Papal ban of Freemasonry

The Catholic Church first prohibited Catholics from membership in Masonic organizations and other secret societies in 1738. Since then, at least eleven popes have made pronouncements about the incompatibility of Catholic doctrines and Freemasonry.

From 1738 until 1983, Catholics who associated with, or publicly supported, Masonic organizations were censured with automatic excommunication. Since 1983, excommunication is no longer automatic but optional. Pope John Paul II's 1983 Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith's (CDF) Declaration on Masonic associations, states that "faithful who enroll in Masonic associations are in a state of grave sin and may not receive Holy Communion" and membership in Masonic associations is prohibited.

The most recent official Holy See documents about the "incompatibility of Freemasonry with the Catholic faith" were issued in 1985, and in November 2023 by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

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