Sovereign Grand Lodge of Malta

History

On 18th November 2004, Marfa, in Malta, hosted an historic event when with all due ceremony The Sovereign Grand Lodge of Malta was formally Instituted and Consecrated by the Grand Lodge of Ireland. This act was attended and witnessed by Delegations from: The Grand Lodge of Ireland; United Grand Lodge of England; The Grand Lodge of Scotland; The National Grand Lodge of France; The United Grand Lodges of Germany; The Grand Lodge of Norway; The Grand Lodge of Turkey; The Regular Grand Lodge of Italy; and The Grand Lodge of the Czech Republic.

The earliest reference to a Masonic (Warranted) Lodge in Malta is in an extant French document dating at 14th February 1730; noting a donation of an annual 150 Scudi by Bailiff Wolfgang Philip Guttenberg, a notable dignitary of the Order of the Knights of St. John, to establish a Lodge named Parfait Harmonie, operating under the Marseilles Jurisdiction. By the year 1741 the Craft was established and practised to an extent that it attracted the unwelcome attention of the Catholic Inquisition that pursued its practitioners, obliging several Knights of the Order together with Maltese Nobles to leave these Islands. Ironically yet unsurprisingly it is the records of the Inquisition that provide most recorded evidence of Masonic activity.

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. This petition was acceded and under the awarded Warrant was named ‘The Lodge of St. John of Secrecy and Harmony’. Significantly the petition numbered among its membership the most important members of the Order of St. John; indeed the first Master of this Lodge, Jean Baptise Tommasi, was destined to be a future Grand Master of the Order of St. John. 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.

Freemasonry prospered during the period of British rule in Malta, and certainly in the early years much was owed to the work and influence of Bro. Waller Rodwell Wright. In 1814, Wright was appointed President of H.M. Court of Appeal and senior member of the Supreme Council of Jurisdiction in Malta; and was to become Provincial Grand Master of the Province of Malta and Gozo until his death in April 1826. Wright figured highly in English Freemasonry and was signatory to the Act of Union of the two English Grand Lodges on the first of December 1813.

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. Dispensation was granted by United Grand Lodge of England and subsequently a Warrant, signed by Grand Master the Duke of Sussex and dated 27th November 1815, was issued in the name of ‘The Lodge of St. John and St. Paul No. 349’. Never free of controversy in Malta, the weekly meetings of the newly formed Lodge soon received the public censure of the Bishop of Malta, Monseigneur Mattei, who condemned Masonic activity as ‘subversive of the Catholic religion and striking at the very roots of Christianity’. Sir Thomas Maitland dismissed the Bishop’s complaint and upheld the right to practise the Craft 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. 1985 saw Carnes succeeded by A. A. Summers who continued in office until 1992. During this period ‘Count Roger of Normandy Lodge No.9265’ was constituted on 25th October 1988. With the departure of British forces, W. E. Davies, Grand Inspector of the Irish Constitution, initiated the encouragement of Maltese membership, which move necessitated the consecration of an additional lodge, ‘Fenici Lodge No. 906’, in 1991. In 1992 E.W. Stuart was appointed UGLE Craft Grand Inspector and then additionally Royal Arch Grand Inspector, which roles he maintained until 1999. This period saw the creation of the ‘De Rohan Lodge of Installed Masters No 9670’, on 9th May 1998.

Structure

The Governance of Craft Lodges practicing Symbolic Masonry within the Republic of Malta is vested solely in the Sovereign Grand Lodge of Malta AF & AM hereinafter referred to as ‘Grand Lodge’, which is composed of its Grand Master, Grand Officers, Past Grand Officers, and Masters and Wardens of its Subordinate Lodges. Nothing in this Constitution shall be interpreted as derogating from the powers inherent in the Sovereign Grand Lodge of Malta. Except for the improbable effectuation of Law 30, such powers are vested in the Office of the Most Worshipful The Grand Master as the highest recognised Masonic authority. Consequently, all boards, committees, tribunals, and any other bodies, are deemed to be of an advisory nature only. Any decisions taken by the said bodies are likewise of an advisory nature until ratified by Grand Lodge. All members of Grand Lodge shall be subscribing members of a Subordinate Lodge warranted by Grand Lodge. Honorary Grand rank held by Brethren of Founding Lodges immediately before the formation of this Grand Lodge shall be honoured with equivalent Honorary Grand rank in this Grand Lodge.

