The menace. [volume] (Aurora, Mo.) 1911-1920, 1917-12-15

ter lrreeoncllibility between the two
systems. To my suggestion that
there is nothing in Masonry to pre-
vent q Roman Catholic from becom-
ing member and that Masonry has
nothing to do with religious doc
trines, the reply has always been that
they can never be good Roman Cath
olics and good Masons at the same
time. And they further say that the
old-time Roman Catholics who were
Masons were simply not good Cath
olics; BUT THEY ALL AGREE
THAT MASONRY is ONE OF
THE TWO GREAT FORCES IN
THE WORLD AND THEIR
CHURCH THE OTHER.
The Pope, God and the Devil
Just what they meant by this /
could not understand until l read
that infamous and amusing "Bull"
against Freemasonry issued by Pope
Leo XIII. In it he divides the world
into the forces of good and evil. The
Roman church is the repository and
leader of all the good forces because
it alone is of God, says Leo. And
since the pope is the direct represen-
tative Of God, his special lawyer as
it were, and since the pope is infalli-
BILE when he interprets religion and
has the right to say what is religion
and what is not, it logically follows
that anything and anybody opposed
to the pope, church or any of its
laws, is opposed to God himself.
This much granted, a blind man
can see that opposition to, or refusal
to obey the pope-church-God combina-
tion, indicates a lineup with the
enemies of God.
The head of the enemies of God is,
Of course, the Devil.
Pope Leo therefore frankly ex-
plains that the great rebel against
the divine right of himself to run the
universe is the Masonic fraternity
whose Grand Master or Supreme
Architect is the Devil. 1t is the Ma
sonic fraternity that is the natural
leader of all the other little rebels
such as Jews, Protestants, Heretics,
etc.
Hence, destroy the Masonic fra
ternity and the rest of the opposition
to the papal authority would crum-
BILE.
And They Take 1t Seriously
When this "Bull" was thrown to
the world by Leo in 1884, Americans
laughed at it. 1t seemed so silly to
Masons and those who knew Masons
And America laughed at the "Bull
against the public schools the follow
ing year. We rather sneered at the
old "anti- i-Catholic" societies and
most of US are still deploring the
"fanaticism" and "bigotry" and
prejudice" that sees nothing in the
Roman hierarchy but huge polit-
ical and financial machine.
1.-THE writer's reference to how
lightly the American people have
considered papal pronouncements i;
all too true, and failure to consider
the official position of Rome in the
serious manner in which it is pro
mulgated and accepted, is responsible
for the success of the Jesuitical forces
who go any length in their effort t
keep the non-C Catholic population il
just the hazardous position such con
sideration begets. The condition il
paralleled only by the good faith il
which we have accepted the foreign
born from every land, asking moth
ing and demanding nothing in return
for our hospitality-only to find thai
in time of peace we have harboreC
the subjects of foreign sovereign,
whose very presence in time of war
behind the lines is cause for almos'
as much uneasiness as the foe W,
face.--Editor.
But Roman Catholics today, by {
large majority, take those Bulls
seriously.
know of lay members Of tha
church who have been instructed b!
their priests that Freemasons are re
sponsible for all the troubles of tn,
Roman church everywhere, To charg,
it to Freemasons, explains every
thing and stills every doubling heart
Also l know of foreign priests wit
have actually had the effrontery t,
tell their dupes they had been in Ma
sonic lodges and seen the devil per
sonally. One from Spain even wen
SO far as to declare he had broker
up a lodge meeting by holding {
crucifix before the Master, who dis
appeared with loud yell in a clou,
of smoke!
OF course Rome's male communi
cants don't take these tales as seri
ously as do the women.
The Segregation Policy
However, following the above men
toned Bulls, the vatican placed tn
educational program of the church Il
America completely In the hands o
i the Jesuit Order, which has dom
\ Il "