French Masonry Today

by Michael L. Segall, MPS

        Very little is known outside France, particularly in the English-
speaking Masonic world, about French Masonry. Most English-language Masonic 
encyclopedias seem to believe that it disappeared somewhere around 1877, after 
the Convent of Lausanne. Some people think that it is overwhelmed by problems, 
and divided into perpetually warring factions, since the beginning of the 20th 
century. It might be useful for our readers to have a description of French 
Masonry as viewed by a contemporary, experienced French Mason. Most French Ma-
sons do not think that there are any Masonic problems in their country, home 
of the second oldest Masonry in the world, if we speak in terms of Grand Lodge 
Masonry, possibly of the oldest in terms of Free Operative Lodge Masonry.
    One of the first questions often raised by people who consult a Masonic 
encyclopedia is about the regularity of Masonry in France. The French, and the
majority of continental Masons, have their own definition of regularity, very
similar to the one used by English-speaking Masonry and just as ancient.
    To be regular, a Masonic body must at least:  1) Have male membership only
and receive no women visitors in Lodge; 2) Work a regular, traditional ritual, 
to the Glory of the Grand Architect of the Universe; 3) Display in the center 
of the Lodge the Bible, the Square and the Compass; 4) Be founded by at least 
three regular Lodges coming from a regular Grand Lodge; 5) Not be affiliated 
with any political party; 6) Not be affiliated with any specific religion or 
Church. French Masonry is very different from its Anglo-American counterpart. 
In a welfare state with relatively heavy taxes, which supports all hospitals, 
aged homes and other charitable activities, involvement with charities is un-
necessary beyond what every Brother does on his own. The main activity of 
French Masonry is intellectual: historical, symbolic, moral, spiritual and 
philosophical. Most members are required to prepare once a year an original 
lecture on this type of subject. Most lectures are presented in Lodge, time 
permitting, and followed by a discussion where questions are asked, additional 
information brought, and different interpretations of the subject proposed. 
Such a lecture is required for promotion to each successive degree. True,
there are many Masonic bodies in France, but there are just as many in the
United States or the United Kingdom. Some of these bodies are regular, some
are irregular. Some are recognized by US Masonry, some by UK Masonry, some by 
both and some by none. The same is true of Europe in general. In addition, 
some of the recognized bodies are definitely irregular, some of the un-
recognized bodies actually regular. The French pay very little attention to 
being recognized or not by a foreign Masonic body, and mostly think of their 
diversity as of an advantage: a man - or a woman - have the right to join the 
type and variety of Masonic body of their choice, in accordance with their 
philosophical, spiritual or even political views, and within the rules of 
admittance of that body. Therefore the French consider that the more bodies, 
the better.
    There are today about 80,000 masons of all kinds in France, O.14% of the 
population. This is far less, percentage-wise, than in the United States or 
the United Kingdom, but France has nevertheless the greatest number of Masons 
of any continental European country. The reason behind the smaller number of 
members lies in the much stricter conditions of admission. The main French 
Masonic bodies are, by decreasing size:
    a) The Grand Orient (or Grand East) of France (Grand Orient de France,
G.O., G.O.E or G.O.d.F.) has about 27,000 members in 650 lodges. Very involved 
in social, political and some charitable activities, it is politically left-
leaning and closely associated with the French Socialist party. Since 1877, 
most lodges of the G.O. have abandoned all reference to the Grand Architect, 
as well as the Bible. Recently, a number of its lodges have started admitting 
women. For all these reasons, the G.O. is quite irregular and has very few 
international ties. The G.O. works a variety of rites, the two main ones being 
the French Rite and a largely modified French Ancient and Accepted Scottish 
Rite (A.A.S.R.). The subjects of lectures and discussions in Lodge are mainly 
problems of society, ecology, human rights, the condition of the working 
class, problems of public health, AIDS and so on. The members of the Grand 
Orient are extremely vocal in public life and politics. They take the heavy 
responsibility, deplored by all other French Masons,  of projecting worldwide 
an atheistic, left-leaning, politicking image of French Masonry as a whole.
