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MEMORANDUM
The
Rectified Scottish Rite
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History
of the Rectified Scottish Rite 1.
The historic characteristic of French freemasonry is that it developed over time
in the form of several Systems (or Jurisdictions), each one specific and
practising its own Rite. Each System was based on the practice of a specific
Rite. a)
The oldest is the System called the Rectified Scottish Regime, practising the
Rectified Scottish Rite with its six grades - four of them Masonic (Apprentice,
Fellow, Master, Scottish Master) and two Chivalrous (Squire Novice, Knight
Beneficent of the Holy City). It dates back to 1774-1778. b)
Then comes the French Rite with its seven grades dating back to 1786-1787 (in
its final structure). c)
Lastly comes the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite with its thirty-three
degrees, dating back to 1804 (in its final state). These
are the largest Systems.
2. It
is essential to stress that this type of organisation into Systems including a
series of Masonic grades (always more than three in number) with an additional
series of Chivalrous grades is still used by the Scandinavian Grand Lodges (Sweden,
Denmark, Norway, Finland) who practise the Swedish Rite. This is logical, since
the Rite originated in France and was imported from France in the 18th century. It is
also the organisation used by one of the Grand Lodges in Germany, the Große
Landesloge der Freimaurer von Deutschland, practising the Zinnendorf Rite, a
German version of the Swedish Rite. These
two Rites, the Swedish Rite and the Zinnendorf Rite, are extremely similar to
the Rectified Scottish Rite in their spirit, structure and grades. Nobody
contests the regularity of these Grand Lodges, even though they do not comply
with the "English model" (three grades only), since the "English
model" is much more recent, dating only from the Act of Union in 1813. 3.
Exactly the same was true of the Grand Orient de France for more than a century,
from its foundation in 1773 until 1877. The
different Systems (and Rites) that co-existed in France have always been
autonomous. Initially, they were totally independent from each other, competing
and sometimes even conflicting. However,
in 1776, the Rectified Scottish Rite concluded a Treaty of Alliance with the
Grand Orient de France - whose specific Rite would later become the French Rite.
This Treaty of Alliance was renewed in 1811 under the First Empire. In
the same period, in 1804, because of Emperor Napoleon I's thirst for
unification, all the Masonic Systems established in France (those mentioned and
several others) were brought together under the authority of a single Grand
Master, Prince Cambacérès, Arch-Chancellor of the Empire and Grand Master of
the Grand Orient de France. However,
although all these Systems were united under the same Grand Master, they
remained autonomous. Each continued to practise its own Rite and govern itself
according to its own rules. This
being the case, the Grand Orient de France acted as a "Federation of
Rites". Even though it did not conform to the "English model"
either, its regularity remained unchallenged for more than a century. 4. In
1877, the United Grand Lodge of England ended its recognition of the Grand
Orient de France as a legitimate Obedience, then the other Regular Grand Lodges
followed suit. This was not because of its structural organisation of multiple
grades, but because in that year it abolished the invocation of the Great
Architect of the Universe and the presence of the Bible in Lodges. Since,
by that time, the Grand Orient de France had become atheistic, anti-religious
and anticlerical, it naturally gave up the Rectified Scottish Rite (and Regime)
which is a Christian Rite, as are the Swedish and Zinnendorf Rites. Because
of this, the Great Independent Priory of Helvetia (Switzerland) was the only
remaining Regular Power holding the Rectified Scottish Rite, the Grand Orient de
France having ceased to hold it de jure and de facto. The
Great Priory of Helvetia was itself formed in the 18th century by the governing
authorities of the Rectified Scottish Rite in France. Its authority and powers
were made official at the Convent of the Gauls (Lyons, 1778) and at the Convent
of Wilhelmsbad (bringing together delegates from all continental Europe in
1782). 5. In
1910, led by Edouard de Ribaucourt and Camille Savoire, several Masons from the
Grand Orient de France decided to re-establish the Rectified Scottish Rite in
the Grand Orient de France and went to be raised to the grade of Knights
Beneficent of the Holy City (KBHC) in Geneva. Subsequently,
they tried to revive a very old Rectified Rite Lodge that had existed at the
start of the 19th century, the "Centre des Amis", within the Grand
Orient de France. However, they met with such open hostility that Ribaucourt and
most of his friends were forced to leave the Grand Orient de France with their
