Bishop Strickland urges Catholics to reject Freemasonry as spiritually dangerous and doctrinally incompatible with the Faith and warned it has likely ‘infiltrated the leadership of the Church.’
(LifeSiteNews) — Bishop Joseph Strickland issued a public warning Tuesday May 20, 2025, about Freemasonry’s incompatibility with the Catholic faith.
“It is time for every Catholic to be clear that Freemasonry is INCOMPATIBLE with our Catholic faith,” Bishop Strickland wrote on X. “There is strong evidence that Freemasonry has infiltrated the leadership of the Church and done immense damage.”
Attached to the tweet was an infographic summarizing a 2023 clarification from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) about Freemasonry.
The image lists the following consequences for Catholics who join Masonic associations:
- Prohibition from receiving Holy Communion
- Ineligibility to serve as godparent or sponsor
- Exclusion from parish ministries
- Denial of Catholic funeral rites if unrepentant
It also cites Canon 1364 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law, warning of automatic excommunication for members of secret societies.
Filipino bishops reaffirm the Church’s positionThe CBCP statement, released in March 2023, stressed that the Church’s rejection of Freemasonry is rooted in its philosophical and theological incompatibility with Catholic doctrine.
The bishops acknowledged that the CBCP had twice appealed to the Holy See on behalf of the “Grand Lodge of the Free and Accepted Masons of the Philippines” (FAMP), arguing it differed from anti-Catholic lodges. Both petitions were rejected, and the prohibition upheld.
“The faithful who enrol in Masonic associations are in a state of grave sin and may not receive Holy Communion,” stated then-prefect Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, in a document that affirmed the irreconcilability of Masonic principles – including religious indifferentism and naturalism – with the faith.
The CBCP also warned that Masonic rituals often imitate or distort Christian sacraments and that the lodge’s relativism undermines belief in the one true Church.
A recurring concernThough less visible today, Freemasonry remains a concern in Catholic discourse. The Church has condemned it for over two centuries, with popes such as Leo XIII and St. Pius X denouncing its principles as subversive of faith.
In 1917, then-Br. Maximilian Kolbe witnessed Masonic demonstrations in Rome, including banners declaring, “Satan will rule in the Vatican and the Pope will be his slave.” A 2021 episode of The John-Henry Westen Show explored St. Kolbe’s response and the gravity with which the Church has historically treated the Masonic threat.
Bishop Strickland’s warning echoes long-standing fears about Masonic infiltration of Church leadership – and reinforces the need for fidelity to the Church’s teaching – and vigilance against ideologies that threaten to undermine it from within.
