(Q): What is wrong with a Catholic being a Mason?
(A): According to the New Catholic Encyclopedia, "Freemasonry displays all the elements of religion, and as such it becomes a rival to the religion of the Gospel. It includes temples and altars, prayers, a moral code, worship, vestments, feast days, the promise of reward and punishment in the afterlife, a hierarchy, and initiative and burial rites" (vol. 6, p 137). Freemasonry in the United States is more or less a social gathering, however, there is a still a threat because it promotes a faith other than the orthodox Christianity. Most Masons are Christians and they display a Bible on their altar, however, all religious denominations (including non-Christian) are invited to join and may bring their own sacred scriptures.

(Q): What is the Catholic Church's official position on Freemasonry? Are Catholics free to become Freemasons?
(A): In 1983, Canon 1374 clarified the misunderstandings that were presented with Vatican II. The Canon states that a person who joins an association that plots against the church is to be punished with an interdict (excommunication).

Cardinal Ratzinger, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith issued a new declaration following this announcement of the new Code. The new Canon 1374 has the same essential import as the old Canon 2335, and the fact that the "Masonic sect" is no longer explicitly named is irrelevant;

1. The Church's negative judgment on Masonry remains unchanged, because the Masonic principles are irreconcilable with the Church's teaching ("earum principia semper iconciliabilia habita sunt cum Ecclesiae doctrina" )
   
2. Catholics who join the Masons are in the state of grave sin and may not receive Holy Communion and,
3. No local ecclesiastical authority has competence to derogate from these judgments of the Sacred Congregation.