The Catholic Church continued the Roman's long terroristic war against Jews and Judaism. There were regular operations against Jewish communities in Europe and a morbid obsession with identifying and eliminating the secret Jews. The group that today is known as The Freemasons stood squarely against the Catholic tyranny and oppression. It also stood against the Lutheran tyranny and oppression. But the Catholics created Knights of Columbus and the Lutherans took over the Knights Templar. The Anglicans invented the Scottish Rite. And this is where Albert Pike comes into the picture. During and after the American Civil War, Pike headed a well funded and organized group. Their goals were the same as Weishaupt's Illuminati, which included the influence of Mozart, Franklin, Goethe, and probably Jefferson... to name only a few. They wanted to bring down the Church and allow all men who were qualified to have the same privileges as the Kings and Queens. But out of their efforts grew things that were no less repressive. Communism, for example. And it is at the time that Communism is rising that the Pope issues this absurd denunciation of Freemasonry. With all his faults, Albert Pike was a brillant man and a master rhetorician. His reply deserves careful study by all genuine seekers of truth and eschewers of falsehood.