UNIVERSALITY
The initiate is taught. “via” ritual and information given by fellow
members, that Masonry is a universal Fraternity, world wide in its
ramifications, admitting to its privileges worthy men of every
country, sect and opinion, and providing a Fraternal intercourse
based on common ideals which extend to all men, in all lands.
How far from the fact of this beautiful conception is well known to
all who have occasion to study Freemasonry in its international
aspects. Only occasionally does the average Mason come in contact
with the absence of universality; then it is usually with something
of a shock that he learns that while his brother from a neighboring
state may visit and hold Masonic intercourse with a certain foreign
Lodge and brother, he is forbidden the same privilege, “vice versa.”
Neither the prophet nor son of a prophet, this Bulletin can not state
with any authority that a genuinely universal Craft may not be
developed at some time in the future. But it can be said without
fear of contradiction that while diverse peoples hold diverse ideas
as to what constitutes Freemasonry, a genuinely universal Fraternity,
without bars or restrictions of any kind, is not likely soon to come
into being.
According to the theory, ass man initiated, passed and raised in any
legitimate Grand Lodge in the United States (of which there are
forty-nine) has the “right of visitation” into any symbolic Lodge in
the world, and may and should recognize his brother Mason regardless
of race, creed or religion.
But according to the facts, in some Grand Jurisdictions Masons are
expressly forbidden to visit the Lodges of certain other Grand
Lodges; in other Jurisdictions they may visit the Lodges of all Grand
Lodges from which recognition has not been specifically withheld by
their own Grand Lodge. Put another way, some Grand Jurisdictions
warn: “You can visit only the Lodges of Grand Jurisdictions we
recognize and with which we have Fraternal relations,: while others
say” “You may visit Lodges in all Grand Jurisdictions of the world
except those we have expressly forbidden you to visit.”
In neither class, of course, is there “real” universality.
These pages are not to be taken as an argument that there “should” be
universality in the full meaning of the word. It is impossible for
the majority of Masons, Lodges and Grand Lodges to admit that certain
other Grand Lodges and their brethren are Masonic, because of a
fundamental difference of opinion as to what Masonry really is.
The classic instance, of course, is the Grand Orient of France, from
which the large majority of English speaking Grand Lodges have
withdrawn recognition.
In 1877 the Grand Orient of France eliminated from its constitutions
the following:
“Freemasonry has for its principles the existence of God, the
immortality of the soul and the solidarity of mankind.
“In place, it adopted:
“Whereas Freemasonry is not a religion and has therefore no doctrine
or dogma to affirm in its Constitution, this assembly has decided and
decreed that the second paragraph of Article 1 of the Constitution,
(quoted above) shall be erased and that for the words of said article
the following shall be substituted:
“Being an Institution essentially philanthropic, philosophic and
progressive; Freemasonry has for its object, search after truth,
study of universal morality, science and art; and the practice of
benevolence. It has for principles absolute liberty of conscious and
human solidarity. It excludes no person on account of his belief and
its motto is ‘Liberty, Equality and Fraternity.,”
New rituals were adopted from which all mention of God, a Supreme
Architect, a Great Ruler of the Universe were deleted; and the Volume
of Sacred Law was removed from the altar.
No man was excluded from the Lodges of the Grand Orient of France
“because” he believed n God, but neither was any man “required to
believe in God.
It was this which brought down upon the Grand Orient the withdrawal
of Fraternal recognition by practically all English speaking Grand
Lodges.
It seems only fair to clarify the position of the Grand Orient by
quoting a few words said in defense of this revolutionary action, by
one of its officials:
The Grand Orient of France, while it respects all philosophical
beliefs, insists upon an absolute liberty of belief. This does not
mean that we banish from our Lodges the belief in God. The United
Grand Lodge of England, on the contrary, desires to make a belief in
God in some manner compulsory. The Grand Orient of France is much
more liberal, since in proclaiming the absolute liberty to believe or
not to believe in God, and by so doing desires to respect its members
in their convictions, their doctrines and their beliefs.”
English speaking Freemasonry is universal in its insistence upon a
belief in a G.A.O.T.U.; the presence of a Volume of Sacred Law upon
the Altar as indispensable to a Lodge at work; the division of
Ancient Craft Masonry into three degrees; secrecy; the legend of the
Third Degree, that Masons can be made of men only. Let any Grand
Lodge try to introduce a fourth degree or cut the list to two, remove
the Holy Book, fail to require initiates to state a belief in Deity,
make the ritual and the meetings public, substitute another subject
for the Hiramic Legend or initiate a woman; and every English
speaking Grand Lodge would immediately withdraw recognition, just as
recognition of the Grand Orient of France was withdrawn by
practically every Anglo Saxon Lodge in the world when that body
declared for freedom to believe or not to believe; and the Volume of
Sacred Law was not necessary. The Grand Orient of France became, to
those Grand Lodges which would have none of it, no longer a Masonic
body.
Today a number of other matters are concerned in “recognition” of one
Grand Lodge by another; other hurdles to get over before
“universality” is practiced as between any two Grand Lodges.
Important as many of these are, however, failure to recognize Grand A
by Grand Lodge B because Grand Lodge A does not conform to all the
requirements, does not necessarily mean that Grand Lodge B declares
Grand Lodge A without pale, unMasonic, outlawed. It but sets forth
that Grand Lodge B does not yet know, is not yet satisfied, whether
or not Grand Lodge A fulfills all those conditions as well as
practices all those principles which Grand Lodge B demands of those
Grand Lodges it is willing to recognize.
If these additional requirements were all alike for all Grand Lodges,
the Masonic world would be so much nearer the ideal of universality.
