The relationship between Freemasonry and Catholicism has, historically, been one of antagonism. Freemasonry, with its intellectually liberal bent, has always seemed to the Church as teaching philosophies that oppose the cosmogony and order revealed to the Church through Scripture and tradition. The Church, with its reliance on dogma, has seemed to Freemasonry as a stifling influence upon humanity, one that has kept us from reaching our full potential. Yet there is no need for such a disagreement. Fundamentally, the sacraments of the Church and the rituals of Freemasonry are not at odds with one another and both exist to further the Great Work of the Creator. The Church of the Rose and Cross neither forbids nor encourages its members from becoming Freemasons. It holds that its members are at liberty to direct the course of their own spiritual evolution and in Freemasonry finds nothing objectionable to its own teachings. Membership in any fraternal or esoteric order that is not in conflict with the Church's philosophy is acceptable but not required for any function of Church life.
