ONCE again, Blackburn vicar the Rev John Corbyn goes into print (LET, May 4) with an attack on Freemasonry - this time, because Masonic ritual does not refer to Jesus Christ.

That single fact leads him to declare that Freemasonry and Christianity are incompatible - a sweeping generalisation which ignores the Christian beliefs of the majority of Freemasons in this country and seriously questions the integrity of many ministers of the Church who are also Masons.

In referring to the removal from Masonic ritual of references to Christ in 1816, Mr Corbyn deliberately fails to mention the reason for it: to encourage men of different religions to come together in fellowship and harmony - surely no bad thing when religious differences have been responsible for so much strife in the world. His persistent criticism of Freemasonry, all the objectives of which are honourable, makes one wonder about his motives.

If personal publicity is his objective he has certainly succeeded. If he claims merely to be pursuing his pastoral duties, surely he would be better employed trying to convert the agnostic and the atheist than maligning those who already have an avowed belief in God.

NORMAN PICKLES (Press and Public Relations Officer), Masonic Province of East Lancashire.

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