Freemasonry has many enemies. You will be hard pressed to find any organization that has more written about it. Freemasonry has not always been popular because it has taken a sometimes very unpopular stance on personal freedoms, including freedom of religion, freedom of the common man to elect government officials, and freedom to have children taught by non-clerics. While these freedoms are now found in many countries around the world, such was not the case in the earlier days of Freemasonry.

Although the Templars lived a very simple life-style (other than having the necessities of knighthood), they had gained much wealth during the crusades. Most of the money they made was used to support their organization so that it could protect travelers going and coming from the Holy Land. They used some of their money in making loans to the wealthy of Europe, which included the Royalty and high Church officials. When the Crusades came to close in the last decade of the 13^th century Europe was in a depression. King Philip of France and the Pope had no means to pay off their Templar loans. In a plot to destroy their "bankers" they decided that they would bring charges of idolatry and immorality against the Templars. The Pope commanded the kings of Europe to detain any Templars in the their lands until the Inquisition experts could "talk" to them. Several Templars were tortured and under duress confessed to crimes against the Church. Most of the Templars, however, escaped into other countries, or secretly joined other knightly Orders. When the Church thought that it had received sufficient repentance from the Templars it eventually created a new Order of Knights, which many Templars were believed to have joined.

The next attack against Freemasonry was by Pope Clement XII on Apr. 28, 1738 when he issued the Eminenti Bull. This was only 12 years after the development of the Grand Lodges in London. There have been 23 condemnations from the Papacy since that time. The Church saw the Freemasonry as a threat almost from the very beginning of its "public" existence.

As you will see there have been many others who have sought to condemn Freemasonry: