The attached statement was released by the Grand-Master Mason
on
Saturday 29th December 2007 in response to a speech made by the
Pro Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of England on the 5th
6th November 2007.
Any questions may be directed to,
Peter J. Clatworthy
Grand Secretary
grandsecretary@btinternet.com
Grand Lodge of All England at York
www.grandlodgeofallengland.org
Regularity and Recognition: The Myth and the Reality
If reports are correct, there is much to commend in
the speech recently given by the Pro-Grand Master of the United
Grand Lodge of England to the
so-called ‘European Grand Masters’ Meeting’. However,
leaving aside the infelicitous claim to speak for ‘England’,
there are certain presumptions and confusions in the address that
demand the most urgent and serious scrutiny.
Regularity is of course an essential doctrine in Freemasonry but has in
recent years been subject to ill-considered assault from within the Craft
itself. It is therefore appropriate to analyse those comments of the Pro-Grand
Master that seem designed to undermine and devalue a concept that all Freemasons
ought to hold dear.
There is, for example, the explicit declaration that ‘to be regular
a Grand Lodge must conform to each of our basic Principles for Grand Lodge
Recognition or it cannot be considered as regular’. Given a moment’s
consideration a truly outrageous claim! Freemasonry is not, and never has
been, subject to or contained within the United Grand Lodge of England.
To suggest as much is to diminish the history, role and actuality of Freemasonry.
The cart is clearly and contrivedly put before the horse, making regularity
the reward for recognition. And conveniently in so doing the two quite
separate and distinct concepts of ‘Regularity’ and ‘Recognition’ are
conflated.
‘Regularity’ requires a strict acceptance
and observance of the Ancient Landmarks of the Order. Such Landmarks
are visible and ascertainable
and are found within any regular Grand Lodge. Regularity is represented
by adherence: nothing more, nothing less. It is not, and cannot ever
be, bestowed. Indeed, Regularity is necessarily beyond the capacity
of anybody
or any organisation whatsoever to bestow, be they Grand Master or
Grand Lodge. The very best any such Master or Lodge can hope to
do is to bequeath
Regularity to his or its successor. And here I can of course confirm
that the Grand Lodge of All England is such a regular Grand Lodge
and adheres
strictly to those Ancient Landmarks that alone can make it so.
‘Recognition’ is a very different concept. There are, for
example, devices the use of which may enable a regularly made Freemason
to be ‘recognised’ by others. Such may be said to amount to
individual recognition and on this level the term is quite uncontroversial.
However, the question should be asked as to what purpose Grand Lodge ‘recognition’ actually
serves, and who in fact really benefits from such a device. It should here
be noted that Grand Lodge ‘recognition’ has its genesis in
late eighteenth century legislation, such as the Unlawful Societies
Act, designed to stifle debate and discussion within the context
of an authoritarian
and politically repressive state. We recoil from the memory of such
devices and reject this latter day attempt to rejuvenate so tainted
and un-Masonic
a concept.
Far from having had thrust upon them ‘the mantle of being guardians
of regularity’, UGLE in fact seized upon the opportunity presented
by repressive legislation to attempt nothing less than the appropriation
of Freemasonry. In contradistinction, the Grand Lodge of All England does
not accept the validity of any such spurious doctrine as ‘recognition’ nor
does it ‘recognise’ any other Grand Lodges nor seek such ‘recognition’ from
others. Rather, it stands as the bearer of traditional Masonic principles
and disowns all attempts to subjugate and subvert genuine Freemasonry.
The Grand Lodge of All England has frequently and consistently
published its position with regard to these two quite separate
and distinct concepts
of ‘Regularity’ and ‘Recognition’. Together with
a detailed historical exposition this is explained at length on our
website at www.grandlodgeofallengland.org and is authoritatively
represented on
a number of general Masonic websites. It is stated in our official
submission to the Commission on Information for Recognition of the
Conference of Grand
Master Masons of North America, in articles in the hands of various
Masonic publishers and in correspondence with various interested
parties.
A Grand Lodge is, indeed, ‘either regular or it is not’. But
whether ‘recognition’ is extended or denied to one Grand Lodge
by another is irrelevant. There is in Masonic terms no historical or constitutional
basis for this spurious and wholly political doctrine of ‘recognition’.
To continue to employ such a device as a means of dividing Mason
from Mason is the residue of one of the least attractive, most repressive
and disgraceful
periods of modern Masonic history.
From inception, the United Grand Lodge of England has sought, unsuccessfully,
to exert a monopoly over Freemasonry. What cannot be countenanced is that
this aspiration should be allowed to corrupt the wholly genuine concept,
vital to genuine Freemasonry, of Regularity, and to render it nothing more
than a self-serving ideological notion. This concern is made all the immediate
by the compromises already entered into by United Grand Lodge of England
and the dilution of Masonic principles and practices that these compromises
have brought about.
Much of the difficulty the Pro-Grand Master sought
to address in his speech was to do with the role of the United
Grand Lodge of England within the
Masonic world. Such difficulty, however, is due to his own Grand
Lodge in seeking to redefine Freemasonry in its own image and as
in its own gift.
The Masonic doctrine of Regularity exists outside and is wholly independent
of any Grand Lodge. It is most emphatically not to be confused and
conflated with the practice of Grand Lodge ‘recognition’ devised
and instituted by the United Grand Lodge of England for its own
hegemonic purposes.
And Freemasonry, even English Freemasonry, is most emphatically not
to be confused and conflated with the United Grand Lodge of England.
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