uttered in 1902, a series of laws passed in France broadened the scope of religious opposition. Three thousand religious schools were closed and it was forbidden to give any religious education in schools. Many of the clergy were arrested, some were exiled and religious persons began to be regarded as second-class citizens. For this reason, in 1904, the Vatican broke all diplomatic relations with France but this did not change the country’s attitude. It took the loss of the lives of hundreds of thousands of French men against the German army in the First World War before the country’s arrogance was tamed and it again recognized the importance of spiritual values.
As The Catholic Encyclopedia maintains, the war against religion, from the French Revolution to the twentieth century, was carried out by “the anti-clerical measures passed in the French Parliament” which “were decreed beforehand in the Masonic lodges and executed under the direction of the Grand Orient.” 4 This fact is clear from Masonic writings. For example, a quotation from a Turkish publication of “A Speech Made by Brother Gambetta on July 8 1875 in the Clémente Amitié Lodge” reads:
While the specter of reaction threatened France, and religious doctrine and backward ideas went on the offensive against modern social principles and laws, in the bosom of industrious, far-sighted organizations like Masonry devoted to the principles of brotherhood, we find the strength and consolation in the struggle against the extravagant claims of the Church, its ridiculous exaggerations and habitual excesses…we must be on guard and continue in the struggle. In order to establish the ideas of human order and progress, let us endure so that our shields cannot be