    b)  The  Grand  Lodge of France (Grande Loge de France, G.L., G.L.F. or 
G.L.d.F.) currently has about 22,000 members in 550 lodges. Regular, and
representative of the oldest and most regular Masonic tradition, it has 
existed in its current form for 100 years, in other guises for more than two 
centuries. The G.L. works the traditional Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite 
in all of its lodges but two, which work the Rectified Scottish Rite (Rite 
cossais Rectifi, R.E.R.). With no political afffliation, the G.L. sets very 
high intellectual standards for its work, which is mainly philosophical,
symbolic, moral and spiritual. It is not currently recognized by either US or 
UK Masonry, but has wide international ties with many regular - both 
recognized and unrecognized - Masonic bodies. The fastest-growing Grand Lodge 
in France, among a fast-growing Masonry, its membership has doubled in size 
over the last ten years and the rate of growth itself is rapidly increasing.
    c) The National Grand Lodge of France (Grande Loge Nationale Francaisc, 
G.L.N.F.) has about 13,000 members and 400 Lodges. Initially a very small 
Grand Lodge (a few hundred members), founded in 1913 by two irregular Lodges 
issued from the irregular Grand Orient, it was joined in 1964 by a number of 
Brethren from the G.L. which filled it out. Before that, most of its members 
were English and American military and some civilians. This caused French 
Masons to always consider it an Anglo-American colony on French soil rather 
than a French Masonic body. The G.L.N.F. is currently the only Grand Lodge 
recognized by the English and American Masonry. Being recognized despite its 
origins has rendered it extremely strict and rigorous, more so than even the 
United Grand Lodge of England. For instance, mentions of the Grand Architect 
of the Universe are followed by the qualification "who is God" or "the 
Revealed God". The G.L.N.F. has relations only with the Anglo-American Masonic 
world and with other national Masonic bodies created by either the U.S. or the 
U.K. Masonry. It mainly works the Emulation and A.A.S.R. rituals. Politically, 
it is moderately right-leaning. Working methods and lecture subjects are 
extremely similar to those of the G.L. because of the relatively large influx 
of G. L. members in 1964.
    d) The Order of the Human Right (Ordre Maonnique Mixte International du 
Droit Humsin, D.H.) accepts both men and women. Created in 1893, it is quite 
widespread outside France, mainly in Europe, and notably in England. The D.H. 
works a highly (and recently - 1948) modified version of the A.A.S.R. and 
gives lodges the right to individually decide on whether to work to the Glory
of the G.A.O.T.U. or not. Most Lodges don't. The same is true of the Bible. 
For all these reasons, the D.H. is irregular and has very few international 
ties, except with Lodges it has itself created. In France it has very close 
ties with the Grand Orient and, just like it, its lectures and discussions in 
Lodge are mainly about  problems of society, ecology, human rights, the 
condition of the working class, problems of public health, AIDS and so on. The 
D.H. has about 8,000 members, mainly women, in 120 lodges.
    e) The Grand Feminine Lodge of France  (Grande  Loge  Feminine de France, 
G.L.F.F.) accepts only women candidates. It is issued from the Lodges of 
Adoption (related to of the Order of the Eastern Star) created at the end of 
the 19th century by the Grand Lodge of France for the wives, mothers, 
daughters and sisters of its Brethren. In 1948, the G.L. strongly helped these 
Lodges of Adoption federate themselves into the G.L.F.F. The rite of Adoption 
was abandoned for a modified A.A.S.R. The wisdom for women to work a masculine
ritual remains to be proven. Despite the massive help received from the G.L. 
at the time of its creation, the G.L.F.F. reproaches the Grand Lodge its 
refusal to accept women visitors and has preferential ties with the Grand 
Orient. Under the influence of the latter, which allows women in some of its 
Lodges, it has become quite left-leaning too. It also has in common with the 
G.O. the subjects of its lectures and discussions in Lodge, plus typically 
feminine subjects such as contraception, abortion and feminism. Currently the 
G.L.F.F. has about 6,000 members and 150 Lodges. In principle, individual 
Lodges have the right to decide whether to have the Bible and work to the 
Glory of the G.A.O.T.U., but very few do.
