REHMLAC (Jan 2011)
« Sur les rites funéraires de la franc-maçonnerie belge du XIX e siècle »
Abstract
During the 19 th century, death was a conflict between the Belgian Freemasonry and the Catholic Church. After the episcopal condemnation of 1837, Masons were denied the privilege to receive their last rites and have a religious ceremony at their funeral. As a result, they started to organize civil funerals, an attitude developed in parallel to spirituality, then in relation to the choice between agnosticism and atheism. The funerals that took place in the Masonic lodges accompanied this process. The Masonic funeral ritual simultaneously was identified as a healing ritual and a rite of passage. While the Masonic ritual was taking place during this century, the exegesis of the ritual dimension brought differing interpretations of such symbolic acts that had not registered any change. In the conflict over the death bed and funeral of the Masons, The Masonic ritual contributed to the development of anti-secular funeral culture in which the construction of an alternative was essential. Thus, the Catholic monopoly on these important aspects of everyday life would definitely be broken, both on the level of public acts, as well as the symbolic funeral.
