Whosover will be saved?
And finds it necessary to say,
“That without doubt no faith remains”
Yet himself perishes everlastingly
The faith of Our Fathers has passed away,
Striving to understand God who is not real
Yet more real than any that came before.
And still we muddle confused and bored.
What of One God abiding in Unity
Or in Triplicate or Quadruplicate;
Essential essences meaning nothing.
And us thinking we will be saved.
Nevermind the theological truths,
Be thou drunk! you haven’t tasted
The vine, the way, the truth
Finding your faith untainted.
Infinities are there, uncreated,
A dazzling spectrum of varying hues.
This is God, wholly uncreated,
The God who is reflecting you.
After two years of hard work, Father Anthony Silvia + brings to us an amazing primer in Johannite spirituality in his Sanctuary of the Sacred Flame bringing to light the foundational practices of the Apostolic Johannite Church for all to see including the Logos Liturgy and the ceremony of the Agape Feast.
The Apostolic Johannite Church is a world-wide network of communities united by the pursuit of gnosis and the communal celebration of the Divine. In Sanctuary of the Sacred Flame, Father “Tony” explains the significance of the central spiritual practices of the AJC after many years of personal practice, explores traditional devotionals in an applicable and approachable way, all the while maintaining his own sincere sense of humility and humor.
This text, following six years on the heels of Monsignor Jordan Stratford’s+ Living Gnosticism and three years on the heels of Father Donald Donato’s+ dutiful translation of The Levitikon: the Gospels According to the Primitive Church, is a foundational text for anyone looking to begin their own personal practice in the tradition of the disciples of the Divine Beloved and includes practices innovated by members of this community in the modern age.
Sanctuary of the Sacred Flame is sure to be a text I will myself refer to in the future as I undergo the seminary program toward priesthood in the AJC and am proud to suggest to anyone looking for a change of pace in their spiritual practices. My only complaint is that it is a little light on ‘in depth’ philosophy, but it makes up for it in the depth of experience of all the practitioners whose work contributed to the creation of such an amazing text.
Today, Ash Wednesday, marks another return to the liturgical season of Lent, a period oftentimes associated with fasting, self-denial, and penance in many churches. For many post-restoration Gnostics, however, the meaning of this season shifts from one of denial and self-deprecation to an opportunity for engaging in deeper, more attentive, inner contemplation and meditation. Though the external symbols may appear the same, the penitential mood of this season has more in common with alerting us toward our true natures and our frequent inability to remember who we are and “whereto we speed[1]”, as opposed to attaching ourselves to guilt.
Scripture reminds us that we are in fact extensions of the eternal Godhead; immortal, incorrupt, made in the image of eternity[2]. Yet, due to the vast temporal distance from the initial moment of Creation, it is difficult for us to remember this truth and instead wander around in a more or less amnesiac state either bemoaning the gift that has been given us or, conversely, reveling mindlessly in temporal delights without pausing for a moment to recognize that material pleasures are fleeting and not intrinsically meaningful.
During this time of introspection, we are called to make a conscious effort toward remembering our own unique divinity and the divinity we share with the whole of Creation. Far from being a period of denial, Lent is an opportunity for radical engagement with ourselves and the world around us, an exercise to see things as the Godhead intended them to be. By saturating our experiences with meaning, we are able to rediscover the original moment of Creation as continually unfolding around us at all times, in all places and in all things.
The liturgical season of Lent is concrete marker for us to focus on what is ultimately an abstract process that each of us are going through individually in our spiritual process. By infusing this season with meaning, we encounter other markers along the way that can help us better focus our wandering minds. Ash Wednesday changes from penance and the negative religious mood of self-denial to being marked for stronger spiritual training [3]and casting off those things hindering our process and making us mentally and spiritually more capable of putting our experiences into a wider perspective as Jesus did in casting aside the temptations of using his messianic mission for worldly ends instead of offering an example for experiencing and exercising our free will[4].
Echoing my post from the previous year, the primary importance of Lent is to help us grow in our experience toward the divine in whatever form we may honor it. The goal is complete transformation and is unique to each and every one of us and there is no external litmus test for success or failure, only the intent and the rewards of being able to slowly see things as they are and receive being open to experience of our own dynamic divine nature.