Lodge in October 1913. The
"Centre des Amis" was then joined by a Bordeaux Lodge, the
"Anglaise N° 204". In November 1913, the "Centre des Amis"
Lodge and the "Anglaise" Lodge formed the National Independent and
Regular Grand Lodge for France and the French Colonies (Grande Loge Nationale
Indépendante et Régulière pour la France et les Colonies françaises - GLNIR)
which was recognised by the United Grand Lodge of England. In 1948, it would
take its present name: the French National Grand Lodge (Grande Loge Nationale
Française - GLNF). 6. In
1910, three years before leaving the Grand Orient de France, Ribaucourt received
a patent from the Great Independent Priory of Helvetia (Grand Prieuré Indépendant
d'Helvétie - GPIH) - holder of the Rectified Scottish Rite in its entirety -
allowing him to practise the Chivalrous grades and, perhaps later (when
circumstances permitted and with permission from the GPIH, something that never
occurred), all the Masonic grades (see 4). So
this patent was not granted to the GLNIR - which did not yet exist and was
founded only three years later - but to a group of Brethren who were members of
the Grand Orient de France as Masons, and members of the Great Independent
Priory of Helvetia as KBHCs. Neither the GLNIR nor the GLNF ever received a
patent allowing them to practise the Rectified Scottish Rite from any Authority
with the status and power necessary to grant such a patent. (At the time, only
the Great Priory of Helvetia had this status and power and it never did so). 7. In
passing, it is interesting to read the following lines in an official note sent
by Grand Secretary Yves Trestournel on the 13th January 1992 to "all the
Worshipful Masters presiding over Lodges of the Rectified Scottish Rite": "It
should be remembered that the French National Grand Lodge is regular because it
was formed by two regular symbolic Lodges, the "Centre des Amis" with
its legitimate affiliation to the Grand Orient de France..." An
astounding statement! In
1913, since the Grand Orient de France had not been regular for 36 years, it is
hard to see how it could have passed on a "regular affiliation" to a
Lodge and even more so to another Obedience!... 8. So
while a few GLNIR Lodges practised the Rectified Scottish Rite, it was without
permission from the only legitimate authority with the status necessary to grant
it, the Great Independent Priory of Helvetia. Moreover, in April 1924, the Great
Priory of Helvetia declared irregular the GLNIR as a Rectified Power. 9. In
fact, in 1935, the Great Independent Priory of Helvetia returned the Rectified
Scottish Rite it had received from France to its country of origin by creating
the Grand Prieuré des Gaules (Great Priory of the Gauls - GPDG) and granting it
"Letters Patent for the revival of the Scottish Regime in France. This
patent has never been challenged or revoked. Moreover,
it was completed and strengthened a few months later by a Treaty of Alliance and
Friendship by which "the two contracting Powers recognise each other as the
sole and unique Sovereign Powers of the Rectified Scottish Rite in their
respective countries, that is to say the Grand Directoire of the Gauls (Grand
Directoire des Gaules) in France and its Colonies, and the Great Independent
Priory of Helvetia in Switzerland, and accept as regular workshops of the
Rectified Regime only those founded in France by the Grand Directoire of the
Gauls and in Switzerland, those directly affiliated to the Great Independent
Priory of Helvetia". (As
the rest of the text shows, the Grand Directoire of the Gauls is synonymous with
the Great Priory of the Gauls). Finally,
the patent was again confirmed by the Great Independent Priory of Helvetia on
the 27th January 1954.
GPDG-GLNF
relations 10.
In 1958, the Great Priory of the Gauls and the French National Grand Lodge
forged closer links and signed a Convention. Under
this Convention, the GPDG granted the GLNF the right to administer its "Blue"
Lodges (first three grades) on two conditions: a)
that the practice of these first three grades should comply with the
constitutional rules specific to the Rectified Scottish Rite, decreed in the
"Masonic Code of the United and Rectified Lodges of France" approved
by the Convent of the Gauls (Lyons) in 1778 and in the "Code of General
Rules of the Order of Knights Beneficent of the Holy City" approved by the
same Convent and governing the Chivalrous grades; b)
that the rituals practised should be authentic rituals with the explicit
approval of the Great Priory of the Gauls. The
Convention's preamble is very clear. It
states: -
that the Letters Patent of 1910 (see 6) were granted with a view to "creating
a Commanderie in Paris under the jurisprudence of the Great Independent Priory
of Helvetia". It
adds: This
resulted in the "agreement" with the French National Grand Lodge,
whose aim was to enable "regularisation of the practice of the Rectified
Scottish Rite in the first three grades". 11.
