Was not Pope Pius IX a Mason?
No. Those writers who have said that he was, have quoted only spurious documents, and have given such contradictory details that Pope Pius IX must have been initiated on half a dozen different occasions and in as many places. Dudley Wright, in his book, “Roman Catholicism and Freemasonry,” says that Pope Pius IX was initiated as a Mason on August 15, 1839, at Palermo. Yet on the date given, Pius had been a Bishop for more than twelve years. The document upon which he relied has been proved a forgery over and over again. 1112. Why are Catholics forbidden to be Masons? However tolerant individual Masons may be towards the Catholic Church, and with all due charity towards individual Masons, the Church forbids her own subjects to join the Masonic Lodge for many and good reasons. Masonry is a secret society of a character opposed to right moral principles; its oath is too sweeping and unjust; in the name of Masonic fraternity, much injustice has occurred in ordinary life, Masonry counting m
