RT

Biden was inducted into the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge in South Carolina on Sunday, one day before he left office. In a private ceremony, the lodge’s grand master, Victor C. Major, granted Biden “Master Mason membership with full honors,” according to a statement published by the organization last weekend that circulated online on Friday.

”To be a Freemason is to be part of a brotherhood dedicated to personal growth, service to others, and the pursuit of knowledge and truth,” the lodge wrote. Biden’s service, the statement added, “reflects the core values” of this brotherhood.

Pope Clement XII forbade Catholics from practicing Freemasonry in 1738, and this papal ban remained in place until 1983, when the Vatican issued a new order banning membership in organizations that “plot against the Church.” While the new order did not explicitly name Freemasonry, it maintained excommunication as a potential punishment for Catholics who join such organizations.

”The faithful who enroll in Masonic associations are in a state of grave sin and may not receive Holy Communion,” Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who would go on to become Pope, declared at the time.