Masons in Malta
Logga Mikiel Anton Vassalli ( Founded 1851)
Abercorn Lodge (Founded 1899)
Count Roger of Normandy Lodge (Founded 1988)
Logga Fenici (Founded 1991)
Hospitaliers Lodge (Founded 2004)
Ars Discendi Lodge Founded (2005)
Loggia Flos Mundi (Founded 2005)
Sovereign Grand (Masonic) Lodge of Malta
As described the 6 – 7 Maltese lodges were united in one great lodge called the Sovereign Grand Lodge of Malta with “brother” J.P. Cordina holding the highest position of Grand Worshipful Master. They also have a public website which can be found at http://www.sglom.eu/
The grand lodge‘s main quarters is at Casa Viani in Valletta, which housed the Lodge of St John and St Paul, founded in 1815 by Walter Rodwell Wright, Chief Justice of Malta from 1814 to 1826.
Soverign Grand Lodge of Malta is made up of
- Logga Mikiel Anton Vassalli ( Founded 1851)
- Abercorn Lodge (Founded 1899)
- Count Roger of Normandy Lodge (Founded 1988)
- Logga Fenici (Founded 1991)
- Hospitaliers Lodge (Founded 2004)
- Ars Discendi Lodge Founded (2005)
- Loggia Flos Mundi (Founded 2005) – Mainly for Italian Brethren (rituals in Italian)
The History of the Masons in Malta
It is thus not surprising that terminology of ‘Brothers’, ‘Knights Templar ’, ‘Order of Masons’, ‘Grand Masters’, ‘Knights of St. John’, ‘Order of Malta’, ‘Knights Hospitaler’, and more, are bewildering and sometimes synonymous in many an appreciation of Freemasonry in Malta.
The first Masonic Lodges in Malta were under French Warrants, notably obtained from Marseilles. However, on 17th June 1788 and under the guidance of Count von Kollowrat, the ‘Scotch Lodge of St. John of Marseilles’ petitioned the ‘Grand Lodge of the Moderns’ in England to obtain an English Warrant. The circumstance and date when this Lodge ceased to operate is uncertain but preceded the 1813 Union Roll of the Lodges that were to come under the jurisdiction of United Grand Lodge of England.
Count Leopold von Kolowrat-Krakowsky: an Illuminatus and the National Superior for Austria; founder of St. John’s Lodge of Secrecy and Harmony in Malta.
That Maltese nationals were initiated into Masonic lodges established by these brethren is a matter of record. With the bulk of French prisoners repatriated during the summer of 1814, ‘Les Amis en Captivite’ Lodge membership was essentially non-French, and on 6th October 1819 the Lodge obtained a Warrant from United Grand Lodge of England. In 1815, via Bro. Wright, twenty-five regular Freemasons in Malta wrote to the English Governor seeking permission to create a Masonic Lodge in Malta. The 7th May 1983 Annual Communication of the District Grand Lodge of Malta was in fact held at Freemasons Hall in Great Queen Street, London; and the District of Malta was formally dissolved on 29th March 1984 with District Grand Master Sir John Rowland Hodge resigning. Masonic Lodges had been increasingly relocated to the U.K. until only the ‘Lodge of St. John and St. Paul’ and the ‘St. John and St. Paul Royal Arch Chapter’ of the English Constitution remained Warranted in Malta.
The dissolution of the English District Grand Lodge of Malta in 1984 was followed by United Grand Lodge of England appointing a ‘Grand Inspector for the Group of Lodges (Malta)’; with Charles Carnes the initial appointee. In 1999 J. P. Cordina was appointed Grand Inspector of the Irish Constitution, being the first Maltese Grand Officer of the Grand Lodge of Ireland; and J.L. Spencer held the combined role of UGLE Craft and Royal Arch Grand Inspector until his resignation in 2004. In August 2004, the Irish Constitution Grand Inspector J. P. Cordina presided over the creation of ‘Hospitaliers Lodge No. 931’, which immediately likewise resolved to participate in the formation of a Grand Lodge of Malta.
In 2004 Malta celebrated 40 years of Independence. Discussions with the Irish Constitution Grand Inspector lead to a special meeting held on June 30th 2004, when Count Roger of Normandy Lodge No.9265 EC resolved to participate in the formation of a Sovereign Grand Lodge of Malta.
A petition to the Grand Lodge of Ireland, seeking help and support with this ambition, was favourably received and, after due consultation with United Grand Lodge of England and the Grand Lodge of Scotland, the Grand Lodge of Ireland acceded to the Prayer of the referred five Lodges. Thus the Basic Principles of Grand Lodge Recognition adopted by UGLE in 1949 were doubly fulfilled, i.e.” That for Regularity of Origin a Grand Lodge shall have been established lawfully by a duly recognised Grand Lodge or by three or more regularly constituted lodges”.
With grateful acknowledgement and respect,
Particularly to Dr. A.J.Agius; The Geneses of Freemasonry in Malta, 1730-1843 (1992) and History of Freemasonry in Malta, 1730-1998 (1998). And to A.M.Broadley: The History of Freemasonry in the District of Malta (1880). D.Caywood; Freemasonry and the Knights of Malta (AQC Vol. 83 1970). C.E.De Wolff; Floreat Melitae (1969). D.C.Kibble-Rees; The Freemasons of Malta, 1977-86 (1988). K.Mackenzie; The Royal Masonic Cyclopedia ( Reprint, 1987). J.Montalto; The Nobles of Malta. P.Shields; Villa Blye (1966)., and other sources and assistance.
Masons on Bondi+
when TVM programme Bondiplus aired secret footage of Maltese freemasons gathered in ritual. That turbulent period does not go unnoticed in the Sovereign Grand Lodge’s ‘history’ in its website: “The autumn of 2002 was to provide an unlikely catalyst for changes in matters Masonic on Malta. The national television channel aired a sensationalist ‘exposé’ programme, based on secretly filmed Masonic Lodge proceedings by a brother,” with reference to the secret footage filmed by the private investigator Joe Zahra – a former freemason who at the time worked for the Bondiplus team.
The freemasons say the programme “served to embarrass Maltese masons living and working in a dominantly Catholic environment known to disfavour freemasonry. An understandable furore over disciplinary action ensued and there can be no doubt but that wavering opinions as to the potential creation of an independent Maltese Grand Lodge were swayed in favour at this time.”
“The lost symbol” – by Dan Brown (Angels & Deamons – DaVinci Code). The story of The lost symbol revolves around a very similar occasion where one “brother” secretly films a masonic ritual involving the 33rd degree (which is the highest degree for a brethren) and than threatens to divulge the filming nation wide.
The Denouncment of Martyn Attard
However for all the illumination and the acceptance standards, an ex-mason denounces the Maltese Lodge as following taken from the Malta Indipendent
“My friend, a Roman Catholic, unfortunately had been hoodwinked into believing he could be a Roman Catholic and a Freemason at the same time,” explained Mr Attard.
“Freemasons are hoodwinked immediately with the very first oath they take as an Entered Apprentice – the first degree of Freemasonry. At that stage a person states he would rather kill himself than reveal the secrets of Freemasonry,” said Martyn Attard.
In the 1980s, a successful businessman in his late 20s, drowning in alcohol and leading a lifestyle based on sex, power and money, Mr Attard became a Freemason.
It was a good friend who introduced him to the world of Freemasonry – he calls a secret society. Freemasons say the criteria for becoming a Freemason is a belief in a Superior Being referred to as G.A.O.T.U. (the Great Architect Of The Universe), strict morals and a willingness to help others.
“Freemasons claim they do not belong to a secret society, but a society with secrets. However, the most important secret is that very few members know the secret of what they are involved in,” Mr Attard said. “Freemasonry is a society within a larger society, the former gradually eating away the latter.”
The ultimate goal of Freemasonry is to take charge of the world and eventually become A One World Government – the recent terminology being used is globalisation. The idea is also to replace all religions with the one true Masonic religion.
“Freemasons say they make ‘good men better’… and at the time when I had a problem with alcohol, how could they have made me a better man?” asked Mr Attard who formed part of the Marsamxett Lodge in Valletta.
“Once I was accepted in Freemasonry and in a Lodge that made ‘good men better’ I simply drank more! The bar at the Marsamxett Lodge was open every Saturday morning and beverage prices were very reasonable so I rarely missed the weekly informal gathering,” he remarked.
The Malta masonic Web
Although the Sovereign Grand Lodge of Malta went public, only the Grand Worshipful Grandmaster went public with an announcement , which might not even be the real Grand Worshipful Master himself.
Each lodge in Malta has about 50 to 60 members, obviously not all equal, with a total of around 840 members. Most of these people hold high ranking social, business, legal and academical positions.
Just to give you an estimate of how rich these people are, the Masonic family (as it is called) donate an average of $2 million a day that is almost $1Bn that is $1,000,000,000 a year.
how I become an freemason? and is it possible to visit the sovereign grand lodge of malta? or the masonic hall?