As I noted in my entry last year, Candlemas, also known the Feast of the Presentation, is one of the Twelve Great Feasts and is celebrated by Christians world-wide in commemoration of the gospel account of Mary and Joseph’s presentation of Jesus in the Temple of Jerusalem to complete Mary’s ritual purification forty days after birth in accordance with the Law of Moses.
The tradition of purification following childbirth was something that, unsettlingly to many in our contemporary culture, survived well into the modern era in the Catholic and Anglican practice of churching new mothers forty days after childbirth wherein a blessing is given to mothers and prayers of thanksgiving are offered for the survival of the child, which with higher infant mortality concerns was a major reason to give thanks.
In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the Feast of Candlemas became deeply syncretized with the Irish quarter celebration of Imbolc which, even in modern Ireland, is considered to mark the beginning of Spring and is a festival fundamentally associated with the ancient goddess Bríg or Brigid, who may be fundamentally considered the same as the Christian Saint Brigid of Kildare whose feast occurs traditionally on the first of February. At this point, it’s hard to say which celebration and traditions influenced one another but in practice they have become so fused that to this day many modern Pagans celebrate it as one of their major yearly celebrations however the tradition of setting lights and keeping vigil are maintained.
Western ecclesial practice for this day maintains the tradition of blessing bees-wax candles to be used in church and by members of the community throughout the year. According to some traditions, the candles used by the faithful put to flight the assaults of evil spirits or faeries and have the additional advantage of warding away the harmful effects of storms. The emphasis on beeswax is something that deeply interests me in light of the current ecological disaster facing many beekeepers with the current die-offs as well as being someone who grew up in an agricultural community where bees are essential to daily life. The connection between liminal (cross-between) times, prophesy, and enlightment and the bee is something I find fascinating, in particular as a modern Gnostic.
Throughout the ancient Levant, the bee was believed to be the sacred insect that bridged the natural world to the underworld. Tomb decorations, in particular the Mycenean tholos tombs, were even shaped like bee-hives, likely in reference to the ancient goddess Potnia whose name simply means, “mistress”. Her title and epithets were also inherited by classical and Mycenean Greek and applied to many goddesses, including Kore in her role in the Arcadian mysteries of Eleusis.
The bee was also connected in many of these cultures with the gift of prophesy, elements of which are also apparent 1 Samuel 14:24-30:
“He [Jonathan] extended the staff that was in his hand, and dipped the tip of it in the honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth; and his eyes brightened. Then one of the soldiers said, “Your father strictly charged the troops with an oath, saying, ‘Cursed be anyone who eats food this day.’ And so the troops are faint.” Then Jonathan said, “My father has troubled the land; see how my eyes have brightened because I tasted a little of this honey. How much better if today the troops had eaten freely of the spoil taken from their enemies; for now the slaughter among the Philistines has not been great.”
The Biblical connection between honey and prophesy continues in the account of the prophet John the Baptist who was said to wear clothing of camel hair and feed on locusts and wild honey. (Matthew 3:4, Mark 1:6) as well in the Apocalypse of John (Rev. 10:9-10)
Although the Romantic notion of a connection between a supposed Jesus Dynasty flourishing in France such as those popularized in the fictional books Holy Blood, Holy Grail and the The DaVinci Code, has been definitively disproven, golden bees (or cicadas!) as a symbol of royalty were discovered in 1653 in Tournai in the tomb of Childeric I, founder in 457 of the Merovingian dynasty and father of Clovis and were resurrected in usage by Emperor Napoleon of France in his coat of arms. Interestingly, as Father Donato+ points out in his speculative essay:
“[A] few days before his imperial coronation, Napoleon met with the Roman Pontiff in secret. This was the social and political backdrop of Dr. Fabré-Palaprat’s discovery of the Lévitikon in Paris that same year. The secretive meeting between Napoleon and the pope took place in Paris, but not as a State visit. During their private talks, the pope reportedly pressed Napoleon to sign a document in which Louis XIV “disavowed the articles of the declaration of the clergy in 1682, which was drawn up by Bishop Jacques Bénigne Bossuet as the foundation of the liberties of the Gallican Church… The pope was asking that Napoleon sign a document repudiating the authority of the French Monarch to his extraordinary authority over the established Catholic Church in France, which was claimed – and never relinquished legally – by Louis’ successors. Here, it is important to recall that after Louis XIV, his nephew, Philippe d’Orleans, served as regent for Louis XV. This Philippe is the Duke of Orleans who was appointed Grand-Master of the Order of the Temple, and reformer of its statutes. In name alone, but still by intention, this made Philippe and his successors the Johannite Patriarchs – privy to the secrets and the succession of St. John and everything that entailed. With a renewed monarchy, such as the one Napoleon was about to create, all of these prerogatives would eventually fall into the imperial lap. And the pope knew it.”