Principles

Pursuant to the settled policy of this Sovereign Grand Lodge of Malta to define and reaffirm from time to time certain of the fundamental principles and rules of conduct governing the practice of Freemasonry in the Masonic Jurisdiction of the Republic of Malta;

It is declared that;

1. This Sovereign Grand Lodge of Malta is a sovereign and independent body practicing Freemasonry only within the three degrees commonly known amongst the Craft as the degrees of Symbolic Masonry and only within the limits defined in its CONSTITUTION and in the exercise of its sovereign power does this Grand Lodge further declare that it does neither recognize nor admit the existence of any superior Masonic authority anywhere howsoever styled.

2. Membership of this Grand Lodge and its Subordinate Lodges shall be exclusively of men and shall have neither Masonic affiliation nor dialogue nor association of any kind with any Mixed Lodge or Masonic Entity itself comprising a membership not exclusively of men.

3. Freemasonry subscribes to the belief that men of good intention and differing opinion may be united through the objective attainment and accomplishment of the principles further herein defined.

4. Freemasonry is a charitable society not organized for profit and none of its income accrues to the benefit of any individual but all is devoted to the promotion of the welfare and happiness of mankind.

5. Freemasonry is a benevolent society in that it teaches and exemplifies altruism as a duty.

6. Freemasonry is educational in that it teaches by prescribed ceremonials a system of morality and brotherhood based upon the Sacred Law.

7. Freemasonry upholds monotheism yet is neither sectarian nor theological. The Volume of the Sacred Law is open whenever a Lodge is in session. Reverence for the Supreme Being is ever present in ceremonial and Brethren are constantly addressed lessons of morality.

8. Freemasonry is a social organization only in so far as it furnishes additional inducement for men to foregather in numbers; more material is thereby provided for its primary work of brotherly love, relief and truth.

9. Freemasonry seeks to improve the community through development and strengthening of the character of the individual, impressing upon its members the principles of personal righteousness and personal responsibility, enlightening them as to those things which make for human welfare, inspiring them with those feelings of charity and goodwill toward all mankind thus moving them to translate principles and convictions into actions of good deed.

10. By the foregoing tenets does Freemasonry stand for truth and justice, for fraternity and philanthropy, for enlightenment and orderly civil, religious and intellectual liberty. It charges each Mason to be true and loyal to the government of the country to which he owes allegiance and to be obedient to the laws of any state in which he may reside.

11. The Sovereign Grand Lodge of Malta affirms its continuing adherence to those ancient and approved rules of Freemasonry which forbid, within Masonic Lodges or meetings, the discussion of Religion, Politics or other topics likely to excite personal animosities or personal differences; This is not to deny the more than two hundred years of Freemasonry in the Maltese Islands during which Masons have exercised their continuing inherent and absolute right of freedom of thought and obedient action in all matters religious and civil. To this end no member of Officer of whatever grade or rank has the right or privilege to speak or to act in the name of or on behalf of the Sovereign Grand Lodge of Malta in particular or of Freemasonry in general without the prior authority and written approval of the Grand Master.

Membership

No Candidate of less than twenty-one years of age shall be initiated unless a special Dispensation has been issued by The Grand Master.

A Candidate shall be expected to have a minimum of six-month continuous residency within the Jurisdiction of Sovereign Grand Lodge of Malta although Maltese citizens residing abroad shall be regarded as resident within the Jurisdiction for the purposes of this Law

Candidate domiciled without the Jurisdiction of Sovereign Grand Lodge of Malta shall be subject of good character enquiry via the Membership Committee and also to formal ‘No Objection’ permission from the Grand Lodge of the Masonic Jurisdiction of his normal domicile.