They have grown more and more alike as the years have gone by, but
the several Grand Lodges of this nation are not entirely of one mind
as to what they demand of a foreign Grand Lodge before recognition
can be extended. Indeed, a number of American Grand Lodges have “no”
standards of recognition whatever; such usually consider each case on
its merits, and generally blindly follow the report of the committee
on Foreign Correspondence.
This results in certain anomalies; a Committee composed of brethren
of very broad and liberal tendencies, for instance, will recommend
recognition of a Grand Lodge which another committee, composed of
brethren with very strict ideas, would have none of. Hence it is not
infrequent that two neighboring Jurisdictions will differ, one
recognizing a certain foreign Grand Lodge, and another refusing that
recognition.
Standards of recognition of the Grand Lodges of the United States
which have such instruments follow fairly well in principle, often in
words also, the standards set up by New York and Massachusetts.
These are given herewith:
MASSACHUSETTS
“Fraternal recognition may be extended to a foreign Grand Lodge when
(a committee having first considered and reported thereon), it
appears to the satisfaction of this Grand Lodge:
1. That the foreign Grand Lodge in question represents a
substantial unity of the Freemasons of the territory over which
it assumes jurisdiction; i.e., the Country, Province, or State;
or else shares such territory Jurisdiction with another Grand
Lodge by mutual consent.
2. That it has been lawfully organized by three or more regular
Lodges, or that it has been legalized by this Grand Lodge, or by
a Grand Lodge recognized by this Grand Lodge.
3. That it is an independent self-governing organization, having
sovereign Masonic authority within its Jurisdiction.
4. That its ritual is fundamentally in accord with the Ancient
Landmarks, customs and usages of the Craft. This involves:
A. Monotheism;
B. The Volume of the Sacred Law a part of the furniture of the
Lodge;
C. Secrecy;
D. The Symbolism of the operative art;
E. The division of Symbolic Masonry into the three adherers of
Entered Apprentice, Fellowcraft and Master Mason;
F. The Legend of the Third degree;
5. That it makes Masons of men only;
6. That it is non-sectarian and non-political; i.e., that its
dominant purposes are charitable, benevolent, educational and
religious.
NEW YORK
Before a recommendation of Fraternal recognition of a foreign Grand
Body may be submitted, it shall be ascertained by the committee on
Foreign Correspondence:
I. That such Grand Body has been formed lawfully by at least three
just and duly constituted Lodges, or that it has been legalized
by charter or other valid act issuing from the Grand Lodge of
New York or from a Grand Body in fraternal relations with this
Grand Lodge;
II. That it is a responsible, independent, self-governing
organization with sole, undisputed and exclusive authority over
the Symbolic Lodges of its Jurisdiction, and not in any sense
whatever subject to, or dividing such authority with, a Supreme
Council or other Power claiming ritualistic or other supervision
or control;
III. That its membership is composed of men exclusively, and
that it entertains no Masonic relations with Mixed Lodges or
Bodies admitting women into their fellowship;
IV. That it adheres in principle to the Ancient Landmarks,
traditions, customs and usages of the Craft; as set forth in the
Constitutions adopted by the Grand Lodge of England in 1723;
V. That it meets in particular the following tests which the Grand
Lodge of New York considers essential to acceptance of a foreign
Grand Body into its fellowship;
(1) Acknowledgment of a belief in God, the Father of men,
(2) Belief in immortality,
(3) Presence of the Three Great Lights of Masonry in the
Lodges while at work, chief among them the Sacred Book of
Divine Law,
(4) Exclusion of controversial, political and sectarian
religious discussions from the Lodges and from all meetings
held under the auspices of a Lodge.
VI. While the Grand Lodge of New York claims exclusive Jurisdiction
in the territory in which it is the Supreme Masonic authority,
it recognizes that the law of exclusive territorial
Jurisdiction, while firmly established in the United States and
many other countries, is not universally accepted and does not
constitute an Ancient Landmark of the Universal Craft. To the
end that no unwarranted impediment may exclude from our
fellowship such Grand Bodies as are sharing the same territory
with others by mutual consent, we shall accept such mutual
consent as entitling the several Grand Bodies included therein
to Fraternal consideration, providing the applicant for
recognition does not presume to establish Lodges in, a territory
occupied by a lawful Grand Lodge, without the expressed assent
of such Supreme Governing Body.
It is to be noted that all Grand Lodges of the continental United
States recognize and are in Fraternal relations with all the others.
This state of affairs has not always existed - indeed, the last two
“sore spots” were removed within the last few years. But the
differences which at one time separated some of our Grand Lodges from
others have all disappeared, been adjusted or are better understood,
so that peace and harmony prevails Masonically in this Nation.
One United States Grand Lodge, for reasons which to her are wise and
sufficient, has severed relations with the Grand Lodge of the
Philippine Islands (as have the Grand Lodges of England, Ireland and
Scotland) but all Grand Lodges in this nation unite in hoping the
differences can be healed.
The period of rapid spread of Freemasonry from land to land, or
course, is over, but with new political divisions resulting from a
remaking of the world’s maps, new Grand Lodges are still coming into
being, many of them not recognized by many of the older
Jurisdictions, and as such, not on the “visiting list” of Masons of
these obedience.
American Masonic universality exists; it is possible for a Mason from
any Lodge in the Continental United States (including Alaska) to
knock upon the door of any other Lodge in the United States
(including Alaska) and, if he proves himself, and the brethren and
Master are willing to receive him, visit. But any United States
Freemason desiring to visit Lodges abroad is wise if he first
satisfies himself - which he mat do by reading his current Grand
Lodge “Proceedings”, or asking his Grand Secretary - that the Lodge
or Lodges he proposes to visit owe obedience to a Grand Lodge with
which his own Grand Lodge is in Fraternal relations.
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