CLAUDIU IONESCU
Founder & Director, MASONIC FORUM Magazine
Globally, regular freemasonry is facing a period of recession – caused by decreasing number of members, but also decreasing their quality.
Masonic leaders declare that the biggest threat of regular freemasonry is the increase of the influence of irregular freemasonry. I dare say that not irregular masonry is the biggest threat. This threat comes from within us, of regular masonry. The quality of membership has decreased; people of doubtful quality, without general culture, careerist and hypocrites, have contaminated, through their presence, nowadays freemasonry. I have met freemasons – some in positions of high responsibility and representation – empty of content. Obviously, it continues to exist elites among Craft members, which makes this type of organization survive.
On the launch event of his exceptional volume, Freemasonry – Realism and Idealism in Bulgarian, Thomas W. Jackson was asked by Bulgarian publisher Ivan Sariev (Sovereign Grand Commander of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Bulgaria) if he would like to join freemasonry nowadays, knowing so many things. Tom’s answer came immediately: NO. This answer, coming from one of the most well-known and appreciated Freemasons on the Globe, should make us think. Freemasonry is a guild of free man, not a corporation, so corporate rules have no place. Freemasonry is not a feud, where leaders can shed their frustrations. It is also a well-known fact that Freemasonry was not and is not a religion.
In his book, Tom Jackson says: “The issues challenging Freemasonry in parts of the world today do not lie in the relevancy of its philosophy; it lies in our failure to practice it. I quote John Robinson, the noted author who quite possibly led the charge of the present day plethora of writers on Freemasonry, “The problem with Freemasonry today is that it does not practice Freemasonry anymore.”
What we have to do in these troubled times? To respect our precepts, not to accept their mimicry for profane purposes.
In a hectic world, the Masonic Forum Magazine is a landmark of normality in freemasonry, promoting quality articles and interviews with people who know how to build. In this issue I invite you to read an exceptional interview with the Grand Master of Russia, Andrey Bogdanov. We pay tribute to Alberto Menasche, Past Grand Master of Switzerland, honorary director of Masonic Forum and Honorary Grand Master ad vitam of NGLR, for his over 55 years of freemasonry.
Although it was published 12 years ago, I decided to republish a (very actual!) text by Thomas Jackson, from issue No. 36 of Masonic Forum magazine, which analyses the quality of leadership in worldwide freemasonry. “One of the great problems of Freemasonry today is the oversizing of the leadership ego at all levels. Some cannot understand that respect and admiration cannot be bought – these are earned. The mission is to get people to raise them, not to go down with them, “says Tom Jackson.
I have the honour to announce that after publishing and launching in Romania his first volume, Masonic Perspectives. The thoughts of a Grand Secretary, Thomas Jackson particularly honoured me being the publisher of his second book, Freemasonry – Realism and Idealism, which is in the process of translation.
