The case of Fr. Michael Weninger continues to mystify faithful Catholics: he is a prominent cleric who is also known to be a Freemason, yet he is allowed to hold these dual allegiances without any censure from the hierarchy.

Fr. Weninger, a former diplomat who was ordained after the death of his wife. is also chaplain to three masonic lodges, and has never been made to renounce his membership. Instead, his superiors have encouraged him to maintain his competing allegiances, compounding the widespread confusion of the status of Catholic masons.

His book, Lodge and Altar, which was published in 2019, explores the compatibility of Freemasonry with Catholicism and remains a source of scandal for many Catholics.

Pope Benedict XVI’s Incoherent Position

It is largely due to Cardinal Ratzinger that the prohibition of Catholic membership in freemasonry has been maintained, at least in principle. When the explicit mention of masonry was omitted from the revised Code of Canon Law in 1983, It was Ratzinger who clarified its status with a Declaration stating that

” …. the Church’s negative judgment in regard to Masonic association remains unchanged since their principles have always been considered irreconcilable with the doctrine of the Church and therefore membership in them remains forbidden. The faithful who enrol in Masonic associations are in a state of grave sin and may not receive Holy Communion.”

Thus, although Fr. Weninger makes his claim of compatibility based on the removal of the penalty of excommunication for Masons from the 1983 Code, Cardinal Ratzinger’s Declaration makes it clear that no such compatibility exists.

Even Pope Francis, through Cardinal Fernandez, re-affirmed the ruling in 2023 when he stated that “Active membership in Freemasonry of a faithful is prohibited, due to the incompatibility between Catholic doctrine and Freemasonry.”

Yet as Pope Benedict, it was Ratzinger himself who appointed Fr. Weninger to the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, three years after the release of Lodge and Altar. To this day, Weninger holds this position, working closely with Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, his mentor and chief patron of his problematic book.

Addressing the French Lodge

Some months ago, Fr. Weninger addressed the French National Grand Lodge, again attempting to affirm a compatibility between Freemasonry and Catholicism. The lecture can be found here on Youtube: both the video and transcript are in French, so we must turn to translated foreign reports for this article.

The Spanish website, Infovaticana, tells us that according to Fr. Weninger, the mason’s “Great Architect of the Universe” is synonymous with the God of the Bible. To compound the blasphemy, Fr. Weninger states that this is the same God “to the Yahweh of the Jews, to the Allah of the Muslims and to the Trinity of the Christians.”

This is perfectly consistent with the heresy of indifferentism which is a hallmark of freemasonry.

Mocking the Priesthood

The French media outlet, Tribune Chretienne, com had more to say about Fr. Weninger’s address:

Note that during this same conference, an anonymous speaker testified to a word received during a confession, which alone sums up the constant teaching of the Church: “I absolve you of all your sins, you can do whatever you want, except… don’t go to Freemasonry. “ A revealing sentence which says a lot about the perceived seriousness of this belonging with regard to the Catholic faith.

Father Weninger took the liberty of concluding his intervention with “So be it”, which is not trivial. This expression, [the] liturgical translation of the Christian “Amen”, traditionally concludes a prayer, a blessing or a proclamation of faith. Using it to close a relativistic presentation on the compatibility between the Gospel and an initiatory organization based on secrecy and the rejection of Christian dogma demonstrates the confusion he wants to create to accredit his speech. This amounts to giving a liturgical anointing to a word which contradicts the Magisterium.

As Serge Abad-Gallardo, a former converted Freemason, recalled in a direct criticism addressed to Father Weninger: “Masonic principles are incompatible with Catholicism: they profess doctrinal relativism, refuse all revealed truth and reject the Kingship of Christ. Freemasonry claims to replace faith with human reason. However, man cannot save himself.“

“White” Freemasonry

The priest also stated that “a Catholic Freemason is no longer excommunicated for the mere fact of his membership in Freemasonry” – an error he shares in common with the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference.

The basis for this error is a misunderstanding common to many of today’s Modernist clergy: that it is only the Anglo-Saxon lodges which are compatible with Catholicism. However, this proposition was condemned by Pope Leo XIII in his great encyclical, Humani Generis when he stated that

As Our predecessors have many times repeated, let no man think that he may for any reason whatsoever join the masonic sect, if he values his Catholic name and his eternal salvation as he ought to value them. Let no one be deceived by a pretense of honesty. It may seem to some that Freemasons demand nothing that is openly contrary to religion and morality; but, as the whole principle and object of the sect lies in what is vicious and criminal, to join with these men or in any way to help them cannot be lawful. Humanum Genus § 31

Timing

The media outlet, Infovaticana, provided an insight into the timing of Fr. Weninger’s address, suggesting that it was a test to the limits of the new pontificate’s authority. Certainly, no condemnation of the talk was ever issued by Pope Leo.

Another explanation could lie in the fact that actions speak louder than words: what is not censured, is approved.