Pope Francis, who has been preaching tolerance on various subjects using his platform as the head of the Roman Catholic church and sovereign of the Vatican City State since he was elected to the position in 2013 has rejected the Ambassador to the Holy See from the country of Lebanon because of his “Affiliation with Freemasonry” according to a story published at Breitbart news.
The report says that Pope Francis recently told Lebanese President Saad Hariri that Johnny Ibrahim who is currently General Council for Lebanon in Los Angeles was an unacceptable candidate for Ambassador to the Holy See, given his affiliation with Freemasonry.
The Vatican has, in the past, refused other diplomatic candidates in the past due to the candidates views on various catholic dogma including their support of abortion.
The story concludes “The Catholic Church has a history of hostility toward Freemasonry, and forbade Catholics from become members in Masonic organizations and other secret societies as far back as 1738. Up until 1983, Catholics who publicly associated with a Masonic lodge were automatically excommunicated.
Even today, the Church continues to bar Catholics from membership in Freemasonry because of “the basic irreconcilability between the principles of Freemasonry and those of the Christian faith.”
Membership in Masonic associations, states a Vatican statement from 1985, “remains forbidden by the Church, and the faithful who enrolls in them are in a state of grave sin and may not receive Holy Communion.”