Although speculative, for Johannites this connection between the bee and its relevance to the mysteries of John may prove something fun to think about.
This Saturday Holy Paraclete Community will be celebrating the Vespers service of the Apostolic Johannite Church, a central part of the ceremony being the lighting of the lucernarium. Traditionally, it would be during the vespers service that the candles would be blessed however, in absence of a priest; I plan on distributing candles to the community out of symbolic solidarity.
For me personally, the morning of Candlemas will be spent in contemplative meditation and participation in Teo Bishop’s Solitary Druid Fellowship’s February Cross Quarter liturgy. Though not pagan myself (in spite of what P. Sufenas Virius Lupus may say), the emphasis on ecological awareness and integration as well as spiritual enlightenment and transformation found in modern druidry appeals to me very much and, in honor of the Brigid’s might not be a bad opportunity to help focus on the Sacred Flame within all people and all paths.
note: in the original post, I had erroneously called Imbolc and Irish ‘cross-quarter’ celebration. As PSVL notes in the comments: “Imbolc is not a cross-quarter day for the Irish, it’s a quarter-day. The whole notion that Imbolc, Beltaine, Lugnasad, and Samain are “cross-quarter days” comes from Wicca, not from Irish tradition. This is the first day of Spring for the Irish, just as Beltaine is the first of Summer, Lugnasad the first of Autumn, and Samain the first of Winter.”
In a recent post over at his Arkadian Anvil, friend and esoteric colleague Sam Webster M.Div. has a fascinating article about the difficulties of language in the field of theology from a Pagan perspective. Having many friends myself who, like him, are self-identified Pagans from a myriad of different traditions and backgrounds, I deeply sympathise with his concerns which I would encourage my readers to spend some time thinking about. From a Gnostic perspective I frequently run into similar difficulties of expression on one hand because of the differences between historical Gnosticism of the 2nd and 3rd Centuries and Gnosticism as it has come into being since the Gnostic Revival of the late 19th Century which itself is deserving of its own essay. However, there are some things I think that Sam absolutely correct on and some that he is mistaken on and so I offer my critique here:
In his recent essay Theology Is God-Talk, scholar and modern mage Sam Webster approaches the difficulties of expressing contemporary pagan religious ideas in a field that, since at least the early first millennium has lacked a voice of pluralism under the dominance of monotheistic cultures. In this essay he squarely levels the playing field by citing the misunderstanding of the role of theology in the Hellenic mind by the nascent Christian religion where it became refined by apologists seeking to explain to their contemporaries the importance of Christianity as a religious world-view as well as pointing out the role that theology played in the late Roman Empire as a means of uniting the populus by consolidating state and religion as a monolithic structure of one God, one Emperor, and one State. Although correct in his assertion that the current language of theology is perhaps insufficient for discourse from a pagan perspective, he fails to account for the plurality of theologies that have been developed in response to the early Christian movement when a monotheistic culture once sought out to do what modern pagans must hammer away at for themselves today.
As Webster correctly points out, “[theology] is God talk” however is incorrect in his assertion that it is something particularly new. In his Metaphysics, Aristotle divides theoretical philosophy into what today would be understood as mathematics, physics and theology – the latter corresponding more correctly to what today would be considered abstract metaphysics. By the time of the early Christian era religious philosophy would become divided culturally into Eastern and Western theologies with early Christian theologians in the West following a more Stoic form of dividing philosophy into three forms of discourse consisting of mythic, rational and civil interpretations while those in the East – in particular those early in the early Christian eremitic tradition – following a much more poetic and mythic exegetical form owing to the strong influence of Neoplatonism. On account of this, it is difficult to state there is one Christian theological template that would generalize the opinions of the early Church in the same way it would be difficult to say that Roman or Hellenic pagan philosophers were drawing from the same well.
