikolaus Eijiro, Count of Coudenhove-Kalergi belonged to that Lodge as well.]

He belongs to other lodges of the Grand Lodge, among them for 30 years the Wiener Lodge, Zum raue Stein. Stiegnitz also holds Masonic offices at the management level of the Grand Lodge. As Grand Chapter Master, he has been the head of the York Rite for 10 years, which, with the Old and Recognized Scottish Rite, is one of the high-grade systems of the Masonic Masters of the Grand Lodge. On February 2, 2017, the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Austria, Georg Semler, stopped at the grave of "Brother" Stiegnitz, in the presence of numerous Freemasons, gave a funeral speech in which he described Stiegnitz as "a great of our covenant," as reported by the very well-informed Masonic website Freemason-Wiki.

Grand Master Semler is the same one who, together with Monsignor Michael Heinrich Weninger, priest of the Archdiocese of Vienna and member of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, presented his book in Vienna, which was approved as a doctoral thesis at the Pontifical Gregorian University. In it, Weninger expresses the hope for a reconciliation between the Church and Freemasonry. As I wrote on this page on February 27, 2020, Monsignor Weninger belongs to the regular Austrian Freemasonry, which is connected with the English Freemasonry of the United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE).

Now I would like to draw attention to a book that allows us to explore the nature of today's Austrian Freemasonry: "God without Church: Religion and Freemasonry", Edition Va Bene, Vienna-Klosterneuburg 2003. The author of the book is Peter Stiegnitz.

Peter Stiegnitz: God without Church. Religion and Freemasonry

In the foreword, Michael Kraus, the grand master of the Grand Lodge of Austria, praises the book in Masonic terms and defines it as "an important and important building block" (p. 9). Kraus enthusiastically mentions the post-conciliar dialogue between Cardinal König and the deputy grandmaster (later honorary grandmaster) of the Grand Lodge, Kurt Baresch (1921-2011). Masonic Wiki informs that Baresch was a former SS officer, psychologist (from 1948) and Freemason (from 1961).

It is a strange union of opposites: in the same grand lodge we find a Jew and a former SS officer. Reconciliation and forgiveness?

Let us return to Grand Master Kraus, who admits that there is the Cantic Enlightenment in Freemasonic thought (p. 10). Kraus declares that he belongs to a Catholic family and expresses the hope for cooperation and harmony between Freemasonry and the Church. He also believes that Stiegnitz's book will help Freemasons and "Profanes" to free the way from of the ballast (p. 11). As we shall see, the "ballast" which Stiegnitz casts away, of which it is necessary to free himself, is unfortunately the entire Christian dogma!

Stiegnitz praises the Enlightenment (p. 18), accuses religious monotheism of intolerance towards polytheistic cults (p. 19) and attributes a human and psychological origin to religion, including the Christian Catholic: it is only a human self-liberation from those needs that cannot be accomplished on its own (p. 32-33).

For Freemasons, the Bible is an ethical symbol. It is not history, but an allegory. Stiegnitz says that pantheism offers the "laicist" Freemasons the way to an acceptable religiosity ... Religiosity is only self-therapy and the Great Builder of the Universe is a symbol of the psycho-spiritual hierarchy (p. 34). Stiegnitz explains that the religious world of Freemasonry, in contrast to religions, is "on the other side" (p. 42-43). Stiegnitz shows sympathy for cantic thinking (p. 50). Stiegnitz also states with regard to the "Christian" or Templar high degrees that the Masonic symbols have no religious but an ethical meaning (p. 57). Stiegnitz clearly writes that the god of monotheistic religions is not good, does not forgive (literally he "is not kind"), since he above all likes to punish. Stiegnitz cites the case "Sodom and Gomorrah" (p. 72) as proof of these statements. Stiegnitz, on the other hand, praises Heraclitus's philosophy that God is harmony of all opposites ("without war there is no peace, without night there is no day ..."). Heraclitus also calls God logos or universal reason. "In Masonic philosophy, the heraclitarian unity of opposites is understood as totality" (p. 81).

