Enmity Between Rome and Freemasonry?

Troy Space email quote of Guy Stair Sainty:

http://continuingcounterreformation.blogspot.com/2008/10/dialogue-2008-troy-space-with-guy-stair.html

The fact that the Catholic Church has repeatedly condemned freemasonry (the “illuminate”) etc, seems to have escaped you entirely along with the fact that its greatest enemies, particularly in the late 18th and 19th centuries, were all freemasons. Whatever one thinks of the Jesuits (and the ones I know personally are uniformly spiritual and devout men with a sincere love of their fellow men – in the generic sense), to tie them into freemasonry and these kind of conspiracies simply betrays an ignorance of the history of the Society. Not least because the Jesuits of the late 20th century are the polar opposite in their understanding of the role of the Papacy and the Church to those of the 19th century; for me their obsession with social justice (not in itself wrong) has clouded their judgment in some other areas.

Again, knowing the Order of Malta and its history as well as I do, I find the idea that it is some kind of secret power simply laughable. The men who run it are largely elderly, they include school teachers (the late grand master and another member of the sovereign council Fra Elie de Comminges), university professors (Fra John Macpherson), lawyers (Anthony Sanchez Correa), a Sotheby’s regional representative (fra Matthew Festing, the present Grand Master), and the like; most of them have little or any interest in politics and very little experience of business. They would be horrified to find a freemason in their midst.

From the Knights Templar website:

The Masonic Connection

http://www.knightstemplar.org/faq1.html#connection

All Knights Templar are members of the world's oldest fraternal organization known as "The Ancient Free and Accepted Masons" or more commonly known as "Masons". However, not all masons are Templars. Templary is a part of the Masonic structure known as the "York Rite of Freemasonry". A description of the Degrees and Orders is presented "HERE", please use your "BACK BUTTON" to return here.

Masonic Hierarchy with Knights Templar and Malta at the top

www.yorkrite.org