To All Members of the Order

Nativity of our Lord

A.D. 2001

 

Judgement rendered on 19th December 2001

By the Tribunal de Grande Instance of Paris (1st Chamber – 1st section)

 Lawsuit :           GRAND PRIEURE DES GAULES

                                AGAINST :

                            - GRANDE LOGE NATIONALE FRANCAISE

     - DIRECTOIRE DES LOGES ECOSSAISES RECTIFIEES DE FRANCE

      - GRAND PRIEURE REGULIER DE FRANCE

                                  

Case Pleadings :  7th November 2001

 Beloved Brethren,

 Please find herunder the judgement rendered by the Tribunal de Grande Instance of Paris.

 

BY THESE MOTIVES, THE TRIBUNAL

Resolving publicly by contradictory judgement and in the first resort,

  1. Declares that the Grande Loge Nationale Française has committed a wrong-doing by terminating on the 13th June 2000 the overall contractual arrangements that bound it to the Grand Prieuré des Gaules – Ordres Unis.Condemns it to pay to the latter the sum of one franc (1F) (0,15 Euro) as  compensation  for moral damage ;

  2. Forbids the Grande Loge Nationale Française, the Directoire National des Loges Rectifiées de France  and the Grand Prieuré Régulier de France, the practice of the Scottish Rectified Rite, as well as any utilisation whatsoever of the rituals deposited and filed on the 19th July 2000 and 10th September 2001 with the Société des Gens de Lettres de France ( Society of Men of Letters of France) ;

  3.   Commands  provisional execution on these points ;

  4.   Condemns jointly the Grande Loge Nationale Française, the Directoire National des Loges Rectifiées de France and the Grand Prieuré de France to costs ;

  5.  Rejects all other claims, more extensive or contrary.

 Done and Judged at Paris on the 19th December 2001

 In introducing the argumentation in support of its judgement, the Tribunal writes :

 “ If it does not enter into the attributions of the jurisdiction to write history, it is its duty, in order to fulfill its mission , which is to state the law, to rely upon the historical facts , the proof of which is left to the charge of the parties ”

 The Tribunal based itself on the “ sole documents exchanged between the parties in  presence and introduced into the debates ”

 After having passed in review the documentary evidence and the historical facts, the Tribunal concludes :

“ For want of, notably,  being able to bring forward the proof of the well-founding of what it advanced , the Grande Loge Nationale Française does not justify its unilateral decision of rupture with the Grand Prieuré des Gaules “    

 It notes that the Grande Loge Nationale Française does not motivate in any way the fact that the exchange of the patent of the Chevalier Bienfaisant de la Cité Sainte (C.B.C.S.) [Knight Beneficent of the Holy City] and the  patent of Knight Templar between the Grand Prieuré des Gaules and the Great Priory of  Scotland “ could constitute a wrong ” , adding : “ the same lack of grievance exists in respect of the communication of that of  the Sovereign Prince Rose>Croix ” .

 It made conspicuous the fact that  “ contrary to what the Grande Loge Nationale Française maintains, it arises from the historical briefs mentioned above and from the agreements concluded  with the Grande Prieuré des Gaules since 1958, that it did  master the three first symbolic (blue)  grades solely by delegation, the Grand Prieuré des Gaules being, between the parties present at the instance , sole manager of the Rites of  the whole six grades of the Scottish Rectified Rite, for having received them through the Grand Prieuré d’Helvétie ès-qualités in 1935 ” 

 

It adds this , which sweeps away certain claims “  It matters little that today the latter (le Grand Prieuré Indépendant  d’Helvétie), which is no longer the depository, disputes its right to this attribution, which, on another account, had only been entrusted on a personal and not on an institutional basis , to a few masons in 1910 ”.

  It terminates by this consideration :

 “ Finally, the criticism of isolationism , factually, according to the correspondence of members of the Grande Loge Nationale Française , to keep the reference to the  christian faith, cannot usefully be advanced  against the Grand Prieuré des Gaules, in as much as the Scottish Rectified Rite has for objective to maintain and to fortify,  principles such as , firstly, the fidelity  to the christian religion founded upon the faith  in the Holy Trinity, etc… ”

 It concludes :

 “  The loss of confidence invoked by the Grande Loge Nationale Française in the framework  of a fraternal solution is essentially its own doing ”.

In definitive, the premature, unilateral termination of the fixed - duration Convention by the Grande Loge Nationale Française outside request in justice reveals itself to be faulty ”

 Among the “ consequences between the parties  ” one may note the following :

“ The Grand Prieuré des Gaules, in the bosom of the masonic community, is by right entitled to forbid  the defendants (i .e. the Grande Loge Nationale Française, its Directoire and its Great Priory), taken separately or not , to practice the rites and denominations specific to the Rectified Scottish Rite, in such as set out  in the five envelopes deposited with the Société des Gens de Lettres (S.D.G.L.). ”

 There follows thereafter the judgement which appears at the head of this note.

 There results from the extremely structured argumentation of the Tribunal that the latter confirms what we have always upheld :

 1.      that the denunciation by  the  Grande Loge Nationale Française of the Convention of 1958 is     not only abusive, but faulty, which, in law , has a strong meaning which entails condemnation ;

2.      that the Grande Loge Nationale Française had only been able to practice the Scottish Rectified Rite through a delegation of powers ; this delegation having ceased with the rupture of the year 2000 , the Grande Loge Nationale Française has no longer any right  to practice it, and the Tribunal forbids it to do so ;

3.      that  the “ Directoire ” and the “  Great Priory ” of the Grande Loge Nationale Française can therefore no longer practice the Rectified Scottish Rite nor claim to be associated  with it  and they are therefore totally drained of their substance ;

4.      finally, that the Grand Prieuré Indépendant d’Helvétie has ceased to be the depository of the Scottish Rectified Rite.

 These decisions of the Tribunal are immediately executory, even if the should be an appeal.

 This chapter of our existence being closed  to our entire satisfaction, another opens – that of the construction of our future.

 The quality of manager “  legitimate and regular ” of the “ six grades of the Rectified Scottish Rite ” being recognized officially in respect of the Grand Prieuré des Gaules – and the Tribunal having voluntarily abstained from making pronouncement  upon “  the class of the “ Profession ”  which, also denominated as “ the secret class  ” is not even mentioned in the present affair ”

It is becoming urgent to put a term to the provisional situation to which we consented for the masonic class, through “ sheltering ” the Lodges of St John in our Directoire National.

 From now on, we have decided to constitute all instances composing the Order in an unique corpus which will bear the denomination of :

 Grand Prieuré des Gaules

Orders of the Christian Masonic Knights of France

National Directoire of the Rectified Lodge

This decision requires ratification at the next General Assembly and Grand Chapter of the Gauls on 28th April 2002

 In conformity with the Code, to which the Tribunal made express reference , the three Provinces “ Auvergne ” “  Occitania ” and “ Burgundy ”, of which the latter two were proclaimed awakened at Michaelmass 2001 , take on henceforth their full and complete existence.

 Several commissions are engaged in work which is already well advanced in resolving questions relating to :

 All the necessary information will be given in due course, but we wish to put you on guard against disinformation campaigns, especially on Internet.

 We wish to remind you that only qualified information which might engage the Order may be given by :

 ·         The Grand Master

·         Members of the National Council

·         The Heads of the Order duly mandated by them to that effect.

We invite you to rejoice and render grace to Providence  in the gladness of the Nativity of our Saviour.

Very fraternally yours

 The Grand Master                                                                                            The National Council

 Daniel FONTAINE, G..C.C.S.