    f) The Traditional and Symbolic Grand Lodge (Grande Loge Symbolique et
Traditionnelle), formerly Grande Loge Nationale Francaise Opra (because of
the proximity of its building to the Paris Opera  House),  is commonly called
"G.L. Opra." It is the result of a schism of the Grande 'r/3 Loge Nationale
Francaise. It was created in 1958 by a number of Brethren who, while in agree-
ment with the principles of regularity and with traditional Masonic teachings,
resented "the rigid and intransigent attitude of the G.L.N.E, as well as its
blind submission to the United Grand Lodge of England". Perfectly regular
according to the principles accepted by the vast majority of continental 
Masons, it mostly works the A.A.S.R. Some Lodges work the Rectified Scottish 
Rite. Currently, the G.L. Opra has about 2,000 members in some 50 Lodges.
    There are half a dozen other Masonic bodies, some of them irregular, with
memberships of between 100 and 1,000. It would be far beyond the scope of this
brief description of French Masonry to go into further detail about them.
    All this of course affects the matter of visits. The attitude of the Grand 
Loge de France concerning visits to other bodies is that of the vast majority 
of French Masons, except the Grande Loge Nationale Francaise. The French, and
Europeans in general, consider that a Master Mason is implicitly mature
enough to visit any meeting of any organization without being" tainted" in any
way, as long as the visited body accepts to receive him. Therefore French Ma-
sons go and visit anyone they wish, anywhere, including of course women's
Lodges. Only Brethren holding high office in the G.L. generally refrain from
visiting irregular bodies, as their presence there might implicate the G.L. as 
a whole. Of course, regular French Grand Lodges only receive men in their 
Lodges and make sure, on an individual basis, that each conforms to their 
standards. The Grand Lodges also firmly advise against visiting those 
extremely small and few fringe groups that are truly suspect of shady 
activities.
    The present status of mutual recognitions among the French Grand Lodges is
a simple matter, since it is not necessary to recognize an organization to 
visit it. The notion of recognition, as practiced by the Anglo-American world, 
does not exist on the continent. No one really recognizes anyone, officially. 
When high ranking Brothers from one Masonic Body visit another, this implies 
that one recognizes the other, but there is no elaborate paper signing. High  
ranking Brethren from a regular body will, of course, only visit regular 
bodies officially, but they too may visit any other body as simple Master 
Masons.
    A final point that may be important if one is to understand continental 
Masonry in general and French Masonry in particular, is that most US and UK-
type Grand Lodges are small, recent and resented by local Masons as a kind of
"foreign beach-heads". As an indication, the only recognized Grand Lodge in 
France, the Grande Loge Nationale Francaise, represents only 15 percent of 
French Masonry. In Belgium, recognized Masonry represents about 1,000 
Brethren. The decline which currently affects Anglo-American Masonry also hits 
most of its representatives on the continent, while indigenous Masonry is in 
a period of accelerated development: as mentioned earlier, the Grand Lodge of 
France has doubled its membership over the last ten years and, with the 
increasing rate of expansion,  expects to reach 50,000 members by the end of 
the century, seven years from now. French Masonry as a whole can be expected 
to reach the 150,000 mark by the same time.
    French and European Masons, who have paid an immense toll to persecution
since medieval times and notably during the Second World War, when tens of
thousands of Brethren were killed by the Nazis and the communists just because
they were Masons, do not view at all kindly the pretention of a few overseas
Grand Lodges, who were never in danger, never persecuted and know very little 
about them, to act as self-appointed judges of their regularity. For the sake 
of world-wide Masonry it might be high time to implement the Fraternity we 
talk so much and do so little about, and accept each other as we are, with the 
imperfections that we all have, with our customs and our traditions, as 
bizarre as each might seem to the other side.


      The Philalethes, February 1994

