‘Better late than never: A&A Rite removes Christian requisite’

    

A&A Rite

Ending a 178-year tradition of reserving its high degrees to professed Trinitarian Christians, the Ancient & Accepted Rite for England and Wales eliminated that requirement earlier this month and announced so on Friday. (Its website doesn’t reflect the change yet.) This new rule will take effect March 1, 2024.

The Supreme Council empaneled an advisory committee comprised of a rabbi (Orthodox), a priest (Anglican), “and representatives of the Hindu, Muslim, and Sikh communities” who “are satisfied that the ritual is appropriate and theologically sound,” according to a memo circulated to members. Changes to ritual are described as minor, such as referring to “Jesus of Nazareth” instead of “Jesus Christ our Saviour.” (This is the approach in the United States.)

“The Supreme Council has been considering the matter on and off decades,” it also says, adding how all nine members of Supreme Council are in unanimity on the decision.

The history of the Rite.

I suppose most American Freemasons think only of England transmitting Masonic degrees to America, but there are instances, such as the Scottish Rite and Cryptic Rite, of American Masons sending degrees the other way across the Atlantic. For the A&A Rite history, I cannot recommend strongly enough Rose-Croix: The History of the Ancient and Accepted Rite for England and Wales by Alexander C.F. Jackson (1980).  In short, there were Scottish Rite authorities in America’s Northern Masonic Jurisdiction, led by J.J.J. Gourgas here in New York City, who received requests in 1845 for legitimate establishment of the thirty-three degrees from notable Masons in England. (One such letter, from the aptly named Robert Crucefix, was dated November 10, coincidentally enough.) The legal paperwork was settled quickly when the Americans issued that authority by the end of the year, making Crucefix a Sovereign Grand Inspector General—and they included a letter explaining how membership would be restricted to Christians. It was a discrete letter, not part of the official documents consisting of patents, statutes, rituals, etc.

If it was simple discrimination they desired to practice, I doubt that was even necessary. To be other than Christian in England at that time was to be nonexistent; Jewish people, for example, had nothing we Americans might term civil rights until 1858. But some Jewish men had been admitted to lodges in England since the 1730s, and the mid nineteenth century was a period when Freemasonry spread around the British Empire, resulting in men of a variety of other faiths—Muslims, Hindus, and more—being accepted into lodges.

In the United States, the Mother Supreme Council (Southern Jurisdiction) of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite had made the decision to end that religious divide in the nineteenth century (prompted by Albert Pike, if I’m not mistaken), and the NMJ followed in the 1940s. The English have referred to the American system as “theist” on account of our requirement plainly to believe in God. In its announcement Friday, the Supreme Council of the A&A Rite (being English, they don’t use “Scottish” in the name) says:

Click to enlarge.

“the Order’s current stance fails to reflect the Christian—and Masonic—need to be loving towards all and to treat one another with equity. To that end, the Council has come to the unanimous conclusion that the requirement to profess the Trinitarian Christian faith should no longer be a requisite of admission to this Order, which strives to be reflective of a modern, inclusive society. In the Council’s view, to remove the restriction is the Christian thing to do. There are many good people prevented from experiencing the Higher Degrees of Freemasonry, who would enjoy membership and who would be assets to our Order; there is no reason why they should not join if they wish, provided they are willing to strive to uphold the Christian ideals of faith, hope and charity exemplified by the life and teachings of Jesus, so beautifully represented in the 18°.”

The notion of religious distinction in the rite is rooted in its founding document, the fabled Grand Constitution of 1786, allegedly signed by none other than Frederick the Great, Article Five of which includes: “Each Supreme Council is to be composed of nine Inspectors General, at least Five of whom must profess the Christian religion.”

The Magpie Mason welcomes the A&A Rite for England and Wales into the twenty-first century. And I cannot help but appreciate the coincidence of its announcement coming at the moment adherents of a certain nazi ideology are swarming the streets of London, baying for the extermination of the Jewish people. Not much Freemasonry can do about that, sadly.

My thanks to Bro. David Chichinadze for the alert yesterday.