Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger

ANTI-MASONRY

ROME & FREEMASONRY

PAPAL BULLS

Although his name may be unfamiliar to many freemasons, Cardinal Ratzinger looms large in the history of anti-masonry for his unswerving condemnation of Freemasonry and his absolute prohibition on Roman Catholics being freemasons.

Born on 16 April 1927 in Marktl am Inn, Germany, Joseph Alois Ratzinger was appointed Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Roman Curia on 25 November 1981 and Cardinal-Bishop of Ostia, Italy on 30 November 2002. He has also been President of the International Theological Commission and President of the Pontifical Biblical Commission.

The mission of the Catholic Church’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith—in the words of John Paul II—is "to promote and safeguard the doctrine on the faith and morals throughout the Catholic world."

In the words of the Unofficial Rartzinger Fan Club: "As Grand Inquisitor for Mother Rome, Ratzinger keeps himself busy in service to the Truth: correcting theological error, silencing dissenting theologians, and stomping down heresy wherever it may rear its ugly head—and, consequently, has received somewhat of a notorious reputation among the liberal media and 'enlightened' intellegensia of pseudo-Catholic universities."

Cardinal Ratzinger is also the author of God Is Near Us: The Eucharist, The Heart of Life (Ignatius Press, Sept. 2003) in which he outlines the biblical, historical, and theological dimensions of the Eucharist. "For Ratzinger, any transformation of the world on the social plane grows out of the celebration of the Eucharist."

Ratzinger took the name Benedict XVI when he was elected Pope in the papal Conclave of 19 April 2005. The previous day he had declared that "a dictatorship of relativism" was the core challenge facing the Roman Catholic church.

See: "The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church (1903-2001)" Biographical Dictionary. Portrait found at nterx.net/~mbrumley/archive.htm

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