September 2012

Saturday 29 September 2012

Samir Bichara, the Brazilian who became Worshipful Master of one of the oldest Masonic Lodges in the United States of America



A couple of weeks ago, American Freemasonry celebrated a rather unusual event: a Brazilian was elected Worshipful Master of the third most oldest Masonic Lodges in the United States of America. The Massachusetts Lodge of the Valley of Boston was founded in 1770, being one of the oldest Masonic Lodges in the Western Hemisphere and the U.S..




Samir Bichara, who held the dignity of Senior Warden of the Lodge in the previous term, is a native of Barra do Pirai - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Brother Samir lives in the U.S. since 1998, and in 2006 he began his Masonic journey. His Masonic Lodge counts with almost 200 Brethren, of which only three are of Brazilian origin. Samir's father was twice elected as Worshipful Master and now held the office of Secretary of his Lodge in the Valley of Barra do Piarai.


Friday 28 September 2012

Freemasons gather in Paraguay to debate on the future of Latin American Freemasonry


It was reported by APMR that in two weeks from now leaders of the 6th Zone of the Inter-American Masonic Confederation will gather in Paraguay's capital city of Asuncion to held talk on the future of Latin American freemasonry and to discuss about Women in Freemasonry.



The Masonic Press Agency encourages participation in this event since the topics discussed are part of a necessary process of Freemasonry, namely the adaptation of Order to the 21st century society.


Sunday 23 September 2012

APMR: AASR Supreme Council to analyze the role of women in Freemasonry


The Supreme Council for Spain will hold from 9 to 10 November 2012 its Annual Communication during which will examine the role of women in Masonic Lodges. At the conference held on the subject will attend 10 Supreme Councils of the world.

APMR also reported that regarding the Feminine Freemasonry Jesús Soriano Carrillo stated that there is a Feminine Grand Lodge in Spain and even a Council Supreme. Moreover, he believes that the organization of women works even better than that of men because women are more meticulous.


Thursday 20 September 2012

Tuesday 18 September 2012

European Masonic Meeting schedule



Friday 26 October 2012


14:00 : Registration at the Hotel
18:00 : Welcome to Paphos: Informal welcome drinks for Brethren and Ladies in the Hotel
19:30 : Traditional Cyprus Dinner


Saturday 27 October 2012

10:00 : The official European Masonic Meeting. Ritual Lodge Meeting
10:30 : Program for Ladies/ Families "Paphos city"
13:00 : Luncheon for Brethren and Ladies
16:00 : Visiting monuments, mosaics, harbor of Paphos
19:30 : Gala Dinner for Brethren and Ladies


Sunday 28 October 2012

09:00 : Farewell Branch

Please Note: Durring the Paphos EMM, there will be a selection of the Lodge that will host the 2014 EMM.

The 2012 European Masonic Meeting will be held in Paphos, Cyprus



It is the Respectable Lodge "La Chaine d'Union Europeenne 183" in the Orient of Longwy (France) particularly its Honourable Master at the time, Brother Eric Tedeschi who began this annual meeting, the objective of which is to create a Regular European Fraternity with the transfer from Lodge to Lodge of an object symbolizing this European Masonic Union. It is in this manner which a Europe's Regular Lodge can organize once a year the Meeting where the majority of Brothers from all over Europe come to meet and in this manner they form all together the Union's chain.


A stone encircled with links symbolizing the workshops' organizers of each meeting, goes from Lodge to Lodge so they can add their own link. The first meeting took place at LONGWY on 26 May 2003. Subsequent Meetings were organised by the following Lodges:

In 2004 was organized by the R. Lodge "SAINT JEAN DE LUMIERE" at the Orient of ARLON (Belgium).

In 2005 was organized by the R. Lodge "MATTEO ALBERTI" at the Orient of BERGISCH-GLADBACH/COLONIA (Germany).

In 2006 was organized by the R. Lodge of "LUXEMBOURG" (Luxemburg).

In 2007 was organized by the R. Lodge "MEUSE ARGONNE" in the Orient of SAVERNE (France).

In 2008 was organized by the R. Lodge of "ZU DEN DREI WELTKUGELN" in the Orient of BERLIN (Germany).

In 2009, was organized by the R. Lodge of "CARLEMANY" No.3 Lodge of Andorra's Orient in the Principality of Andorra.

In 2010, was organized by the R. Lodge of "Oscar til den kronede Bog" to St. John in Larvik, Norway.

In 2011, was organized by the R. Lodge of "TRADIOZIONE E FUTURO" No.1274 in the Orient of MONTECATINI TERME (Italy).

In 2012, the Lodge "KINYRAS" in Pafos, Cyprus has the honour of inviting you to the 10th European Masonic Meeting.

