I believe it is very clear to all Catholics that joining the Masons is punishable by automatic excommunication, but I wanted to know more about these secret organizations and fraternities. Apparently, the Masons are not the only fraternal organization or secret society. It seems even that other currents and groups have joined the Masons and associated themselves with them to some degree or another e.g. the Rosicrucians, the Illuminati etc. These groups also all appear to have similar ideals and philosophies and are united under the umbrella group as Masons, but to me this is still somewhat puzzling.

Specifically, what I am curious about is if there is a group which is established to counter the Masons, even if while appearing to be in agreement or working against the Masons but secretly fighting against them. This could seem to difficult to achieve, but I believe it possible. Why would there not be a Catholic secret society to defend Holy Mother Church against these esoteric cults?

It seems to me an inevitable reality that if these groups are allowed to infiltrate all other groups than there will be no plausible defense against their techniques if Catholics are in all cases prohibited from joining under pain of excommunication. It makes no sense. This is the weak point definitively. They can infiltrate us to any level and we can never defend ourselves by counter-infiltration. Can Catholics ever obtain permission to infiltrate any of these secret societies and if so to whom to we seek permission???

Well I'm interested in what others think. Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures, and faith without works is to no avail. If Archbishop Lefebvre sat in his cell praying the Rosary refusing to take on the modernists with "defiant" actions God would have obliterated our world long ago.

Yes, but now they're all masons so now what?