I was informed a long time ago that John XXIII was a Freemason, and I've assumed the information was good; and then there was an old not-too-funny joke passed around by Walker Percy, that the only way John XXIII could go to Heaven was to die in his sleep because when he was awake he was always compromising with the communists.
I never heard this before, but it looks to me like Pius IX had a Freemasonic taint, but shook it off.
Endeavor to persevere, "nitimini perseverare", as Agricola used to say.