History of Kinyras Lodge #3 from Cyprus



Kinyras Lodge was consecrated in the town of Paphos, on 21 April 1923. The Lodge was consecrated under the jurisdiction of the Grand Orient of Greece.The first Worshipful Master was bro Zafirios Malamatenios who was installed by Past W.M. Christoforos Tornaritis under the powers vested in him by the Grand Orient of Greece. The name "Kinyras" had been chosen by the founding brethren originating from ancient mysteries. Kinyras was the first high priest of the temple of Aprhodite and a great Mystic. He was also the mythical king of Cyprus at its capital city of Paphos. He had introduced the worshipping of Adonis and the ceremonies were similar to Egyptian, Phoenician and Masonic rituals.


The first meeting of the lodge took place on 10 June 1923 and until 1931 had produced substantial work including the establishment of the Night School for under privileged students and was also providing free lunches twice weekly for the students. The lodge was originally held on a building provided by bro Pavlos Kythreotis free of charge until 1966 when the lodge acquired its own premises at 5 Ermou Street in Paphos.

From 1931 the lodge was inactive due to restrictions imposed by the Colonial rule and was re-activated in 1937 and the lodge work was suspended by the government again from 1954 to1959 during the liberation struggle. An earthquake in 1996 incurred major damages to the building. Currently, the Lodge is very active, with growing numbers of brothers, producing substantial spiritual and humanitarian work.


History of the Grand Lodge of Cyprus



There are indications of Masons being present in Cyprus, dating all the way back to the 18th century and initially limited to Larnaca, where the port and the consulates of the island used to be situated. Masonry in Cyprus is first mentioned in a document of 1751 and again in an 1817 circular of the Archbishop, wherein it is condemned. Masonic presence on the island is also documented by the existence of 19th century graves bearing Masonic Marks, which can still be found within the enclosure of the Church of Ayios Lazarus.


There is conjecture that the Brothers in Larnaca were so few, in those times, that to convene in quorum they had to wait for ships to arrive which had Masons as crewmembers. After the events of 1821 and the active participation of Cypriot Masons in the Greek Revolution, no other mention is made and unfortunately no other records exist, other than those aforementioned.

Many Cypriots studying abroad and particularly in Athens, were initiated into Masonry, but on returning home they had no possibility to join established Lodges or even to create new ones. One of these young men was Dr. Ioannis Karageorgiades, who had been initiated in a Greel Lodge of Athens, in 1865. After the British purchase of Cyprus, in 1878, and the foundation of the "St Paul" Lodge in 1888 (the first Lodge under the auspices of the United Grand Lodge of England in Cyprus), Bro Karageorgiades joined it. Subsequently, in 1893 and aided by both English and Greek Brothers, he founded "Zenon" Lodge, the first Greek speaking Lodge under the auspices of the Grand Lodge of Greece. As the years passed, the establishment of Greek speaking Lodges in Larnaca, Nicosia, Pafos and Famagusta, followed this.

According to international Masonic convention, each independent state can have a Grand Lodge, under the auspices of Greek Cypriot Masons could have legitimately established their own Grand Lodge, for many years they did not do so, due mainly to sentimental reasons of not wanting to sever ties with the Grand Lodge of Greece. After much debate about going forward with such an endeavour or not and many efforts, the Cypriot Masons convened in a Plenary Assembly, on the 4th December 2005 and took the historic decision, by a vast majority.

The founding Members of the new Grand Lodge were the following Lodges, all, until then, under the auspices of the Grand Lodge of Greece:

KIMON Lodge, Larnaca, Founded in 1918
SOLON Lodge, Nicosia, Founded in 1921
KINYRAS Lodge, Pafos, Founded in 1923
EVAGORAS Lodge, Famagusta, Founded in 1928
ADONIS Lodge, Nicosia, Founded in 1961
KOINON KYPRION Lodge, Nicosia, Founded in 1977

ZENON Lodge of Limassol and PHOENIX Lodge of Nicosia, for their own reasons, decided not to follow the others but instead to join the District Grand Lodge of Cyprus, under the United Grand Lodge of England.


Thursday 13 September 2012

ExCeL London (Exhibition Centre London) to host the 2017 300th anniversary of the United Grand Lodge of England



As stated by The MW The Pro Grand Master Peter Lowndes at yesterday's Quarterly Communication, ExCeL London (Exhibition Centre London) will host in 2017 the 300th anniversary of the United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE).


According to Brother Lowndes, "This is one of the few locations in the Country that has the necessary capacity and infrastructure to properly enable us to celebrate this once in a lifetime momentous event."

ExCeL Exhibition Centre is an exhibitions and conference centre in the London Borough of Newham, England. It is located on a site on the northern quay of the Royal Victoria Dock in London Docklands, between Canary Wharf and London City Airport. For the 2012 Summer Olympics, ExCeL London had been divided into five sports halls with capacities ranging from 6,000 to 10,000 that were used for boxing, fencing, judo, taekwondo, table tennis, weightlifting, and wrestling.


