The Nordic Bishops’ Conference has published a letter to parish priests on Freemasonry. In the letter, the bishops state that there is no exception to the Catholic Church’s universal teaching in the Nordic countries: Catholics may not belong to Masonic associations or lodges.
The bishops sought clarification from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith because, for many years, there has been a widespread assumption in the Nordic countries that Freemasonry in this region might constitute an exception to the Church’s universal teaching. The dicastery confirmed that the Church’s universal norms apply in full also in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, since the theological and philosophical principles of Freemasonry are incompatible with the Catholic faith.
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