introduction
CHAPTER I
masonry in latin america
W.Bro. Juan Carlos
Alvarez, P.J.G.W.,
Regional Grand
Counsellor New South Wales, Australia.
Having recently returned from a trip to Latin America, where I had the
opportunity to visit some of the Lodges in Mexico, Argentina and Chile, I was
able to experience, once again, the differences that exist in Freemasonry.
We normally tend to think that Freemasonry is universal; the principles,
tenets, and teachings are universal, but the practices, rituals and procedures,
in most cases are very different; even some of the modes of recognition are not
the same, and we are of course, referring to Regular Grand Lodges properly
recognised throughout the masonic world.
In dealing with the complex and highly individual societies of Latin America,
we can no longer be content merely with masonic history, but we must look also,
even in a brief manner, into its political history and its area's social and
economic environment. We must look at the struggles for political unity and the
achievement of nationhood for a better understanding of the introduction and
expansion of masonry, so closely related to the factors mentioned above. We must
also attempt to understand Freemasonry in the light of the times.
For more than 300 years the continent was under the paternalistic and
repressive control of Spain and Portugal, which discouraged political
self-government and individual initiative, and suppressed intellectual
ambition.
The voyages of Columbus established the Spanish claim to Latin America but a
Portuguese navigator, Pedro Alvares Cabral whilst en route to India in 1500 was
blown off his navigation course and discovered Brazil. He claimed the land for
Portugal, which was confirmed by the Treaty of Tordesillas, in the division of
the unexplored lands of the world between Spain and Portugal.
The Spanish Pope, Alexander VI, on being asked by the Crowns of Spain and
Portugal to solve any differences that may arise from the discovery of new
lands, divided the New World, as it was then known, by the authority of three
Bulls of Demarcation issued in May, 1493. It separated the area by a North-South
line in the Atlantic Ocean running 100 leagues West of the Azores, with all
lands east of the line granted to Portugal and all the territory west of this
imaginary line, to Spain.
This arrangement did not suit Portugal as she lacked the necessary sea space
to go around the African Continent; the Treaty of Tordesillas signed on 7th
June, 1494 which moved the line westward to 370 leagues West of Cape Verde
Islands, gave Portugal the room needed for navigation and though it was not
known at the time, provided Portugal with a toe-hold on the eastern part of
South America leading to the development of Brazil as a Portuguese colony.
During those colonial times in South America there existed complete
intellectual isolation.
Any new or liberal idea was completely restricted as vouched for by the
statutes of the "Recopilaciones de Indias" book 9 title 27 law 7 which stated
"No Foreigner is allowed to travel to the Indias" (read America) or deal in
commerce in it unless he is the holder of a Royal Licence".
However, in that particular time new ideas and philosophical and political
concepts were moved around rapidly in a large area by the constant displacement
of troops and population, compensating in many ways, for the limited means of
communication of the period, to help bring down the spiritual barriers or vacuum
created by the regime.
These new ideas and concepts, and the liberal principles typical of this
particular period of the 18th Century which brought a cultural awareness in many
people who could not find an outlet for their inquietude or restlessness, was a
catalyst for the tremendous surge of speculative lodges which spread rapidly
through Europe and America after the foundation of the first Grand Lodge of
England in 1717.
In the evidence presented and in the words of many historians, those were the
days when plotting and intrigue were fairly popular pastimes, and it is quite
evident that some of those early lodges provided a very convenient cover for
political conspirators.
In perusing early documents, one could establish four very well determined
currents, which gave form and structure to masonry in the continent:
a) The one that grew from the land and adapted to prevalent conditions after
its introduction from Europe,
b) The one that arrived with the Spanish armies,
c) The legacy of the English occupation forces in 1806, and
d) The one that was brought and spread by the liberation armies of San Martin
from the south and Bolivar from the north in the form of the Lautarino
lodges.
Regarding point (a) above, it could be proved beyond doubt by researching
documents from the Inquisition revealing the existence of "clandestine" (to
Spanish authorities, that is) lodges working in Lima, Peru, prior to the
revolutionary movement.