Wednesday 12 September 2012

PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF MASONIC KNOWLEDGE


The event will be held on Saturday, October 27th, in the Deike Auditorium of the Masonic Cultural Center on the campus of Masonic Village in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. Registration will open at 8:30 AM with the program beginning at 9:30 AM. A lunch (voluntary contribution) will be served at noon and the program will be completed by 3:00 PM.


Speakers:

Brother Alton G. Roundtree, Past Master of Redemption Lodge No. 24 PHA (District of Columbia) and coauthor of Out of the Shadows: The Emergence of Prince Hall Freemasonry in America.

Brother Andrew Hammer, Past Master of Alexandria-Washington Lodge No. 22 (Virginia) and author of Observing the Craft: The Pursuit of Excellence in Masonic Labour and Observance.

Pre-registration is required. To pre-register simply e-mail Brother Shawn D'Ignazio at dignazio@yahoo.com with your name, address, Lodge number, and telephone. If you pre-register and subsequently determine that you will be unable to attend, please notify Brother D'Ignazio so that he can adjust the luncheon count.


Tuesday 11 September 2012

Sunday 9 September 2012

The Grand Lodge of Chile wants to lead discussions for a new Constitution of the Republic



According to a European Masonic source, with public meticulous techniques, almost unique in the first part of this century, the Grand Lodge of Chile became the engine and center of discussions, debates, initiatives etc., in terms of educational policy, social policy and even foreign affairs policy of the its own country. Since being installed, the former Rector of the University of Santiago de Chile became the locomotive of changes that began to reshape social and political life of the Republic of Chile, including its foreign affairs.


During a public discourse the Grand Master stated that "it is in our interest to conduct a proposal for a new constitution." He also said that the Grand Lodge is currently working to convene a Constituent Assembly and called for a plebiscite in this regard, warning that the country is likely to have some more confrontation and intolerance.

He said that Freemasons in Chile hold important positions in the country's political and financial executive offices and that they play an active role in the institutional changes in the country.

Asked about women and homosexuals joining Freemasonry, Grand Master Riveros Cornejo replied that women have their own organization and that it is following the same directions as the Grand Lodge of Chile and that regarding homosexuals stated that they have the right and that is no impediment. However he wanted to assert the existence of mixed Grand Lodges, but that time has not yet come; and maybe "in the future things may chance (...)".

The fact that "Freemasonry tends towards progressive ideals of the left, not right," Riveros Cornejo said that all these things are no longer relevant. In the same vein, given the acute crisis of state institutions and political parties in Chile, the Grand Master emphasized that the Grand Lodge plays a role in improving the country's actual situation, showing that even the President and the President of the Senate have acknowledged the important role played by Freemasonry. What he wanted to point, in fact, was that "we are determined to influence more decisions."

Finally motivated one of his first statements on the Constituent Assembly, saying that it must be made by the Grand Lodge because it is better to have a Masonic proposal and that this must not be delivered by any of Chile's political parties.


Saturday 8 September 2012

Friday 7 September 2012

Thursday 6 September 2012

Wednesday 5 September 2012

The Indiana Grand Lodge Scholarship program has provided nearly $500,000 each year for the past several years


According to the Grand Lodge of Indiana, in the fall, Lodges will begin to encourage members to alert schools and students of the availability of the Grand Lodge scholarships. Even though the school year has just begun, it is not too early to begin the process.

Those eligible to receive a Grand Lodge Scholarship are the sons, daughters, adopted sons or daughters, stepsons or stepdaughters of Master Masons in good standing. Since 2003, Master Masons under the age of 25 are able to apply under their own membership if their father is not a Master Mason.


Shock among Brethren in Portugal



APMR reports that a total of 1.438 names of Brethren members in Masonic Lodges belonging to the Grand Orient were published on the internet. This events aims to deepen the Masonic crisis in which the Masonic community of Portugal was thrown a few months ago after the public scandal between politicians, media and the two most important Masonic organizations in the country: the Grand Orient and the Grand Lodge.


GOL's Past Grand Master, Antonio Reis stated that the unprecedented leak of information will cause a great panic among Brethren. He thinks that we might be talking about a leak from the IT systems of the organization.


Tuesday 4 September 2012

The Argentine Scottish Rite Supreme Council awards Santiago Kovadloff with its Golden medal



The biggest Masonic Temple in Buenos Aires hosted a special ceremony where Santiago Kovadloff was awarded the Golden Medal of the Supreme Council of Argentina In a ceremony presided by MWGM Angel Jorge Clavero, Kovadloff received the highest Masonic honour in recognition for his work as poet.