But, of course, the physical presence of the Bible in your ceremonies is not enough. What is more important is the presence of God's word in your lives, in your actions, in your decisions. This holds true for all men, including us priests; for we may be surrounded by the physical trappings of religion, but we could have very unreligious, unholy and uncharitable decisions and dispositions towards others.

No, it is not enough to have a Bible in our ceremonies. It is not enough to give the Bible the marks of honor and respect. It's by far more important to make the divine precepts it contains the criteria for our decisions and the norms for checking the acceptability of our decisions and actions.

I would like to make it exceecingly clear that, as far as the Catholic Church is concerned, it is not true that one religion is as good as another. That, my brothers and sisters, was exactly one of the fears the Church in the past had about Masomy; for to say that one religion is as good as another would be some sort of religious indifferentism.

As a professor of Law, I myself would advocate that sects be given equal status before the law.

But as far as we Catholics are concerned -- and now I speak as a Catholic, what was clearly enunciated in the second Vatican Council as part of the dogmatic constitution of the Catholic Church is this : There subsist in the Roman Catholic Church the elements of the true church of Jesus Christ. This means, it is not true that one religious sect is as good as any other. If we are sincere Catholics, then we must profess our faith that in the Catholic Church subsist the elements of the true church of Jesus Christ.

My third point is, Religion cannot and should never be a secondary issue. All other issues are, in fact, secondary to religion.   Religion should be the primary governing and determinative issue.

But, my brothers and sisters, we cannot go back to the old days of bigotry towards others. It is, in fact, unchristian to assume the position "I'm better than all the rest." It Is, indeed, presumptuous to consider ourselves wise and all the rest dumb. Rather, in the face of the truth of Jesus Christ, we should have the humility that allow us to open to others, to dialogue with them, to be hospitable to them.

If the Masonic fraternity is, above all, a fraternity that welcomes all men, well and good. If it is a fraternity by which character is built and moral fiber strengthened, then it can only be a fraternity blessed by God. If its members take their religious duties with utmost seriousness and if through its light, they make religion the pole star of their actions, the criterion of their decisions and the standard by which their choices and options are resolved, then Masorrry can be a fraternity blessed by God.

The Lord tells us that when He will judge us, the most important standard by which he will judge us will be this: "When I was hungry, did you feed me? When I was thirsty, did you give me a drink? When I was lonely and ostracized by others, did you welcome me? When nobody else would have anything to do with me, were you ashamed to deal with me?"  And if you, my brothers in the Masonic fraternity, can say in your own humble way that you recognize Christ in others, and that you give comfort and solace to your brothers and sisters, then you are, indeed, doing God's work.

In the end, I think, what can dissipate all doubts, suspicions and misunderstandings is more frequent dialogues between your Fraternity and the Catholic Church.

I have no doubt that those of you who belong to the Catholic Faith can be sincere about the practice of your religion.

Allow me, therefore, to recapitulate the sentiments I have for you, which I think will capsulize the position of the Church vis-a-vis any fraternity like yours.

First, the centrality of God's word and its importance as the foundation and criterion of our lives.

Second, as Catholics, we cannot compromise the truth that is in our religion. It cannot be the case for us that all religions are equal. We must have faith that in this community resides the Spirit of God, which in turn leads us to all truth.

Third, religion cannot, and should never, be a secondary issue. The destruction to which the world is heading due to its own unbridled permissiveness is a sign of decadence that follows when religion becomes a secondary issue. When "Eraserheads, River Maya and Co." and the like become more important than the Church, the we have such decadence as the one we are experiencing now. When "shabu, manrijuana" and others similar become more important than receiving communion, then we have the corruption that is endemic in presentday society.

I believe that you in the Masonic fraternity and we in the Catholic Church are working toward a better world where we respect one another, love one another, and fear and worship God more.

With these remarks I wish to reiterate my gratitude for your presence on this occassion, I fondly hope that this will not be our last Mass together, and that you will make it a habit to come with more regularity and frequency.

I will do my best to represent your position to the Church authorities, so that there will be better understanding and rapprochement.

But, as the gospel tells us, please be patient because these things take time. Many of our bishops are aging and, as you know, it is not very easy to convince the aged. It takes time to convince the aged. So, we must work with patience until the dawn of understanding comes on all of us.

Reprinted from "The Cable Tow", Vol. 74. No. 2