Catholics may not be Masons

Background briefing.

From CFNews. Catholics who become members of Masonic lodges are guilty of serious sin, a Vatican official has confirmed. Bishop Gianfranco Girotti, the regent of the Apostolic Penitentiary, told a Vatican Radio interviewer that membership in a Masonic lodge is not necessarily grounds for excommunication, but it is a grave matter. Reacting to the story of Father Rosario Esposito, an Italian Paulist who recently announced his membership in a Masonic lodge, Bishop Girotti said that a 1983 statement from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith remains in force today. That statement, signed by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, said: 'The faithful who enroll in Masonic associations are in a state of grave sin and may not receive Holy Communion.' [CWNews]