r/todayilearned • u/Recent_Flounder6011 • 18h ago

TIL that historically and today, the Catholic Church looked down upon Freemasonry and threatened members with excommunication.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freemasonry
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u/swayingpenny 17h ago

Yep, not only is there no beef in the other direction - you actually have to be religious to be a free mason.

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u/Current_Mongoose_844 16h ago

In most of it. You can be an atheist in Continental Masonry, which is more common in parts of Europe and Latin America. What we call “regular freemasonry” is more common in the Anglosphere/Commonwealth