Stiegnitz also likes Spinoza's thinking. Stiegnitz knows that Spinoza is a pantheist who believes that nature is divine and identifies God with nature. Stiegnitz explains that the Masonic religiosity and Spinoza's philosophy have in common the connection – or invocation – to an impersonal divinity ("Here we already experience decisive approaches of masonry religiosity: invocation of an unpersonified God," p. 97) Like Freemasonry, Spinoza also attaches great importance to ethics. Stiegnitz states that Spinoza thought like the Freemasons and the Freemasons think like Spinoza ("Spinoza thought Freemasonic, Freemasons think spinocaic", p. 97).

Stiegnitz also expresses sympathy for the thinking of Ludwig Feuerbach (1804-1872), a Hegelian, atheist and materialist. Stiegnitz writes: "The religious (self-) understanding of Freemasonry is reflected above all in the cross-connection of theology to philosophy in the sense of Ludwig Feuerbach (1804-1872)," (p. 118). Even for Feuerbach, the philosophy of religion has no place in heaven, but down here, here it is theology of the senses (p. 118). In Freemasonry, religious and Christian ties (e.g. "Christian" high degrees) are neither dogmatic nor confessional. Stiegnitz presents Feuerbach as a "brother without an apron" or as a man who was not initiated into Freemasonry, but thought like a Freemason.

Fundamentals of Masonic Thinking: Heraclitus, Baruch Spinoza and Ludwig Feuerbach

According to Stiegnitz, Feuerbach is also close to Freemasonry when he separates Christianity from the Pauline "Jesuism" (Jesus) and presents humanity from down here (p. 118-119). Feuerbach cannot bear the institutional and dogmatic religion. Later Sigmund Freud will also say that religion is the illusion of man (p. 119). According to Stiegnitz, it follows that atheism (especially Marxist) does not arise in opposition to religion, but in contrast to clericalism.

To prove this, Stiegnitz says that there is no atheism in oriental beliefs such as Buddhism and Hinduism (p. 129). The young Feuerbach had represented a religion without theology, an intimate and religious need for something, without being bound by confessional teachings. Thus Stiegnitz shows that he prefers this anthropocentric "path" to the Divine without popes and without priests. This religiosity without theology and without dogmas is the way that characterizes the attitude of Freemasonry towards religion (p. 144). Stiegnitz describes Feuerbach's attitude to religion as "early Freemasonry" (p. 144).

In summary, we can also take account of the clear anthropocentrism and immanentism in the thinking of "Br." Stiegnitz (head of the Austrian "Christian" or "Templar" Freemasonry of the York Rite), whose book was praised by the then Grand Master of the Grand Lodge Michael Kraus, does not share the optimism of the current Grand Master Semler and Monsignor Weninger regarding a real reconciliation between the Church and the Austrian Freemasonry (GLvÖ) associated with the UGLE.

* Father Paolo Maria Siano is a member of the Order of the Franciscans of the Immaculate (FFI); the doctor of the Church is considered one of the best Catholic connoisseurs of Freemasonry, to which he has dedicated several standard works and numerous essays.

Translation/footnotes: Giuseppe Nardi
Picture: Wikicommons

Monsignor Weninger's Masonic Doctoral Thesis at the Gregoriana

Monsignor Michael Heinrich Weninger, ex-diplomat, priest, Vatican employee, high-level Freemason.

By P. Paolo Maria Siano*

Wisdom. Strength. Beauty. The title of the dissertation by Monsignor Michael Heinrich Weninger, of which I have already written here, is on the reconciliation of the Catholic Church and regular Freemasonry (Tesi Gregoriana – Series Spirituality, GBP, Rome 2019, p. 523). Now I present and comment on some points of this doctoral thesis, which is taken entirely for the regular English (United Grand Lodge of England, UGLE) and Anglophile Freemasonry (e.g. the Grand Lodge of Austria, GLvÖ). Monsignor Weninger reveals an interesting background:

When the then Rector of the Pontifical Gregorian University (P. Francois-Xavier Dumortier, 2010–2016) learned that Monsignor Weninger was preparing a book on Freemasonry, he suggested that he come to the Gregoriana as a doctoral student and submit his work as a dissertation at the Institute of Spirituality (p. 5).