Webster’s example of the ‘problem’ of the development of Christian theology as a means to appeal to the powers that be is particularly problematic in that it proposes that the symbol set used by the early Christians in explaining the Christian doctrines of the Trinity and incarnation are particularly new or unique. The Doctrine of the Trinity, while arguably having little scriptural basis, is none-the-less a very interesting reinterpretation of Neoplatonic concept of emanation theory through an Hellenized, Jewish lens using apocalyptic narrative as a framework. Similarly, the concept of incarnation is also not particularly new, especially when one considers the vast corpus of material accounting for the wholly human and wholly divine statuses of various deities, demi-gods and heroes. While I personally disagree with the literal interpretation that later doctors of the Church would ascribe to these ideas, they did exist and are not strictly speaking new in theological discourse. The tools of the ancient philosophers in this vein were not so much put to new use as they found new meaning in the language of the early Christians.
In the centuries following the arguable collapse of Paganism, Western Scholastic Theology filled in the void left by classical philosophers and theologians until the Renaissance and has sense captivated the Western mind seeking, as Saint Anselm points out, the intellectual desire to “believe so as to understand.” This cataphatic form of religious philosophy, in spite of its failings, would ultimately be the form that would become dominant in Western Europe with the exception of apophatic or mystical understanding of the Christian concept of Divinity held by some theologians. It is also this form of theology that would give rise to later philosophical schools such as humanism as well as the philosophies of materialism that would gain later prominence in the post-Enlightenment era.
It is out of Enlightenment philosophy that modern systematic theology came into being, in particular among more liberal circles such as the Society of Friends (Quakers), Unitarian and Universalist movements, and contemporary ‘liberal’ and mainline Christian churches in contrast to the strong anti-modernist reactions exemplified by the Roman Catholic Church pre-Vatican II as well as modern evangelical Christianity. It is also in this milieu that modern Pagans must seek to find their voices in the dynamic tensions of philosophical ideas – even more important for modern Pagans, many of whom are refugees from the excessive pressure put on them by conservative socio-religious structures.
Owing to the diverse perspectives within modern Paganism, it will naturally be difficult but not impossible for a new theological plurality to emerge that can draw upon the rich wells and bury the dry sources provided by the different perspectives offered by Christians following the end of the classical world in a manner that is at once old and new and speaks not as a monolithic structure for all, but like a fertile apple tree, exists for individuals to pluck fruit from while still leaving other apples for other members of greater Paganism. Although theology has its origins in a pagan milieu, it has ceased to belong to any one religious or philosophical school, but is now that tree standing in the middle of the field of human experience from which all can draw.
The Feast of Pentecost which happened yesterday, marks the end of the Paschal cycle and the half of the liturgical calendar dedicated to the Christ and the beginning of the year of the Church in Western Church calendar. Amongst some contemporary Gnostics, however, Pentecost also marks the beginning of the half of the year dedicated to the Sophia – Holy Wisdom. In archetypal language, one could view the two halves of the year as being indicative of the masculine and feminine or supernal and immanent aspects of Godhead.
In classical Gnosticism, the Sophia was held to be the syzygy of Jesus Christ (i.e. the Bride of Christ), and Holy Spirit of the Trinity and in the Nag Hammadi texts she is considered to be lowest Aeon, or anthropic expression of the emanation of the light of God. Following the Feast of the Ascension, that takes place roughly a week prior to Pentecost commemorating the Light of the Christ being withdrawn back up into the Pleroma (Fullness), it at Pentecost that we are reminded of God’s continuing eminence in the world through the activity of the Holy Spirit as promised by Jesus before his ascension:
“Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake. Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto the Father.And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.If ye shall ask anything in my name, that will I do. If ye love me, ye will keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth: whom the world cannot receive; for it beholdeth him not, neither knoweth him: ye know him; for he abideth with you, and shall be in you.” (John 14:11-17)
After the ascension and at Pentecost, as promised, the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles in a magnificent display:
“And when the day of Pentecost was now come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound as of the rushing of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them tongues parting asunder, like as of fire; and it sat upon each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” (Acts 2:1-4)
In the Greek text, the name used to indicate the Holy Spirit is Paraclete, literally “advocate” as one would have during a legal trial, hardly a comforting image as one would imagine and definitely a presage of things to come in the early centuries of the Christian movement. At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descends blazing fire and inspiring (inspiriting?!) the apostles to continue the works which Christ had commanded as part of the Great Commission.