The most difficult thing for someone who knows only the "English
model" of Masonic organisation to accept is the idea of delegation of
authority that characterises the French and continental situation (see 1 to 3).
In this situation, a System - the only legitimate holder of a Rite in all its
grades - delegates the right and power to practise the first three grades of
this Rite to a Grand Lodge. That is what happened in France in 1958 when the
GLNF signed a Convention with the Great Priory of the Gauls that gave it the
right and power to practise the first three grades of the Rectified Scottish
Rite, and again in 1965 when an agreement with the Supreme Council gave the GLNF
the right and power to practise the first three grades of the Ancient and
Accepted Scottish Rite. 12.
In principle, these delegations of authority ensure harmonious co-operation with
no mutual encroachment: the Jurisdiction governing the "high grades" (Great
Priory, Supreme Council) does not interfere in the work of the Grand Lodge as
long as the latter complies with the terms of the agreement. However, should it
fail to do so, the Jurisdiction has the duty to point out these breaches to
preserve the Rite, since it is the Rite's trustee and guardian, as stated in the
Preamble to the Convention of 1958. On
this point, we should note that the GLNF has never complied with the first of
the two conditions of the 1958 Convention (application of the Code of 1778) and
only partially with the second, since it has authorised the use of rituals that
are not authentic. 13.
Yet the GPDG showed great patience since it wished to maintain harmony as far as
possible and it made every effort to improve the GLNF's attitude, particularly
whenever there was a new Grand Master. This led to 1984's formal confirmation of
the 1958 Convention (slightly modified in 1965) on the initiative of the current
Grand Master of the Great Priory of the Gauls, Daniel Fontaine, in agreement
with the Grand Master of the GLNF, Jean Mons at the time. In
January 1991, it also resulted in the Grand Master of the Great Priory of the
Gauls, Daniel Fontaine, and the Grand Master of the French National Grand Lodge,
André Roux, exchanging a "summary paper" drawn up by an GLNF/GPDG
Working Commission (with a representative of the French National Grand Lodge
named... Claude Charbonniaud). In a letter addressed to Grand Master and Great
Prior Daniel Fontaine, Grand Master André Roux welcomed this positive outcome. Finally,
in 1996, after his second election to the Grand Mastership of the GLNF and at
his own request, current Grand Master Claude Charbonniaud was received with all
honours at the Grand Chapter of the Great Priory of the Gauls on the Feast Day
of the Order. On this occasion, the Grand Master of the Great Priory of the
Gauls formally expressed his wish to establish a close relationship, especially
since Grand Master Claude Charbonniaud had long been a KBHC. 14.
Unfortunately, despite the good will shown by the successive Grand Masters of
the French National Grand Lodge until Claude Charbonniaud, relations between the
GLNF and the GPDG had steadily worsened, primarily under the harmful influence
of the all-powerful Grand Secretary of the GLNF for the last twenty years or so,
Yves Trestournel. The latter worked constantly to ensure the failure of any
attempt at appeasement or improved relations, especially by sending out
circulars that took a negative view of the Rectified Scottish Rite. In certain
Provinces of the GLNF, Brethren were subjected to verbal attacks, humiliations
and even sanctions by Dignitaries of the GLNF because they belonged to the GPDG. 15.
To try to put end to this intolerable situation, in a last effort of appeasement,
an Arbitration Committee consisting of two GLNF representatives and two GPDG
representatives was set up by agreement between the Grand Masters of the GLNF
and the GPDG. It operated from April 1996 until February 1998. It
soon proved worthless because the GLNF refused to negotiate: their diktats had
to be accepted even when they were completely incompatible with the terms of the
1958 Convention and this despite the GLNF's acceptance of the agreement (Code of
1778, rituals). In fact, it appeared that their real aim was to achieve the
formal ex officio reception of Grand Master Claude Charbonniaud at the Grand
Chapter. Once this goal had been achieved, relations rapidly worsened. So
the Committee had to stop work - especially since one of the GLNF
representatives was implicated in the activities of a sect prosecuted for
mistreatment of children. 16.
