"The cult of liberty has always been a favorite theme of the Freemasons. The liberty they seek is not the legitimate and due liberty from the burdensome constraints of socialistic governments, which a citizen may rightfully desire, but rather freedom from the authority of God, the "freedom" of the devil, the liberty of perdition, as Saint Augustine called it."

From ...... CATHOLIC RESTORATION

Vol. v, No.1 First Quarter, 1995

THE CULT OF LIBERTY

Pages 43-45

[ 44 - drawing of statue of liberty shortly before it was finished ]

It is merely to point out that Freemasonry has a hatred for any power, ecclesiastical or civil, which claims its authority from God, and which is not somehow dependent upon the people for its power. Freemasonry seeks to "free" people politically and socially from such "bonds," so that they might enjoy the "liberty" of a democratic regime.

This hatred of Freemasonry for the papacy and for monarchy can be seen in the initiation rites of the Knight Kadosh [30'], in which the Knight is called upon to run the sword through two skulls, one bearing the papal tiara and the other the crown. The symbolism of such an act needs no comment whatsoever.

The cult of liberty has always been a favorite theme of the Freemasons. The liberty they seek is not the legitimate and due liberty from the burdensome constraints of socialistic governments, which a citizen may rightfully desire, but rather freedom from the authority of God, the "freedom" of the devil, the liberty of perdition, as Saint Augustine called it. They desire not the liberty of the sons of God, but the "liberty" which makes us slaves to sin.

One of the many proofs of Freemasonry's cult of liberty, and furthermore of its deep influence upon our culture and mentality, is the Statue of Liberty. This colossus in New York's harbor was conceived by Freemasons, financed by Freemasons, built by Freemasons, and installed by Freemasons in a Freemasonic ceremony.

The maker of the statue was Freemason Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi. He had already made a statue of the Freemason Marquis de Lafayette for the city of New York, for the occasion of the centenary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Bartholdi sailed to America, at the suggestion of other Freemasons and kindred spirits in France, for the purpose of proposing the project. Although he had no drawings as he set sail, his masonic biographer says that, as he entered New York harbor, "he caught a vision of a magnificent goddess holding aloft a torch in one hand and welcoming all visitors to the land of freedom and opportunity."

Returning to France, he managed to raise, through the help of a great deal of masonic propaganda, the sum of 3,500,000 French francs, a very large sum for the period of the 1870's. For the face of his "Goddess of Liberty" he chose his own mother. The structural framework was provided by Freemason Gustave Eiffel, later to be famous for the 384-foot Eiffel Tower.

Although financial support for the statue was forthcoming in France, America was not willing to put up the money for the pedestal. It was Joseph Pulitzer, the owner and editor of the New York World, who managed to raise over $I00,000 for the project.

On Washington's Birthday in 1877, Congress accepted the statue as a gift from the French people. Bedloe's Island, now Liberty Island, was chosen by General Sherman, the well- known Atlanta-burner. Meanwhile in Paris the work gradually progressed. Levi P. Morton, the then Ambassador to France, drove the first rivet. The statue was finished on May 21, 1884, and presented to Ambassador Levi Morton on July 4th of the same year by Ferdinand de Lesseps, builder of the Suez canal.

On the American side, the chairman of the American committee to receive the statue contacted the Grand Lodge of the Free and Accepted Masons of the State of New York. It had been a tradition in America to have the cornerstone of major public and private buildings and monuments "consecrated" with full Masonic rites, ever since Freemason George Washington, in 1793, had personally laid the cornerstone of the Capitol, with the assistance of the Grand Lodge of Maryland. The cornerstone of the Washington Monument was also laid in a Masonic ceremony.

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CATHOLIC RESTORATION

Editor - Father Donald Sanborn

2899 East Big Beaver Road, Suite 308

Troy, MI 48083-2400