Dr Redwood on Freemasonry.

Cromwell Argus, Volume V, Issue 249, 18 August 1874, Page 6

Dr Redwood on Freemasonry.

We select the following passages from the pastoral of the Right Rev. Dr Redwood, the Bishop of Wellington, " on the objects of Freemasonry" :—" This hell-born foe of religion and order, aspiring to universal sway, chiefly assails Europe, the head and heart of the world. Its ultimate aim is the annihilation of Catholicity—nay, of the Christian idea—for ever. Its invisible head is Satan, its visible head are the secret societies, or as the Pope calls them in his last Encylical—the 'Sects,' whether masonic, or of any other name. 'They form'—his Holiness says—- ' the Synagogue of Satan, which leads its attack against the Church, and gives her battle.' Its plan of attack is to destroy, firstly, the Temporal ; secondly, the Spiritual power of the Pope ; and thirdly, all Christianity. Its means to that effect are any whatsoever, provided they are effective—violence, cunning, fire and sword, poison and the dagger ; but chiefly—as being more applicable, far-reach-ing, and universal—they are the following—to deceive princes and Covernments, and then get the reins of power, as it now has them in Italy, Spain, Germany, and elsewhere ; then to destroy the influence of the clergy by the systematic corruption of the masses, by godless education, falsified history, immoral literature, an audaciously lying and slanderous press, pervei'ted arts and sciences, and lastly, by the marshalling of all religious sects adverse to Rome, into one huge host against the common foe—the Roman Catholic Church."