If the Masons are considered occult why aren't the Knight's of Columbus or St. John also occult?

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Donald Baker wrote:

Hi, guys —

I find it amazing that each time a person of Catholic faith asks about becoming a Mason, the answer is generally the same.

In the January 2013 question that Mary Ann replied to, she said:

You cannot become a Mason because its an occult. They believe all religions are the same and they are a secret organization with secrets.

Yes, the latter is true but the Masons are not a secret organization.

If that were true, no one could speak of them and if having secrets makes you an occult, why aren't:
- the (KOC) Knights of Columbus or
- Knights of St. John
an occult?

They have secrets.

{ If the Masons are considered occult why aren't the Knight's of Columbus or St. John also occult? }

Mike replied:

Hi Don,

Mary Ann has retired from our team because she received too many e-mails from those who appeared very insincere and who were not seeking for Christian truth.

She also questioned whether she made that statement.

Can you send me a web link to the posting you quoted from?

The Masons are a secret society. A secret society does not necessarily exist in secrecy, but it has secrets. Masons take oaths not to reveal the secret rites and teachings.

Having secrets does not make something occult. An occult society is one that uses hidden or occult knowledge or techniques that are passed down to the initiated so that they can access special powers or spirits or spiritual forces to achieve what they want. Some Masonic groups are said to be occult in their upper degrees.

The reason Catholics are forbidden to join the Masons is because of their oath and because Masonry's long range goal has been the destruction of the Catholic Church.

I hope this helps,

Mike

Rommel John Miller commented:

Mike,

Regarding the Masonry question,

“Whether a man in the Knights of Columbus or Cross of St. John were not also considered secret with secret oaths, threats, and promises.”

Well, I am a member of the Knight of Columbus and I joined the order during the 1980s and, yes, there were things in the first three degrees that I was told to vouchsafe and protect, e.g. hide or keep secret.

If you were a Knight then you would know of what I speak. The second and third degrees are especially poignant because in the second degree we receive something and in the third degree we are expected to defend something.

No threats of death or harm were implied in the promises (minor oaths) we swore (not on a Bible) but there was just a general opinion that you shouldn't say anything about the degrees because you wouldn't want to ruin the experience or wonder of taking the degrees for others.

Then there is the fourth degree, the Patriotic Degree. Still no oaths sworn on a Bible but again a feeling that what you did and underwent in the degree was not to be divulged to anyone and, if you did, only among known Brother Knights.

Therefore, the Knights are a public, Roman Catholic society that does have its guarded secrets.

True, they are not occult but Fr. Michael McGivney organized the Knights in response to so many in his flock in New Haven, Connecticut joining the Masons.

Rommel

Mike replied:

Thanks for the feedback Rommel,

Because I am not a Knight, I looked for a view from a KOC friend of mine. I also talked to someone in the KOC ceremonies department in their central office.

My friend said:

Mike,

Yes, there is a secret to each initiation ceremony as there are four levels to the order. I never saw these secrets as anything more than keeping them secret so the experience of the ceremony for future candidates to the new degree would not be ruined. In other words, there is no doctrinal matter regarding the secret about the ceremonies but just the activity itself. The Knights are one of the outstanding pro-life organization out there and they do an awful lot of the good for children and the poor. I would be proud to call myself a Knight. I hope this helps.

When I talked to someone from the ceremonies department in Connecticut, the central headquarters for the KOC, he said:

Some will view it as a secret, while we would view it as a promise; a promise not to reveal the teachings of the different degrees, which are all positive in nature. We could reveal them but it would ruin the ceremonial aspect for those entering the next degree.

I hope this helps,

Mike

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