Recently condemned secret societies
Tuesday, February 5th, 2008The order of Odd-Fellows was formed in England in 1812 as a completed organization, though some lodges date back to 1745; and it was introduced into America in 1819. In the “Odd-Fellows’ Improved Pocket Manual” the author writes: “Our institution has instinctively, as it were, copied after all secret associations ofreligious and moral character.” The “North-West Odd-Fellow Review” (May, 1895) declares: “No home can be an ideal one unless the principles of our good and glorious Order are represented therein, and its teachings made the rule of life.” In the “New Odd-Fellows’ Manual” (N.Y., 1895) the author says: “The written as well as the unwritten secret work of the Order, I have sacredly kept unrevealed,” though the book is dedicated “to all inquirers who desire to know what Odd-Fellowship really is.” This book tells us “Odd-Fellowship was founded on great religious principles” ; “we useforms of worship” ; ” Judaism, Christianity, Mohammedanism recognize the only living and true God” . The Odd-Fellows have chaplains, altars, high-priests, ritual, order of worship, and funeral ceremonies.
The order of the Sons of Temperance was founded in New York in 1842 and introduced into England in 1846. The “Cyclopaedia of Fraternities” says: “The Sons of Temperance took the lead in England in demonstrating the propriety and practicability of both men and women mingling in secret society lodges.” That the object of this order and its kindred societies is not confined to temperance “is evidenced by its mode of initiation, the form of the obligation and the manner of religious worship” .
The order of the Knights of Pythias was founded in 1864 by prominent Freemasons (Cyclop. of Fraternities, p. 263). In number, its membership is second only to that of the Odd-Fellows. Rosen (The Catholic Church and Secret Societies) says: “The principal objectionable features, on account of which the Catholic Church has forbidden its members to join the Knights of Pythias, and demanded a withdrawal of those who joined it, are: First, the oath of secrecy by which the member binds himself to keep secret whatever concerns the doings of the Order, even from those in Church and State who have a right to know, under certain conditions, what their subjects are doing. Secondly, this oath binds the member to blind obedience, which is symbolized by a test. Such an obedience is against the law of man’s nature, and against all divine and human law. Thirdly, Christ is not the teacher and model in the rule of life but the pagan Pythagoras and the pagans Damon, Pythias and Dionysius” . The “Ritual for the subordinate Lodges of the Knights of Pythias” (Chicago, 1906) shows that this organization has oaths, degrees, prelates, and a ritual that contains religious worship.
The decree of the Holy Office concerning the Odd-Fellows, Sons of Temperance, and Knights of Pythias, though not declaring them to be condemned under censure, says: “The bishops must endeavour by all means to keep the faithful from joining all and each of the three aforesaid societies; and warn the faithful against them, and if, after proper monition, they still determine to be members of these societies, or do not effectually separate themselves from them, they are to be forbidden the reception of the sacraments. A decree of 18 Jan., 1896, allows a nominal membership in these three societies, if in the judgment of the Apostolic delegate, four conditions are fulfilled: that the society was entered in good faith, that there be no scandal, that grave temporal injury would result from withdrawal, and that there be no danger of perversion. The delegate, in granting a dispensation, usually requires a promise that the person will not attend any meetings or frequent the lodge-rooms, that the dues be sent in by mail or by a third party, and that in case of death the society will have nothing to do with the funeral.