How this relates to the Sophia is that we are assured through attention to Holy Wisdom we are able to overcome the difficulties of our transitory life and can be rest assured that God continually abides in us as we continue to follow the precepts not only given by Christ through scripture, but through continual abiding in the presence of the Holy Spirit. Far from being a onetime affair limited to an historical point in time, Pentecost is a continual event marking the continuity of Gods covenant with all humanity and us with one another so long as we remember that most holy commandment: “love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” (John 13:14).
On March 16th many contemporary Gnostic churches commemorate the Martyrdom of the Holy Cathars at Montségur by 10,000 troops at the end of the Albigensian Crusade a 20-year military campaign initiated by the Catholic Church to eliminate Catharism in Languedoc. In March 1244, the Cathars finally surrendered and approximately 220 were burned en masse in a bonfire at the foot of the pog when they refused to renounce their faith. Some 25 actually took the ultimate Cathar vow of consolamentum perfecti in the two weeks before the final surrender.
Catharism was a name given to a Christian religious movement with mitigated dualistic and gnostic elements that appeared in the Languedoc region of France and other parts of Europe in the 11th century and flourished in the 12th and 13th centuries. The Cathars, who frequently self-identified themselves as Bons Hommes or “Good Christians” were largely a grass-roots expression of piety who were acknowledged even by their Catholic neighbors as living lives of extreme devotion to the essence of Christian principals and, at the peak of their movement, were a formidable counter-religious movement to the Catholic Church which would ultimately bring about their persecution by Pope Innocent III and regional French royals.
In honor of the memory of the Holy Cathar Martyrs, below are some of my favorite pieces of Cathar scripture and verse which may be read or recited on one should so choose:
“Whereas we are taught by God`s Holy Word as well as by the Holy Apostles and the preaching of our spiritual brothers to reject all fleshly desire and all uncleanness and to do the will of God by doing good we, unworthy servants that we are, not only do not do the will of God as we should, but more often give way to desires of the flesh and the cares of the world, to such an extent that we wound our spirits.”
– Apareilementum from the Lyon Ritual
“For the Lord is called omnipotent, as our opponents avow, and He can do whatsoever pleases Him; nor can anyone resist Him,” or say, “Why dost Thou so?” As Ecclesiastes says: For He will do all that pleaseth Him and His word is full of power; neither can any man say to Him: ‘Why dost Thou so?’ ” And David says, “But our God in heaven; He hath done all things whatsoever He would,” And in the Apocalypse is written: “Saith the Lord God, who is and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” And again, “Great and wonderful are Thy works, O Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Thy ways, O King of Ages! Who shall not fear Thee, O Lord, and magnify Thy name? For Thou only art holy.”
- On the Omnipotence of God, The Book of Two Principals
“Thereafter I heard a voice there and the song which I heard in the six heavens rose up and was heard in the seventh heaven. And all glorified Him whose glory I could not behold. And the song of all six heavens was not only heard but seen. And the angel said to me, ‘He is the One Living Eternal, living in the highest eternity and resting among the holy ones; we cannot endure to name or see Him who is praised by the Holy Spirit in the mouths of the holy [and] righteous.”
- Vision of Isaiah 5:1
“[If] you wish to receive this power you must keep all the commandments of Christ and the New Testament according to your ability. And know that He has commanded that man shall not commit adultery or murder or lie, that he must not swear any oath, that he shall not seize or rob, nor do to others what he would not have done to himself, that man must forgive whoever wrongs him and love his enemies, pray for his detractors and accusers and bless them; and if anyone strike him on one cheek, turn to him the other also, and if anyone takes away his cloak, to leave him his coat also; and that he should neither judge nor condemn, and many other commandments which the Lord made for His Church.”
- Traditio, the rite of the transmission of prayer.
“Holy Father, Rightful King of faithful souls, who never erred, who never lied, follower of the rightful course, who never doubted lest we should accept death in the realm of the wrong god; as we do not belong to this realm and this realm is not ours – teach us Your gnosis and to love what You love.”
- A traditional Cathar prayer from the 13th Century
May the memory of the Good Christians never perish and the light of gnosis never fail. In particular, I also wish to commemorate St. Esclarmonde de Foix, a Cathar parfait who is credited with opening a number of hospitals, schools and Cathar convents in a time before the Catholic Church had done so, who single-handedly refuted the attempts of conversion by Dominic de Guzeman and when pursued by those who would attempt to kill her ascended into the sky in the shape of a dove far from her captors.