Despite these internal difficulties, the international influence of the Great
Priory of the Gauls continued to grow. In
1992 notably, the Great Priory of England and Wales granted the GPDG a patent to
practise the Order of Malta (Order of St John of Jerusalem, Palestine, Rhodes
and Malta). Then
in 1999, the Great Priory of Scotland granted it a patent to practise the Order
of the Temple (Knights Templar). In
both these cases, the respective Grand Masters of these two Great Priories
visited France with large delegations to preside at consecration and
installation ceremonies. Meanwhile,
in 1995, the Great Priory of the Gauls received a patent to found a Grand
Chapter of the High Grades of the French Rite and create Chapters of Rose+Croix
Sovereign Princes from the Order of the High Grades of the Netherlands (French
Rite). (The Rectified Scottish Rite in France had such Chapters when it was
formed in 1774-78, but they were not passed on to the Great Priory of Helvetia.
Therefore, they had to be reformed since the Chapters of the Grand Orient de
France lost their legitimacy along with that of the Obedience). Finally
in 1998, the Grand Master of the Great Priory of the Gauls and a large
delegation visited Lomé to consecrate and install the first Rectified Great
Priory in Africa, in the presence and with the participation of the Great Prior
of the Great Independent Priory of Helvetia. The Great Priory of Togo was
immediately recognised by the Great Priory of Scotland, then by all the others. 17.
Although these successes should have been welcomed by the GLNF - since they
enhanced the reputation of Regular Masonry and were completely compatible with
the aim of the signatories of the 1958 Convention as stated in its Appendix I -
they irritated the Grand Lodge. This
was for two reasons: a)
First reason: its aim of domination. Over
several years, the GLNF had established a very large number of English, American
and other "Side Degrees" in France and taken control of them -
something a Grand Lodge is not supposed to do. Only
the Orders of the Temple and Malta escaped its control and it planned to
establish them in France under its authority. There were several attempts to do
this from 1992 onwards, but they all failed. So when the Great Priory of the
Gauls and not the French National Grand Lodge received the Orders of the Temple
and Malta, the GLNF was extremely disappointed and annoyed. There
is another example of the GLNF's urge to dominate. At the start of 1999, it
recognised a Grand Chapter of the Rose+Croix that had been operating underground
for twenty years, at first with no patent, then with a patent obtained from an
unrecognised Brazilian Body. Grand Secretary Yves Trestournel had obtained its
revocation in 1989. Ten years later, the GLNF recognised this same Grand Chapter
and placed it under GLNF control! In
1983-84, the same thirst for domination resulted in a serious dispute between
the GLNF and the Supreme Council of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, a
dispute expressed in very similar terms to the one that opposes the GLNF and the
Great Priory of the Gauls today. This
led the Sovereign Grand Commander of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite to
confirm the immutable position of French Masonry (see 1, 2 and 3) when he
officially stated on the 18th December 1982: "Whatever the delegations of
authority that result from past circumstances and administrative needs, our
Order only has meaning when understood in its totality, in other words, in the
hierarchy of the thirty-three Degrees". This
statement applies perfectly to the Rectified Scottish Rite with its six grades. However,
at the time, the incumbent Grand Master of the French National Grand Lodge, Jean
Mons, prevented the conflict from leading to a split, unlike his successor today. b)
Second reason: the increasingly anti-Christian stance of the GLNF's leaders. There
is much evidence of this stance. The most recent example was in April 1999 at
the annual meeting of the Grand Lodge of the Ivory Coast in Abidjan. Before a
large number of African Grand Masters and Grand Dignitaries, and in the presence
of Grand Master Claude Charbonniaud, Grand Secretary Yves Trestournel launched a
frontal attack against the Christian Rites, drawing a strongly-worded answer
from the Grand Master of the Great Priory of Togo who was also present. These
are the circumstances in which the split of the 13th June 2000 occurred. The
current situation 18.
On that date, by personal "decision" (not submitted to the Sovereign
Grand Committee of the GLNF), Grand Master Claude Charbonniaud announced that
the GLNF was terminating the Convention of 1958 and that it "no longer
recognised the Great Priory of the Gauls as a Freemasonic Institution". 19.
This termination was made in defiance of State law related to contractual
obligations. According to the formal text of the Convention, termination could
only be announced in July 2005 and take effect a year later in July 2006. The
GPDG has therefore brought a case before the courts for what the law entitles
"wrongful termination of contract". Not honouring the terms of a
signed contract is an offence that is punishable by the courts. 20.
