A Filipino Priest Suspended for Masonic Marker Blessing

On August 30, 2025, a ceremony in Ormoc City, Leyte, saw the unveiling of a Masonic marker in Barangay San Pablo. Unexpectedly, among those present was Father Libby Daños, a priest of the Order of the Discalced Augustinians (OAD), who participated in a blessing over the stone. The act caused immediate concern among the faithful, for the Church has repeatedly and solemnly condemned Freemasonry as irreconcilable with Catholic doctrine.

On September 1, the OAD issued a statement announcing Father Daños’s suspension from public ministry pending canonical investigation. The order emphasised that the priest had expressed remorse, claiming he was not fully aware of the nature of the event, and that he was cooperating with ecclesiastical authorities. Nevertheless, the incident was deemed to have caused scandal among the faithful, and disciplinary action was deemed necessary.

The Church’s rejection of Freemasonry is not a mere disciplinary formality but an enduring doctrinal judgement. Pope Clement XII, in his 1738 bull In eminenti apostolatus, forbade Catholics from entering into Masonic associations, declaring: “We have resolved and decreed to condemn and forbid such societies, assemblies, meetings, gatherings, aggregations, or conventicles … under pain of excommunication to be incurred by the very fact, without any declaration.”¹ Pope Leo XIII, in Humanum genus (1884), exposed the naturalist and relativist principles of Freemasonry, warning: “The fundamental doctrine of the naturalists is that human nature and human reason ought in all things to be mistress and guide. … They deny that anything has been taught by God; they allow no dogma of religion or truth which cannot be understood by the human intelligence.”²

In 1983, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith under Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger reaffirmed the perennial prohibition in direct terms: “The faithful who enroll in Masonic associations are in a state of grave sin and may not receive Holy Communion. The local ecclesiastical authorities do not have the faculty to give a judgment on the nature of Masonic associations which would involve a derogation from the above.”³ Most recently, in November 2023, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith again addressed the matter in a letter to the bishops of the Philippines, stating unequivocally: “Active membership in Masonic associations remains forbidden by the Church. This incompatibility is not a matter of disciplinary adjustment but arises from irreconcilable principles. No form of participation in Masonic rituals or public endorsement of Masonic symbols is permissible for Catholics.”⁴

This case in the Philippines thus highlights not only the vigilance of the Church in safeguarding the faithful from scandal, but also the fragility of priestly ministry in a context where civic, cultural, and ideological pressures can easily compromise the clarity of witness. Though Father Daños may not have intended to signal support for Freemasonry, the public character of his actions required decisive intervention.

For the Old Roman Apostolate, the lesson is twofold. First, the need for continual catechesis, so that clergy and laity alike remain clear about the perennial incompatibility of the Church and Freemasonry. Second, the recognition that even inadvertent participation in Masonic rites or symbols risks weakening the faithful’s confidence and obscuring the light of truth. The faithful must pray for their priests, that they may be granted the wisdom and courage to discern and resist the entanglements of the world.

In an age where compromise and confusion are constant threats, the way forward lies only in fidelity to revelation and tradition. The true blessing is not upon the monuments of men but upon those who, by grace, remain steadfast in Christ. And it is along that path alone that we must walk, for it is the Way. 🔝

Footnotes
¹ Clement XII, In eminenti apostolatus specula (1738): “Nos attendentes praedictas Societates … damnamus, proscribimus, atque prohibemus … sub excommunicationis latae sententiae poena ipso facto incurrenda, absque ulla declaratione.”
² Leo XIII, Humanum genus (1884), §12: “Hoc est praecipuum et praecipuum fundamentum ipsorum naturalistarum: naturam humanam et rationem humanam esse in omnibus rebus magistram et ducem … nihil agnoscunt divinitus traditum; nullum religionis dogma aut veritatem admittunt quae humanae intelligentiae non subiaceat.”
³ Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Declaration on Masonic Associations (26 November 1983), signed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger: “Quapropter sententia negativa Ecclesiae super associationibus Masonicis manet immutata … Christifideles qui associationibus Masonicis nomen dant, in statu peccati gravi sunt et ad sacram Communionem accedere non possunt.”
⁴ Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Letter to the Bishops of the Philippines on Freemasonry (November 2023): “Active membership in Masonic associations remains forbidden by the Church. This incompatibility is not a matter of disciplinary adjustment but arises from irreconcilable principles. No form of participation in Masonic rituals or public endorsement of Masonic symbols is permissible for Catholics.”