Cui prodest? Who benefits?

Monsignor Weninger thanks high dignitaries of the Grand Lodge of Austria (GLvÖ) and the United Grand Lodge of Germany (VGLvD), who have enabled him to consult material for his research. Among these, I would like to refer only to Michael Kraus ("M.K."), former Grand Master of the GLvÖ, Georg Semler ("G.M."), current Grand Master of the GLvÖ, and Christoph Bosbach ("C.B."), Grand Master of the VGLvD. He also thanks Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran for accompanying his work and the spiritual confreres who are also brothers in Freemasonry (p. 5-6). Monsignor Weninger does not explicitly disclose his Masonic membership, which was published on an English Masonic website back in 2014.

Monsignor Weninger asserts the compatibility of the Church and regular Freemasonry against what he calls prejudices and misunderstandings. He considers that the Church was unable to distinguish between regular and irregular Freemasonry (p. 8-9); he wants to show ("objectively") that there are foundations for a complete reconciliation between the Church and regular Freemasonry (p. 10, pp. 451-453); true regular Freemasonry which is of the three degrees (p. 14) such as the UGLE and the GLvÖ; Freemasonry is not a secret society, its rituals are known (p. 27) and have nothing to do with satanic, alchemical, magical or esoteric rites (p. 28, p. 63); and finally Freemasonry is neither a religion nor a religious community and has no dogmas (p. 436).

These statements do not convince me.

Unfortunately, Monsignor Weninger does not publish the rituals of the Grand Lodge of Austria in the appendix, nor does he explain them in more detail. Apart from that, the fact that he published his doctoral thesis at the Institute of Spirituality (and not at the Institute of History) suggests that Freemasonry is after all a form of spirituality. This, in turn, reveals something of the intrinsical relationship between regular Freemasonry-esoteric magic, which the author tries in vain to deny or at least minimize. Nevertheless, he leaves some clues here and there, when he admits, for example:

• The Masonic ritual makes the inner transformation of man experimental and gives no religious or confessional teaching (p. 30).
• 
  

• The Masonic Mystery is the individual and ritual experience of the Freemason in the Masonic Temple (p. 31-32).
• 
  

• Symbolically, the Masonic Lodge extends from east to west, from north to south, from the earth to the sky and from the earth's surface to its center (p. 33).
• 
  

Well, the center of the earth.

Then Monsignor Weninger explains that the Freemason frees himself from the profane world in the ritual and enters the holy place ("into a fanum", p. 33). Every Freemason sees in the formula of the Great Builder of the Universe, the name by which the Freemasons call God, the God of his religion (p. 33, p. 42). From a metaphysical point of view, I observe that the Freemason can contribute through its rituals (as Monsignor Weninger leads us to understand) to the perfection of humanity and to the harmony and preservation of the universe (p. 33) and thus perform sectarian service or of divine or demiurgic (gnotic) action within an initiating, symbolic, symbolic, symbolic framework. Masonic magic?

Monsignor Weninger presents the three degrees from an anthropological point of view as symbolic stages of the improvement of man between brothers and in the world (p. 35–37) and admits that Kant's Enlightenment has to this day influenced the philosophical foundations of The Masonic self-image (p. 84) and that there are Freemasons (also from the GLvÖ) who regard Freemasonry as a daughter of the Enlightenment (p. 85).

Weninger mit dem Großmeister der Großloge von Österreich bei der Vorstellung seines Buches im Februar in Wien

According to the author, pure Freemasonry was infiltrated by occultists in the mid-18th century, but it had nothing to do with Rosicrucians, magic, etc. (Pp. 91-96). Weninger claims that modern Masonic scholars also rule out that it comes from the spirit and from the Rosicrucian, Kabbalistic, Templar tradition (p. 108). According to the author, "esotericism" is an experience and inner cognition about one's self, a process of inner transformation (pp. 109–111) that some Freemasons can also understand in a mystical sense (p. 111). Weninger admits that Masonic rituals are rich in "hermetic thinking" (p. 110). Then he speaks of occultism and magic (pp. 111–112), and that the Catholic Church recognizes legitimate and effective magical acts ("The Catholic Church knows legitimate acts of magical-mysterious and thus magically effective acts", p. 113) such as exorcism and blessing ("exorcisms", "formula of blessings", p. 113), and this "magic was not and is not condemned by the Catholic Church", (p. 113).