There was another lodge operating in Cartagena de Indias in the Vice-Royalty
of Nueva Granada, now Colombia, named "Las Tres Virtudes Teologales" in about
1808 under a warrant issued by the Provincial Grand Lodge of Jamaica, English
Constitution.
No trace of this warrant is now to be found, but it is reported by Americo
Carnicelli in his treatise "La Masoneria en la Independencia de America" (Edt.
Bogota, Colombia, 1970), that its record may have been among the many documents
destroyed in a fire when the Masonic Centre in Kingston, Jamaica, was burned
down.
In respect to point (b), there are many facts documenting the activities of
Officers of the Spanish Army engaged in masonic activities, also extracted from
the Inquisition records and from other sources.
The oldest lodge in Lima operating at present, Paz y Perfecta Union No 1, may
have been descended from these early masonic activities. There are some tenuous
vestiges that a Spanish Army Travelling Lodge during the occupation of Peru,
named "La Paz Americana del Sud", was remapped Paz y Perfecta Union after the
Spaniards were defeated.
Points (c) and (d) are explained in detail later on in the text
We cannot possibly deal here in detail with masonry in all the Latin American
countries, as it will be beyond the scope of this paper, so allow me to indulge
with a region close to my heart, as due to a geographical accident, I was born
in Buenos Aires.
The region of the Rio de la Plata aroused little interest, at least in
contrast to Peru and Mexico with their mineral wealth and flourishing Indian
civilisations, because the Spaniards from the very beginning were looking for El
Dorado or the riches of gold. There was a legacy from the Aztecs, Mayas,Incas,
and Chibchas, but the original motives for the conquest of the New World were
the implementation of the three G's, Glory, Gold, and Gospel.
In the scheme of the Spanish Empire, the River Plate soon had to assume the
role of supplying transport in the way of mules, food and textiles to the rich
mining areas of Upper Peru (now Bolivia). Settlement, therefore was orientated
towards the interior of the continent, and the area which became Argentina was
considered as the stepchild of the Empire for more than two centuries, until the
arrival of the English, who were more interested in raw material for Europe.
The industrialisation of Europe created a demand for raw materials, not
bullion, and that was the edge of the English against the Spaniards.
This was the moment when Buenos Aires exchanged the tutelage of the Spanish
administrative exploitation and trade monopoly for the English way of free
trade, England being the investment centre of the nineteenth century. The
exchange was accomplished gradually, with British commerce and shipping
succeeding where the Red Coats had failed during the invasion of Buenos Aires in
1806 and 1807.
The Invasions were a revelation to both parties, the English and the
Argentines. To the British, it had revealed the potential markets and raw
materials so badly needed in Europe, and to the Argentines, the lack of free
enterprise and profits arising from the strict monopoly imposed on trading by
Spain, even though a regulation promulgated in 1778, allowed Chile, Peru, and
Argentina free commerce between the regions.
Special licences were granted to English merchants in 1809/10, stimulating
trade and consequently the expansion of Freemasonry, so popular on the British
Isles and other parts of Europe.
The results benefited England as well as Buenos Aires, as the economy of the
region was now linked to the world's major financial power, and Buenos Aires
continued to develop in a close relationship with British investments.
You may have noticed that constant reference has been made to Buenos Aires in
the body of this work, because the political and geographical unit known today
as Argentina developed over several centuries.
As the colonial period progressed, the settlements scattered in the
north-west close to the mineral wealth of Upper Peru, now known as Bolivia, in
the west across the Andes to Santiago in Chile, and in the East to the Rio de la
Plata, the main entry to the colony, gradually acquired some kind of
cohesion.
The main problem in the colonisation of Latin America was the political
administration of vast areas with practically no political precedent available
and the minimum political experience of Spain and Portugal.
Most of the territory conquered was not obtained in a spectacular fashion
with great armies and plentiful supplies of goods and men, but was achieved by
small bands of men assisted by the power of gunpowder, horses, and fierce dogs
trained to fight, all unknown in the continent. They also employed what could
have been the first chemical warfare by using blankets laced with smallpox and
measles to spread disease among the natives.
