President Macron’s historic visit to the Grand Lodge of France on the 120th anniversary of the Law on the Separation of Church and State
I ask Freemasons to be ambassadors of fraternity in society
In the Paris Temple named after Pierre Brossolette – brilliant intellectual, Freemason and member of the Resistance who met a tragic death – Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic, delivered an inspired address on 5 May 2025 on the unquestionable and pressing need for secularism in today’s society. Accompanied by Rachida Dati, the French Minister of Culture, and received by his hosts Thierry Zaveroni, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of France, and Jacques Rozen, Sovereign Grand Commander of the Supreme Council of France, he spoke before an audience of figures from Parisian political, cultural and media life, Masonic dignitaries and Brethren seated in the columns, in the course of the first – and historic – presidential visit to the Grand Lodge of France.
120 years since the adoption of the Law on the Separation of Church and State
“The only word consonant with secularism is liberty,” Macron stressed, affirming that the spirit of liberty is the very foundation of the Law on the Separation of Church and State, enacted in 1905 and marking the 120th anniversary of its adoption this year, and noting that the text of the law completes and complements the Declaration of the Rights of Man.
Thus France became secular, the natural daughter of the Republic, her President proudly declared.
He warned those “who would betray or subvert it” that this law – a law not of exclusion but of gathering together, not of tolerance but of liberty – “recognises and protects freedom of conscience and of worship (...) but also the freedom to believe and not to believe”.
Pointing to the “trap of identity-based interpretation” laid by those whose sole aim, under the cloak of secularism, is to attack religions and beliefs, Macron called upon Freemasons to “pursue the thoroughgoing debate on secularism and be the guardians of this great law of 1905” – to be, in other words, “ambassadors of fraternity” – so that Freemasonry might be and remain faithful to the ideal of the Enlightenment as a true workshop of the Republic. Go everywhere, he urged, and repeat constantly and tirelessly the truth about secularism, which grows ever more important in the times in which we live, when social networks and their algorithms think for us and steer our minds.
Freemasonry – a partner in the defence of republican ideals
In his address of welcome to the President of the Republic, Thierry Zaveroni, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of France, recalled the essence of the Masonic initiatic path and dwelt upon the Freemasons’ attachment to the republican motto “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity”, presenting the Grand Lodge of France as a loyal partner of the French Republic in the defence of republican ideals and in the understanding of the social questions that the present day sets before us.
Secularism is “an operative wisdom”, said Zaveroni, “which guarantees peaceful coexistence, founded upon freedom of conscience and mutual recognition.”
He stressed that the Republic and Freemasonry “share the same faith in Man” and that, upon the foundations of Masonic teaching, we are building together a common world within the Republic of the Enlightenment – one centred on respect, tolerance and the patient quest for universal harmony.
The new museum of the Grand Lodge of France
On this occasion the President of the Republic and the Minister of Culture were also shown the new museum of the Grand Lodge of France and its historic library, housed in the Obedience’s premises in the 17th arrondissement of Paris. An application for both to be awarded the designation “Musée de France” is currently in progress. Under the Museums Act of 2002, and subsequently the Heritage Code, this designation is conferred upon the principal state museums of France.
The Grand Regular Lodge of Croatia (VRLH) is permanently committed to conducting its Labours exclusively in the spirit of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite – a commitment it has formally sealed by treaty with none other than the Grand Lodge of France (GLdF).
Decree on the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite (PDF)
