Quatuor Coronati Lodge: Next Meeting
Quatuor Coronati Lodge meets five times a year on the second Thursday in November (Installation); third Thursday in February; second Thursday in May; fourth Thursday in June; and second Thursday in September. Lodge meetings are usually held at Freemasons’ Hall, Great Queen Street, London.
Thursday, 12 September 2019 at 4.00 pm
‘Pure, Ancient Masonry and the Catholic Church’
Christopher Powell
Synopsis
The Catholic Church has been at odds with Freemasonry for nearly three hundred years. Chris Powell’s paper examines the issues faced by English Catholics today, especially those who have joined the Craft. It considers issues of regularity and the many different Freemasonries (plural) around the globe, and the Church’s confused messages, especially since 1974 when for a decade Catholics in England were de facto permitted by the Vatican to become Freemasons.
The paper notes the differences between what was published in the Canons of 1983 and in Cardinal Ratzinger’s Declaration of the same year. It also notes the sometimes erroneous statements published in the Catholic press by authors ill-informed about Freemasonry, especially English Freemasonry.
Chris Powell calls on the Church to review the facts, reconsider its current stance on English regular Freemasonry, devolve this decision to the Metropolitan Archbishops, and return to the situation as it was between 1974 and 1983 when Catholics in England were permitted by the Holy See to become Freemasons.
The Speaker
Christopher Powell was born at Lyme Regis, Dorset and educated at the universities of Sheffield and Cambridge (Emmanuel College). He taught in the University of Cambridge for five years before moving to Cardiff where for twenty-five years he was on the staff of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama – the National Conservatoire of Wales. He held a number of senior academic and administrative posts and was for more than a decade a member of the academic board and governing body of the college. Having retired on his fiftieth birthday – his present to himself – he became a Freemason first in the Province of Derbyshire and then in Yorkshire West Riding.
Chris is a Past Master of Royal Brunswick Lodge No.296 and a Past Z of Chapter of Loyalty No. 296, both eighteenth-century foundations based in Sheffield. He is also a member of other Masonic bodies in England and Scotland. In 2009, he was awarded the Norman B. Spencer Prize and the following year elected a full member of QC lodge. He is the author of numerous papers published in AQC as well as papers in other Masonic journals, including those of the Manchester and Bristol Masonic research associations. For the last ten years Chris has been a plenary lecturer at the East Lancashire ‘Let’s Talk Masonry’ annual conference. He is also the author of Easy Lodge Music – a collection of familiar music for lodge use.
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The Full Paper can be accessed here. Please note that the paper is copyright QC/QCCC and should not be reproduced or circulated.
The Summons is available here: QCL Summons 12 September 2019.
We look forward to seeing members of QCCC at Lodge meetings and encourage all our visitors to stay to chat informally with the speaker and members of the lodge, and to dine with us.
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