Post by Tamrin on Jun 7, 2014 20:59:29 GMT 10
National Grand Lodge of Greece (established this day in 1986):
Both bodies [Grand Lodge of Greece and Supreme Council of the 33°] proscribed the newcomer [York Rite] and threatened with expulsion their members who remained members there. This attitude and several other events eventually led to the establishment of the National Grand Lodge of Greece in 1986. Practically all the founders of this new body were regulars of the York Rite Chapters and other bodies. The leaders of the National Grand Lodge decided to follow strictly the British practice in their rituals and even the minutiae of their operation. So curiously they decided to abandon the York Rite and adopt the British Holy Royal Arch and the other beyond the Craft degrees (Mark, Royal Ark Mariner, Cryptic Degrees etc.) as practiced in England. The National embarked also on a concerted effort to obtain recognition initially from the UGLE and then from other foreign Grand Lodges.
So we come to 1993 when UGLE threatened Grand Lodge of Greece with withdrawal of recognition mainly with three charges. First that the Grand Lodge was involved in politics, by allowing the discussion of the issue of Macedonia in masonic meetings, second that it had removed the necessity of the Oath from the Obligations and third that it was subservient to the Supreme Council. The presentation of the pros and cons on the first two accusations is beyond my scope, while the third led to historically interesting developments.
The Grand Lodge of Greece in order to nullify the accusations concerning the Supreme Council took two very important decisions. First it amended its Constitution by removing all mentions of the Scottish Rite and the Constitutions of 1762 and 1786 changing its title to ‘Grand Lodge of Greece A.F.& A.M. Second it introduced the Holy Royal Arch into Greek Craft Freemasonry using the terminology of the United Grand Lodge of England, that is ‘Craft Freemasonry in Greece consists of the degrees of Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft and Master Mason including the order of Royal Arch’.
So we come to 1993 when UGLE threatened Grand Lodge of Greece with withdrawal of recognition mainly with three charges. First that the Grand Lodge was involved in politics, by allowing the discussion of the issue of Macedonia in masonic meetings, second that it had removed the necessity of the Oath from the Obligations and third that it was subservient to the Supreme Council. The presentation of the pros and cons on the first two accusations is beyond my scope, while the third led to historically interesting developments.
The Grand Lodge of Greece in order to nullify the accusations concerning the Supreme Council took two very important decisions. First it amended its Constitution by removing all mentions of the Scottish Rite and the Constitutions of 1762 and 1786 changing its title to ‘Grand Lodge of Greece A.F.& A.M. Second it introduced the Holy Royal Arch into Greek Craft Freemasonry using the terminology of the United Grand Lodge of England, that is ‘Craft Freemasonry in Greece consists of the degrees of Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft and Master Mason including the order of Royal Arch’.