In the latter part of the eighteenth century, the Spanish Crown unified these
regions under the Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata based at Buenos Aires. The
Viceroy was the personal representative in America of the Spanish Crown.
The country which emerged in modern days is a tapering inverted triangle
located in the major portion of South America's temperate zone, with the
Northern boundary with Bolivia and Paraguay, and the southern tip being Tierra
del Fuego Island.
For a better understanding of what is to follow, that is the inner workings
of some lodges in South America, let us commence with a brief sketch of Masonry
in the continent in the early period, from the time that the seed of Masonry was
planted, to its actual form.
As it was explained in an early paper "Masonry in South America", discussed
in the Research Lodge of NSW No 971 in May, 1986, the Spanish Rule was very
repressive, discouraging individual and economic initiatives and suppressing
freedom, a primary condition which must exist if the ideals of Freemasonry are
to flourish. But this problem was balanced by the British influence, as they had
inculcated in the British Colonies a sincere wish to propagate the masonic
ideals.
On 2nd July, 1751 a Royal Edict issued by the King of Spain, Ferdinand VI
declaring the practice of Freemasonry illegal in all the extension of his
kingdom and pronouncing the death penalty for anybody engaged in it, made things
very difficult, not only in Europe, but also for the colonials.
Father Jose Torrubia, a Franciscan friar, was at the time the "censor and
revisor" of the Spanish Inquisition. He secured a special dispensation and under
an assumed name he joined a masonic lodge. This enabled him to visit various
lodges and to conduct an investigation into the practices of Freemasonry, and to
ascertain the names of many members, who were arrested, tortured, and persecuted
by the Inquisition.
The Inquisition (The Holy Office) originated in 1215 when Dominic was one of
the special delegates sent to Languedoc and other parts of Southern France to
inquire into reports of heresy.
In 1216 the Dominican Order was establish to suppress heresy and its members
were known as "the hounds of the Lord".
The Inquisition itself was not founded until 1246 when Pope Innocent IV
entrusted its direction to the Dominicans and the Franciscan Orders.
The Inquisition was extended to Latin America on 25th January 1569 when the
first Tribunals were set up at Lima, Peru (January, 1570), Mexico City
(November, 1591), and Cartagena, Colombia (1610), where no one, except the
Indians was safe from its jurisdiction.
The masonic lodges had to move underground to share the same fate with the
patriotic secret societies, but the peculiar situation arose in which to be a
revolutionary, prison or exile was the price paid to the authorities, but to be
a mason the death penalty applied.
Perhaps those were the ideal conditions encountered years later leading to
the formation of the Lautaro or Revolutionary Lodges, but more of that
later.
The situation was chaotic and very disorganised until 1806, when Britain
invaded Buenos Aires and in a very short time many local residents were
initiated into the Travelling Military Lodges brought with the invading British
Expedition force under Sir Home Popham on return from South Africa.
Within this limited force of 1700 men lead by Colonel Beresford, there were
two Irish Lodges, Nos 895 and 356.
During their short occupation (two months), from June 1806 to August 1806,
Britain instituted free trade and some lodges were formed, but when the British
Army was expelled, Buenos Aires still welcomed the English traders as was
pointed out before, furthering the development of Masonry.
A second British Expedition under General John Whitelocke occupied
Montevideo, now today's Uruguay, from February to July, 1807 and attacked Buenos
Aires in June-July of the same year, but the British were forced to
capitulate.
It is not to be interpreted that the British introduced Freemasonry into the
River Plate region, as masonry was already expanding not only in the form of
regular lodges, but also as Secret Societies, Patriotic Societies, or under
cover as Literary/Philosophical Societies, but it is certainly evident that the
British, with their presence, stimulated the spirit of masonic association. This
caused great alarm to the Spanish authorities as it was taken as an action
against the Church.