The Author Doesn't Succeed in Convincing

If these were true, we would have the paradox that the Catholic Freemason (even a priest) would not conjure if he worked in the Lodge ("The Brotherhood of the Freemasons, on the other hand, knows no magical rituals, it does not practice magic, just as occultism has no place in Masonic work", p. 113), but he would conjure if he participated in special rites or blessings of the Catholic Church (or celebrates if he is a priest)! This is an example of the reversal and unification of opposites that fascinates initiatic circles. Weninger affirms that Masonic rituals "shape a spiritual, intellectual identity, not a free or occult one" (p. 114); that the Masonic initiation is simply the admission of a candidate to Freemasonry and does not refer to the ancient mysteries and has no religious or mystical meaning, although some Freemasons (here the author Quotes G. Imhof, Kleine Werklehre) are convinced of this (p. 178).

Later in the book, the author denies that the Masonic constitutions of Anderson (1723) contain religious relativism or indifferentism (p. 240).

I repeat, on the other hand, that the initiation ritual and the super-confessional religiosity of Freemasonry together represent a special form of magic: the Masonic rites (e.g. enlightenment, death-rebirth) with symbols and invocations to the Great Builder of the Universe (in which every Freemason sees the God of his religious or initiatical "confession") for the purpose of personal communion and universalness, which were neither revealed by the biblical God nor confirmed or proposed by the Catholic tradition (dogmatic, doctrinaire, liturgical and canonical). It is the claim, as in the biblical narrative of the tower building at Babel, which is not by chance at least implicitly praised by English Freemasons of the early 18th century to ascend to heaven. In addition, regular Freemasons, including the German-speaking area, testify to the illuminator and esoteric nature of Freemasonry and make it clear that Freemason mysticism encompasses those "sciences" and "traditions" (hermetics, kabbalah, magic ...) from which Weninger tries to relieve pure Freemasonry. Finally, I am convinced that among the sources of regular Freemasonry cited by the author (p. 497–498) there are some (which are withheld from us "uninitiated") which contain the deeper reasons for the incompatibility between church and Freemasonry.

* Father Paolo Maria Siano is a member of the Order of the Franciscans of the Immaculate (FFI); the doctor of the Church is considered one of the best Catholic connoisseurs of Freemasonry, to whom he has dedicated several standard works and numerous essays. Katholisches.info published by him:

• 
  
• Brother." Peter Stiegnitz of the Grand Lodge of Austria (1936-2017)
• The "Fall Weninger" – ex-diplomat, priest, kurialer, Freemason
  the Freemasonry explained by a Grand Master
• The knockers can expect initiation and gnosis at the Masonic League
• Baron Yves Marsaudon - A High-Level Mason in the Order of Malta
• The Lodge Quatuor Coronati, the Grand Master and a Beggar Brother
• "Catholic who joins Lodge is excommunicated" – Church historian Paolo Siano on church and Freemasonry
• Short answer to a Grand Master of Freemasonry
• Was Karl Rahner A Freemason?

translation: Giuseppe
Nardi Picture: Catholic Church Carinthia/Freemason Wiki (Screenshots)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

The Case of Vatican Employee -- Msgr Weninger, Ex-Diplomat, Priest, Curia Official, Freemason

Book presentation with Msgr. Weninger on February 12 in Vienna; next to him Georg Semler, the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Austria, and on the far left the publisher Georg Löcker - fellow lodge brothers.

