:applause:Please help me find information which would be helpful in clearing the good name of Cardinal Rampolla. He is cited to have been a member of the O.T.O. I believe this information is false, and have been finding information given by various sources, but need something concrete. In looking up the so called "Veto" of Franz Joseph I of Austria, I found the word "Josephinism" Seems the Habsburg Family pretty much jumped ship from blocking Masonic Practices around 1780-1787. Joseph II made a conscious attempt to reorder the rule of his lands using "Enlightened principles." At the heart of this "Josephinism" lay the idea of the unitary state, with a centralized, efficient government, rational and mostly secular society, with greater degrees of equality and freedom, and fewer arbitrary feudal institutions. He also made the Edict of Tolerance of 1782 which opened the door to Protestant and Orthodox Christian Religions, which were allowed to be built, etc. Catholic historians claimed that there was an alliance between Joseph and anti-clerical Freemasons. In the Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913, it is noted "In Germany and Austria, Fɾҽҽmαsσɳɾყ during the eighteenth century was a powerful ally of the so-called party, of "Enlightenment" (Aufklaerung) and of Jsephinism" from "Masonry (Fɾҽҽmαsσɳɾყ)". When Hanz Joseph I made objection and tried to Veto the election of Rampolla to the Papacy, it most likely had to do with their attachment to Masonry, and not their intolerance of Masonry, according to Historical evidence. Remember, under Leo XIII, with whom Rampolla was Secretary of State, Pope Leo XIII wrote the encyclical "Humanum Genus" which was against Fɾҽҽmαsσɳɾყ.
I'm going to do more research into Rampolla, but to date have found nothing in writing which would indicate he had any ties to Fɾҽҽmαsσɳɾყ. Whoever published this information is probably a Mason themselves. If, by decrying Rampolla, they can put in league with him Pope Leo XIII, Pope St. Pius X, and Benedict XV, Pope Pius XI and Pope Pius XII. I am deeply grieved over all of this, and want to put it to rest, but I need some help. Docuмents can be falsified.
I've read 4 books on Pope St. Pius X and not one of them said the good Pope ever said anything contrary to Rampolla. Rampolla enjoyed trust by Pius X during his entire life. There was nothing said contrary about Rampolla which I can surmise.
Please help me with all of this, and do help me with the research. I've got the books written on the Popes which are Pre-Vatican II. I am not much interested in anything written after Vatican II. There are many enemies within, and I want information which is tangible and not hear-say.