While many Christians take the fourteenth of February to celebrate the Feast of Saint Valentine – or one of the saint Valentines – many contemporary Gnostics have taken this day to memorialize the great Gnostic teacher and bishop Valentinus who the best known as the most successful early Christian gnostic theologian.
Recognized as a brilliant theologian even by his contemporaries who would later repudiate his teachings as unorthodox, Valentinus attracted a large following in Rome which would later become divided into an Eastern and a Western or Italian branch.
In honor of this great teacher, here are a selection of writings from the school of this great teacher, theologian and bearer of the Sacred Flame.
“Many of the things written in publicly available books are found in the writings of God’s church. For this shared matter is the utterances that come from the heart, the law that is written in the heart. This is the people of the beloved , which is beloved and which loves him. “ – Fragment 6.
“For each one loves truth because truth is the mouth of the Father. His tongue is the Holy Spirit, who joins him to truth attaching him to the mouth of the Father by his tongue at the time he shall receive the Holy Spirit.” – The Gospel of Truth
“For this reason, God came and destroyed the division and he brought the hot Pleroma of love, so that the cold may not return, but the unity of the Perfect Thought prevail” – The Gospel of Truth
“Moreover, the first baptism is the forgiveness of sins. We are brought from those of the right, that is, into the imperishability which is the Jordan. But that place is of the world. So we have been sent out of the world into the Aeon. For the interpretation of John is the Aeon, while the interpretation of that which is the upward progression, that is, our Exodus from the world into the Aeon.” – On the Baptism A.
“It is from water and fire that the soul and the spirit came into being. It is from water and fire and light that the son of the bridal chamber came into being. The fire is the chrism, the light is the fire. I am not referring to that fire which has no form, but to the other fire whose form is white, which is bright and beautiful, and which gives beauty.” – The Gospel of Philip
Wherefore on this day, may we be reminded of the great and holy Valentinus and as successors and heirs give him due honor and praise.
O glorious teacher and protector, Holy Valentinus, we who are but babes rushing forth from the womb ask thee to hear our requests, attend to our prayers, make clear the path of righteousness, reveal by your intercession the Truth we seek, and obtain for us the blessing of the Unknown Father, that we may be found worthy to join you in the Limitless Light, : through the merits of the Christos and of our Holy Mother Sophia. Amen.
In 1881, Irish-American Catholic priest, Father Michael J. McGivney gathered a group of men from Saint Mary’s parish in New Haven, Connecticut for the formation of a mutual benefit society which would eventually become the Knights of Columbus, one of the largest charitable, fraternal organizations in the world.
During the late 19th Century, a period of history characterized by the bustling growth of many fraternal organizations such as Free and Accepted Masons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and many similar groups, Roman Catholics were effectively barred from many of these popular fraternal organizations, or, as in the case of Freemasonry, forbidden from joining by the Catholic Church itself under the papal bull In Eminenti Apostolatus which states:
“We command most strictly and in virtue of holy obedience, all the faithful of whatever state, grade, condition, order, dignity or pre-eminence, whether clerical or lay, secular or regular, even those who are entitled to specific and individual mention, that none, under any pretext or for any reason, shall dare or presume to enter, propagate or support these aforesaid societies of Liberi Muratori or Francs Massons, or however else they are called… be enrolled among them, joined to them, be present with them, give power or permission for them to meet elsewhere… to be present or to assist them in any way; but they must stay completely clear of such Societies… under pain of excommunication.”
In this environment of American anti-Catholicism and under the threat of excommunication for those who would seek to join such organizations, the creation of the Knights of Columbus by Father McGivney provided American Catholics a viable, fraternal, alternative in which men could meet and engage in charitable activities without the threat of being separated from their faith as well as provide for the financial and social well-being of members of their community in need.
Although the zenith of fraternal organizations in the United States and North America has effectively subsided, the Knights of Columbus continues to exist as one of the Catholic Church’s primary relief organizations and has expanded throughout the world spreading with it the Knights’ principals of charity, unity, fraternity and patriotism. It is because of their continued existence that many Catholics and others are able to find housing, have insurance, go through seminary, and even gain employment. It is also because of the Knights of Columbus that some are prevented from optimally participating in the equal rights guaranteed to them under the provisions guaranteed to them under the civil protections of their country, and churches are denied the privilege to legally offer the Sacred Rite of Marriage to their congregants.