Von P. Paolo Maria Siano*

[Katholisches] In 1982 Michael Heinrich Weninger (born 1951 in Wiener Neustadt) joined the diplomatic service of the Republic of Austria, where he had a brilliant career. Among other things, he was from 1993 to 1997 head of the Austrian embassy in Belgrade and from 2008 to 2009 in Sarajevo. [1] Weninger, who has been a widower since 2009, was ordained a priest by Cardinal Christoph Schönborn in Vienna on June 24, 2011. Msgr. Weninger is also a member of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.


In October 2014, the website of the East Lancashire Provincial Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons (English masonry was founded by the masters of the United Grand Lodge of England - UGLE) announced that a few days earlier, three ceremonies were held in Austria in the presence of an English Masonic delegation Installation by masters. The ceremonies took place in two boxes of the Mark Master Masons (MMM) [2] - in the St. Margaret's Lodge of MMM and the New Quarries Lodge of MMM, which is the oldest English-speaking Mark Master Mason Lodge in Austria - and in a Royal-Ark-Marine Lodge (RAM) held at the New Shores Lodge of RAM. [3] These three Austrian lodges with English names are associated with English Freemasonry and use rituals in English.

In each of these three lodges the "Brother" Msgr. Michael Weninger ("Bro. Rev. Michael Weninger") as chaplain for 2014–2015, who even celebrated a commemorative Mass on the fifth anniversary of the opening of the New Quarries Lodge and St. Margaret’s Lodge. 500 Freemasons of all obediences were present at the Mass. The Masonic website adds that “Bro. Rev. Michael ”(Bro. Stands for “brother ”, that's how the Freemasons call themselves) is well qualified for the position of lodge chaplain, since he lives in the Vatican and works as a member of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue:

"Since he lives in the Vatican as a member of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue but works in Rome."

Anyone who knows a little about Masonic matters knows that Msgr. Weninger, in order to be appointed chaplain of a lodge (or rather three lodges), had been initiated as a Mason of the first degree (apprentice) years before, then had to be transferred to the second degree (journeyman) before finally moving to the third degree, the master degree. Then he must have climbed to the higher grades, first as a master mason, then as a Royal Ark Mariner. It cannot be ruled out that he completed other “side degrees”.


It is therefore likely that Msgr. Weninger became a Mason even before he was ordained. I remember years ago someone mentioned the case of a former Austrian diplomat who had joined the Roman Curia as a priest and was considered a member of Freemasonry. It is only now that I have no doubt that this information is factual. And so we come to our days.

On Wednesday, February 12, 2020, Msgr. Michael Heinrich Weninger in Vienna in the presence of Georg Semler, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Austria (GLvÖ), presented his 500-page book “Lodge und Altar. On the Reconciliation of the Catholic Church and Regular Freemasonry.” In it he claims (I summarize):

that the Church's rejection of Freemasonry was motivated more by political than religious reasons;
that the Church was unable to distinguish between regular and irregular Freemasonry;
that the freemasons of regular freemasonry (e.g. the UGLE, the GLvÖ etc.) are not excommunicated
and that you can be Catholic and “regular” Freemason.

Msgr. Weninger even sent his book to Pope Francis, Cardinal Schönborn and various Vatican figures. Grand Master Semler praised the book as an important step towards reconciliation between the Church and Freemasonry. [4]

The Freemasons and Msgr. Weninger hope to meet with the Holy Father or with the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. [5]

Dialogue with members of the Catholic hierarchy is not new to Austrian Freemasonry. From 1968 to 1983 the Archbishop of Vienna, Cardinal Franz König, was the protagonist of the dialogues with representatives of Austrian, Swiss and West German Freemasonry, which culminated in the 1970 Lichtenau Declaration in favor of the compatibility of the Catholic Church and regular Freemasonry. It states that the latter is not a danger, which is why excommunication should  be lifted.

Later, the German bishops in 1980 and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1981 and 1983 reiterated the incompatibility between the church and the lodge, and that was not for political but for doctrinal reasons, after Masonic writings by members.

Another interesting novelty is that the book by Msgr. Weninger is based on his dissertation, which he submitted to the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, with which he received his doctorate and which was published by this university in November 2019. That is its title: “Wisdom. Strength. Beauty. On the reconciliation of the Catholic Church and regular Freemasonry, Tesi Gregoriana (Spiritualità series, 16), PUG 2019, p. 523.

