Sir, - From Katie Donovan's article on freemasonry (Features, June 6th) one gets the impression that today the Catholic Church regards Freemasonry with benign indifference, or even with good will, and that it has changed its view about the propriety of Catholics joining the organisation. This is not surprising since the information in the article seems to come exclusively from Masonic sources and the view of the Catholic Church is nowhere represented.
For the information of your readers, therefore, perhaps I could point out that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which has responsibility for promoting and defending Catholic teaching, declared in 1983 that the Church's negative position on Masonic associations "remains unaltered", since "their principles have always been regarded as irreconcilable with the Church's doctrine. Hence joining them remains prohibited by the Church." - Yours, etc.,
Jim Cantwell, Director, Catholic Press and Information Office, Dublin.