The Vatican's Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith has forbidden Catholics from joining Freemasonry.
Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) of the Vatican has reiterated teachings from the Catholic Church that laypeople or clergy who practice Freemasonry are in "a state of grave sin."
With the signatures of Pope Francis and DDF Prefect Cardinal Victor Fernández, the DDF made public a letter on November 13 that exhorts the faithful to neither join nor participate in Freemasonry organizations.
"On the doctrinal level, it should be remembered that active membership in Freemasonry by a member of the faithful is forbidden because of the irreconcilability between Catholic doctrine and Freemasonry," the document reads, citing the 1983 "Declaration on Masonic Associations" by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who would go on to become Pope Benedict XVI.
The Freemasons listen during a wreath-laying ceremony at the National World War II Memorial on the National Mall in Washin...
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