| Abstract: | Perceptions of the Church of England as a traditional stronghold of Freemasonry persist. Periodically, allegations have erupted alleging that membership of the brotherhood and of the church are incompatible. The compatibility of Freemasonry and Christianity became an issue most recently when the new archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, expressed his own unease about the question shortly before his enthronement. This article uses primary sources from Lambeth Palace to explore in detail a previous episode during the 1950s when the compatibility question created a furore within the ranks of church and brotherhood that involved leading members of the British establishment, including His Majesty King George VI and the archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher. Addressed by Parliament and the Foreign Office, as well as the popular media, the affair, implicating the Crown and the church, seemed to threaten disestablishment. An examination is made of the difficulties that the question raised for Anglicans at all levels and the way in which the controversy was handled by leading Freemasons and churchmen. The article goes on to address subsequent incidents that raised the compatibility question, looking at changing attitudes and behaviour over time and the implications for the nature of both institutions. |
