Anti-Masonic Congress of Trent
 | This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. (November 2024) |
The first Anti-Masonic Congress of Trent began on 26 September 1896 in Trent (capital of the Italian Tyrol, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire) and was organized by the International Anti-Masonic League (French: Ligue internationale antimaçonnique), which was founded in Rome in 1893 and led by Prince of Löwenstein. Pope Leo XIII dedicated a brief to the Anti-Masonic Congress of Trent.
Description
[edit]On the opening day, 36 bishops, 50 episcopal delegates and 700 delegates from various Catholic organizations met. Among these delegations, those from France and Austria should be highlighted, with more than 50 people each. The opening of the Congress took place in the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Trent.
During the morning session on the last day of the Congress, Commander Pedro Pacelli—an Italian writer and journalist—proposed a motion to commend the Carlist deputy Juan Vázquez de Mella, who had presented to the Cortes of Madrid a vigorous petition requesting that Freemasonry be declared "illegal, subversive and treasonous to the Fatherland," and calling for Freemasons to be removed from public office.
The Carlist claimant to the throne of Spain, Carlos VII, attended the Congress' closing Te Deum, accompanied by Doña María Berta and the Infanta Alicia.
Four topics were discussed during the congress: Masonic doctrine, Masonic action, prayer, and anti-Masonic action. The congress recommended the publication of inexpensive books and pamphlets to counter Freemasonry. The Acts of the International Anti-Masonic Congress were published in Tournai in 1897 by the publisher Desclée de Brouwer.
See also
[edit]Sources
[edit]- Actes du congrès antimaçonnique international, Tournai, Desclée, 1897.
- Fr. Eugène Portalié, Le congrès antimaçonnique de Trente et la fin d'une mystification.
- Éric Saunier (ed.), Encyclopédie de la Franc-Maçonnerie, Paris, Livre de poche, "La Pochothèque," 2000.