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FATHER TIM

The Freemasons make a comeback, of sorts

By
Father TIm

Published Tuesday, September 22, 2009, 12:08 AM
Updated Tuesday, September 22, 2009, 12:05 PM

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Dan Brown, 'Lost Symbol,' and the Freemasons are back! | IrishCentral




The Gothic room inside the Grand Lodge Building and Masonic Hall on 23rd Street in New York City.

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What do you think of Freemasonry?

They are evil and Satanic


They're powerful men who have changed history and continue to


They are a fraternal group and entitled to their secrets


They are a fraternal group who do a great deal of good


I don't really think about them at all


News / Dan Brown's 'Lost Symbol' comes to life in Ireland to rock Freemasons / Click here

They're back!

The Freemasons, the group that is at the center of more conspiracy theories than any other in history — perhaps even more than the Catholic Church — have made another comeback of sorts in Dan ("The Da Vinci Code") Brown's new book, "The Lost Symbol." And as if this wasn't enough, a lawsuit in Ireland is beginning to excite the world with the prospect that the secrets of the organization will finally be revealed.

I don't imagine that this disclosure would be looked upon kindly by Freemasons. It's not much fun being part of a secret organization with its own rituals and initiations and handshakes if it's suddenly not secret. But I think it would be wonderful to finally know what makes the Masonic clock tick. (It would be nice to know what makes the Vatican tick, too, but we'll leave that for another time. And an author besides me!)

I hasten to add that the best-selling "Lost Symbol," like all Brown's works, is a novel. It is a work of fiction, and one by a very talented, creative and successful writer. I have read them all, mostly enjoyed them, and I intend to read this one as soon as a copy makes its way to the mission center.

If you're Catholic, and especially if you're Irish Catholic, you know that Masons hate us, and always have. So, we hate them. You know that they are conspiring against us, and have some sort of plan for global domination they have been working on since they started all this in the 16th Century. So far, the plan hasn't worked out so well, but global domination takes time. You also know that almost all the rich and powerful men (women aren't allowed) in the world are Masons — all the better to dominate the world, of course.

In my family and my extended Irish clan, mentioning the Masons, or even walking on the same side of the street as one of their lodges that was on my way to elementary school, was a major no-no. Back then, it would have been easier to talk about sex in an Irish Catholic household than chat about the Masons.

I did the unthinkable when I came to New York to attend college and soon after, follow my vocation: I visited a Masonic lodge. I remember making a conscious decision not to wear my Roman collar for the visit; I'm not sure what I thought would happen, but Irish Catholic guilt has a long shelf life, and I thought I should play it safe lest I fall through a trapdoor or wind up in a hall of mirrors or in a room of doors with question-marks on them — one of which I would have to choose to open.

None of this happened, and I have lived to tell the tale.

The lodge I visited is a biggie, in the Chelsea section of Manhattan. On the outside, it is a very ordinary office building, impossible to distinguish from the old Depression-era brick buildings around it. But inside, my goodness! (If that's the right word...) Its huge public rooms (you can see a slideshow here) are spellblindingly beautiful and opulent, filled with the finest woods, stone and marble, all built with unassailable craftsmanship. It's not St. Peter's Basilica, but it's no cold-water flat, either.

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Dan Brown, 'Lost Symbol,' and the Freemasons are back! | IrishCentral


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