It should not be taken that Freemasonry took the banner against the church to
become anti-clerical, but there is no doubt it was against the despotism of the
colonial power of Spain. There is a certainty that the English encouraged
masonic lodges as a subtle weapon against Spain, but there is a strong
possibility, at least in my mind, that masonic lodges in South America used the
British influence in their support to form more lodges to be used in the
Creoles's war against Spain.
Because masonry was closely related to the economic and political history of
the country, especially regarding the Wars of Independence from the Spanish
Rulers, we must separate masonic history in the River Plate into three main
periods.
The first one would be better described as Masonry during the 18th
century, the second one as the post-1810 Revolution and the third one, After Rosas.
The main point to note is that Latin masonry often tends to be more secretive
than in most other places in the masonic world, to the extent that in many
lodges, even today the brethren do not use their own names in Lodge documents
such as the minute book, motions, etc, but adopt symbolic names such as Pasteur,
Socrates, Plato, Mozart, etc., those names used for the term of their masonic
lives.
Also as Grand Lodge issues a new password every six months to gain admission
to any lodge, even to the lodge's own members, from this point on, you will
appreciate the problems related to the research and investigation into the early
history of Freemasonry on the continent.
We have also to remember that even today in South America the Craft more
often than not assumes a more political role than English Freemasonry, which had
pursued a simpler and more direct course, by exerting pressure on governments
either directly or in conjunction with local or international organisations.
Let me give a clear example. In 1985 the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of
Chile, MWBro. Oscar Pereira Henriquez issued a joint declaration with the
Catholic Church appealing to the government of General Pinochet regarding Human
Rights, and the Grand Master of the Grand Orient of Brazil embarked in a
national campaign against poverty and the rights of the individual to a better
life.
You are now entitled to ask; is such a defensive position necessary? We can
only point out that Freemasonry had suffered unjustified persecutions on many
occasions, perhaps due to the Papal Bulls in a region of strong influence by the
Catholic Church, and the close association of Masonry with the freedom movements
of the 18th century.
Papal Bulls are official statements and the most important and solemn of all
Papal pronouncements and are so called because they once bore leaden seals known
in Latin as Bullae A Bull is written in Latin and begins with the name of the
Pope issuing it, followed by the words servus servorum Dei (servant of the
servants of God). The first word or phrase of a Bull or any other papal edict
becomes its title.
Papal Bulls, according to the legislation of the 18th century had to be
ratified by the Catholic States before they became mandatory.
Freemasonry was condemned by many Papal Bulls and Encyclicals, the first Bull
by Clement XII in 28th April, 1738, in his 8th year as a Pope In eminentis
apostolatus specula founded in "Masonry's infected principles" and alleged
inflicting "very serious injuries on the tranquillity of the Temporal
State".
It was followed by Providas Romanorum by Benedict XIV on 18th May 1751,
during his 11th year, as a confirmation of the Bull "In eminentis" for it was
being said that the Bull issued by Clement XII in 1738 was becoming a dead
letter; and on the grounds that Freemasonry "assailed all legitimate authority"
and "was opposed to civil no less than to Canonical and Ecclesiastical
ordinances". There may have been another unexplained motive, as certain
aspersions were cast that the Pope himself had joined a masonic lodge when he
was young.
Eclesiam a Jesu-Christo another Bull by Pius VII in 13th September, 1821,
during his 22nd year, alleging that Freemasonry was an active, political, and
subversive organisation, and that the Carbonari were de facto Freemasons.
Quo Gravioro by Leo XII in 13th March, 1825, during his 2nd year; Traditi
humiitati nostrae by Pius VIII in 24th March, 1829;Mirari vos by Gregory XVI in
August, 1832; Pope Pius IX issued several encyclicas, Qui Pluribusin 9th
November, 1846, Syllabus in December, 1864, Ex epistola in October, 1865, and
Apostolicae Pedis in October, 1869.
Finally, Pope Leo XIII with Humanun Genus_ in 20th April 1884 during his 7th
year, because of alleged subversive political activities.