In 2008, California Proposition 8, called the California Marriage Protection Act by proponents, was passed, barring same-sex couples in the state of California the constitutional right to marry. In its wake, mass protests took place across the state and across the country by individuals wishing to demonstrate solidarity with those affected by the legislative act. Of the many organizations which donated money to ensure that the rights to marriage would be limited to opposite-sex couples, the Catholic Church through the efforts of the Knights of Columbus was able to donate one million ($1M) dollars to Protect Marriage, the organization which sponsored the initiative that placed Proposition 8 on the ballot and continues to support the measure.
In my own state, the threat that Washington State citizens may be denied their civil liberties is raising its head once again following the 28-21 vote on Wednesday night in favor of Senate Bill 6239, an act relating to providing equal protection for all families in Washington by creating equality in civil marriage which the National Organization for Marriage has promised to fight with the full support of the Archdiocese of Seattle and the Diocese of Spokane. Although Washington has historically been considered one of the most non-religious states, the Catholic Church represents the largest religious organization in this state with 1,058,721 members, inclusive of the Archdiocese of Seattle and the Diocese of Spokane.
Senate Bill 6239 only affects the civil definition of marriage only while protecting the rights of religious groups which can either affirm or discriminate for or against performing same-sex marriages in their respective congregations. As religious groups, such as the Knights of Columbus and the Catholic Church, who oppose this legislation are preparing to raise money to prevent this change of definition of civil marriage in Washington, it is estimated that almost 23,000 people are homeless in Washington State and many thousands more, children and elderly, are uninsured or living in low-income housing with little or no assistance whatsoever. Additionally, there are thousands of children in Washington State who are without families or waiting for adoption. To this end, I call on the Catholic Church in this Washington to consider the gravity of these situations in comparison to the small-percentage of people who will be affected by the passing of SB 6239.
To the Knights of Columbus: you men, young and old, who will be demonstrating and raising money to overturn SB 6239 and who are bound to the principals of charity, unity, fraternity and patriotism; consider for a moment that whatever actions you will take in this civil action will reflect on your principals as a chivalric organization. When there are those who are homeless or who are in need, what concrete charitable benefit could you be giving them by raising money that would prevent them from enjoying their basic liberties and access to assistance? What kind of unified society to you seek to create, when individuals you exclude God’s children from it? Are you fulfilling Christ’s teachings of brotherhood yet failing to keep your brothers and sisters as you would yourselves? Are you adhering to patriotism when you would destroy the duly passed measures voted on by your state?
The point at which the Knights of Columbus would sooner raise money to ensure inequality is the point at which they forfeit their chivalry and must acknowledge that their state is equally as fallen into idolatry. Next month, as the Knights of Columbus prepare to celebrate their 130th anniversary of their incorporation as a benefit society, charitable reports from 2008 and 2009 seem to indicate that more giving has gone to “family life” projects than they did to “community projects.” As an article in the National Catholic Reporter observes:
“On the surface this sounds benign, but “family life” is the Knights’ terminology for predominantly anti-gay initiatives, whereas “community projects” represents soup kitchens and food pantries… Additionally, in 2009 and 2010, Knights officials contributed $200,000 as noted in annual reports to Vox Clara, the bishops’ committee responsible for turning back the clock on the liturgy and implementing the recent controversial language changes in the Mass. They have been a significant funder of the committee since 2006. Over the same time period, the Knights donated almost $1.2 million to fund the bishops’ newly created committee that works against equal protection for gays and lesbians and dubbed it “charity” in their annual report.”
The Catholic Church, of which the Knights of Columbus are a part, is the largest charitable and humanitarian organization in the world. As a former Roman Catholic, I deeply appreciate and admire everything the church has done that has benefited society even when it was inconvenient for it so to do. While I left over many key theological and philosophical incongruities, I consider myself indelibly marked by the catholic tradition and values which have been impressed upon me. It is my sincere hope that the Church in Washington State immediately remove itself from this particular legislative course which already ensures that its internal structure and values will be unaltered and unmolested, and that the Knights who are so eager to be stewards of lofty values think twice about raising their swords in an unnecessary battle.