In accordance with the explanations above (see 4, 7, 8, 9 and 10), by breaking
off the Convention, the GLNF has put an end to the delegation of authority
granted to it by the GPDG (the only legitimate holder in France of the Rectified
Scottish Rite) to practise the first three grades of the Rectified Scottish
Rite. By its own actions, it has forfeited the right to practise them. 21.
Moreover, the GLNF has aggravated its hostile and illegal behaviour by recently
creating (on the 19th June 2000) two irregular and illicit bodies in competition
with the Great Priory of the Gauls: a) a
pseudo-"Directoire" (competing with the body that, under the aegis of
the Great Priory, governs the fourth Masonic grade, that of Scottish Master of
Saint Andrew); b) a
pseudo-"Regular (sic) Great Priory of France". These
two creations are explicitly mentioned in a newsletter dated 30th June 2000 and
signed by the Grand Master of the GLNF. They
violate both: -
international Masonic law, since the Grand Lodge has decided to operate in an
area where it has no competence according to the "English model" it
claims to follow and is therefore deliberately flouting; - and
the specific Masonic law of the Rectified Scottish Rite repeated above (see 1, 8
and 9) that it undertook to obey and which is also protected by law. So this
last offence will also be tried in court. 22.
The GLNF's hostile action is causing immense harm - not so much to the Great
Priory of the Gauls as to Freemasonry as a whole. It
has resulted in deep dismay, great distress and extreme confusion among Brethren
who do not know the underlying reasons (explained above, see 16) for this brutal
attack. Many
Brethren, even some who do not belong to the Rectified Scottish Rite, are
outraged. A number of them are ready to leave the GLNF in disgust or even simply
give up Freemasonry. The
publicity that the press will inevitably give to the court cases mentioned in 18
and 20 above will do nothing to improve the situation. 23.
And these events are occurring just as the media (press, television) are
increasingly turning the spotlight on the growing number of GLNF members -
sometimes very senior ones - accused of extremely serious offences in which the
police and courts are taking a close interest (recently, in June 2000, a 12-page
supplement in a weekly was again devoted to the subject). Over
the last years, there has been sufficient awareness of these offences within the
GLNF for numerous police officers, lawyers, magistrates, etc. to resign for fear
of being compromised by associating with criminals. On
the 14th October 1995, this situation led to the spectacular resignation of our
Brother Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia - also a Dignitary of the United Grand
Lodge of England - from his position as Assistant Grand Master of the GLNF. He
was subsequently expelled by Grand Master Claude Charbonniaud. The
"decision" to dissolve the Convention on the 13 June 2000 is part of
this pattern a devastating one for Freemasonry. Proposals 24.
To solve this damaging dispute, the best course of action for the Grand Lodges
would be to persuade the GLNF to adopt an attitude more in line with reason and
the law, implying the revocation of its decision to split from the GPDG and the
others that have followed. This
would offer the immediate advantage of avoiding court cases that would severely
damage the image of Freemasonry. 25.
However, a simple return to the status quo ante is not possible since it has
proved incompatible with harmonious coexistence. As identical causes produce
identical effects, further difficulties would immediately appear. 26.
It is vital to find other solutions to make sure that each Rite - and in
particular the Rectified Scottish Rite - can exist and flourish without
constraints, disputes or interference of any kind whatsoever. Between
Brethren of goodwill, such solutions can easily be found. 27.
The GPDG's preferred solution - a proposal it has made to the GLNF on many
occasions, but that the latter has always refused since it wishes to continue
dominating all Rites - is: This
is the system that operates successfully in Germany and that has been recognised
by all the regular Grand Lodges. 28.
Within this Federation, each Grand Lodge would be run in compliance with its own
rules and would practise its own Rite. This is exactly the case in Germany where
the English, American, Schröder and Zinnendorf Rites harmoniously co-exist, the
last being a cousin to the Rectified Scottish Rite (see 1). 29.
The Rectified Scottish Rite, represented by the GPDG, is strongly attached to
the authenticity and freedom of each Rite, both those of other Rites and its own.
It wishes each to be able to live freely and at peace with the others. 30.
It strongly requests the help of International Freemasonry in bringing the GLNF
back to the path of reason and justice, so that a Federation of the United Grand
Lodges of France can subsequently be formed to re-establish balance, freedom,
peace and harmony.
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