In addition, an official declaration in "Observatore Romano" dated 19th March
1950, stating that the Papal Bull Syllabus of 1864 against the Liberi Muratori
was still in full force.
On 25th January 1983 the Roman Catholic Church officially promulgated the new
Codex juris canonici replacing the 1917 code of Pope Benedict XV which contained
Article 2335 that ipso facto excommunicated those having any connection with
"the masonic sect or other societies that conspired against the Church or
against legitimate civil authorities".
One thing is evident from the Papal Bulls mentioned above, that is, that the
common ground for the condemnations are mostly Freemasonry's alleged involvement
with politics and not only on theological grounds, so we can discern or identify
that political reasons may have been more important than doctrinal
considerations. This is not to say that doctrine had not been taken into
consideration, as it had been remarkable the coincidence that the first Papal
Bull against Freemasonry on 1738 come with the revised Anderson's Constitutions
of 1738.
It is very hard to reconcile the political equation of political freedom of
the individual against dictatorship as Freemasonry normally prospers
proportionally to the amount of democracy of each country, while it does not
survive under totalitarian governments. Mussolini in Italy, Hitler in Nazi
Germany, Franco in Spain, Salazar in Portugal, and all the communist countries
behind the Iron Curtain, now thankfully removed, are good examples of this
position. We are able to see today the proliferation of Grand Lodges in
countries who were behind the Iron Curtain, such as Poland, Czechoslovakia,
Romania, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, and Hungary, which is now recognised by the
United Grand Lodge of New South Wales.
All those totalitarian examples were also followed in Latin America. In
Colombia, in June 1953, the National Constitutive Assembly worked on a
Government project to proscribe all secret societies including Freemasonry.
The presentation of this project brought a bloody campaign against Masonry,
extending after a short time to the Protestant Churches and its parishioners.
The persecutions ended with the fall of the dictator Rojas Pinillas, but still
some attacks were perpetrated afterwards.
In Guatemala, a decree dated 26th August 1954, by the government of Castillo
Armas declared illegal the Grand Lodge of Guatemala. In Bolivia, on the 9th
November 1956, masonry was banned and its members were not allowed to work in
the Public Service. In Argentina, under the Peron regime, masons were persecuted
and bombs placed at the Grand Lodge building while the police kept continuously
harassing its members by entering into the Lodge Rooms during regular
meetings.
Masons were not alone in this madness, because during the period between 1953
and 1955, the clergy were also persecuted and many churches burned. Scarcely one
year after the fall of Peron from power in September 1955, another bomb exploded
at the doors of the Grand Lodge building on the 27th July, 1956.
In Chile, adepts of the official church were suspected and accused several
times of burning masonic buildings.
We must also stress the fact that the Craft was not alone in suffering
unjustified criticism; the Rotary and Lions clubs, together with the Y.M.C.A.
(Young Men's Christian Association) among other organisations were the
recipients of the wrath of church authorities. The Y.M.C.A. was condemned by the
Vatican in 1920 (Acta Apostolicae Sedis, 1920 page 596) and called
"White Masonry", on the grounds that "such organisation, while showing
special concern for the youth, corrupted their faith, teaching them a conception
of life dispensing with the Church and all religious teachings" and "The
Y.M.C.A. is contributing to the decay of the youth's faith, by affirming that
its purpose (of the Association) is to show them a conception of life without
churches or religious confession".
The Rotary International was also criticised and condemned in 1928 for its
laicism by the Spanish bishops of Palencia, Tuy, Leon, Almeria, and Orense. The
charges were that the Rotary Clubs "are nothing else but a new satanic
organisation with the same background and teachings of masonry" and that
"according to documents and reliable sources, Rotary is a suspected
organisation, and should be considered as execrable and perverse".
The Lions Clubs did not fare much better in their views than the two other
mentioned organisations. (excerpts taken from Masonry in Argentina and in the
world, Rotarism and Catholicism, by Anibal A.Rottjer 6th Ed. 1983 pages 193 to
195).
From this point on, you will appreciate the problems related to the research
and investigation into both early and modern history of masonry on the
continent.
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