The case of Msgr. Weninger raises a few questions and considerations:

1) Why did this website of the English masonry reveal the Masonic status of Msgr. Weninger, who is so well integrated into the Vatican? Was it an accidental carelessness or a clever display?

2) How long is Msgr Weninger's membership in Freemasonry in the Archdiocese of Vienna and the Roman Curia?

3) How is Msgr. Weninger's canonical position affected by his "coming out"?

4) How do Freemasonic prelates behave towards their subordinates who express amazement and concern about the affiliation of clerics and lay Catholics to Freemasonry?

5) Can the so-called "Masonic regularity" be a criterion for the canonical rehabilitation of Anglo-Saxon Freemasonry? In fact, I find a certain contradiction with the topic of “Masonic regularity.” For example, the United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE) recognizes the Grand Lodge of Austria (GLvÖ) as "regular", which in turn recognizes the Grand Orient of Italy (GOI) as "regular", which the UGLE does not recognize. Now, what credibility can the Grand Lodge of Austria claim before the Roman Curia, since it recognizes the Grand Orient of Italy as "regular", which is clearly a secular and esoteric Freemasonry with a long anti-clerical tradition?

6) Austrian Freemasonry wants a dialogue with the Pope, the Prefect of Faith and other personalities from the Vatican. Good. I hope, however, that the Austrian Freemasonry will not only talk to Msgr. Weninger's book, but also the rituals of the three degrees of apprentice, journeyman and master; the rituals of the high degree rites to which the masters of the Grand Lodges of Austria have access and the esoteric and initiatic writings that are reserved for the Masonic masters (there are, I know that very well).

Only careful review of such extensive documentation can enable ecclesiastical authorities and Catholic scholars to make a real and objective judgment about Freemasonry.

Finally, for reasons of space, I limit myself to this brief information: Regarding the English Master Mark Masonry (MMM)  and the Royal Ark Mariner (the RAM level is reserved for MMM), which is connected to the above-mentioned United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE) I know with certainty that even bricklayers of these degrees, who are apparently "biblical", are able to maintain esotericism. The same thing happens in Austrian Freemasonry. Therefore, the statements by Msgr. Weninger is anything but convincing.

* Father Paolo Maria Siano belongs to the Order of the Franciscans of the Immaculate (FFI); the church historian with a doctorate is considered one of the best Catholic experts in Freemasonry, to whom he has dedicated several standard works and numerous essays.


1] Delicate and responsible missions, since from 1991 to 1995 there was war in the crumbling Yugoslavia. This also applies to operations in Sarajevo, the formal capital of the EU protectorate of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the de facto capital of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in which Muslim Bosniaks and Catholic Croats have been united since 1996.

Austrian diplomacy emphatically supported this compulsory situation, as if trying to force “fraternity” in an experiment.

2]  The Mark Masonry originated in England in 1756. This makes the mark master degree one of the oldest freemason degrees. It was only introduced in Austria in 2009. 

[3] The Royal-Ark Mariner-Logen (RAM) and the Mark Master Masonry (MMM) are part of the Anglo-Saxon high degree system, with the RAM standing above the MMM. Both MMM and RAM degrees accept masters of all creeds, while certain obediences only allow "Trinitarian Christians".

 [4] The Grand Master said: "This book is very important. Even if there is practically no longer any conflict with the Church, we in the Grand Lodge have a vital interest in making a gesture of reconciliation. ”

 [5] A few days ago, the online Freemason encyclopedia Freemason Wiki published a detailed review of the Weninger book and the following note: "How important Weninger's book is taken internationally is shown by two events: Christoph Bosbach, Grand Master of the United Grand Lodges of Germany, on the book presentation" traveled specially from Catholic Cologne ". And more importantly, when the Pontifical Gregorian University learned of his research there, he explicitly encouraged the author to submit the book to her as a dissertation. The Gregoriana is run by Jesuits; the current Pope Francis is also one. "