by Sheryl Losser, Mexico News Daily, June 8, 2022
Historians in Mexico and beyond believe it had a significant influence on the nation’s political life. Major independence figures were Mexican Freemasons, according to historian José María Mateos. The original Chamber of Deputies, built in 1829, was adorned with several Masonic symbols. There are lodges belonging to different Freemasonry organizations in several Mexican states. Historians generally agree that Freemasonry arrived in Mexico from Europe in the late 18th century.
Father Miguel Hidalgo, Ignacio Allende and José María Morelos were early members of the Arquitectura Moral lodge, which was founded in 1806. Masons moved from house to house for their meetings, in fear of the Inquisition, Mateos says. The first Scottish Rite Grand Lodge of Mexico was established in 1813. From 1821 until 1982, nearly every political leader of Mexico has been claimed by various sources to have been a Mason. A history published in 2017 asserts that many of the political leaders who drew up the 1917 Constitution were Masons.
A Masonic apron and sash believed to have belonged to President Benito Juárez reside in the National Palace. Mexican Revolution scholar Antonio Rius Facius’ book Cristero Mexico says that President Plutarco Calles, whose 1926 presidential decree curtailed the power of the Catholic Church, was a Scottish Rite Mason. The introduction of the more liberal York Rite brand of Freemasonry into Mexico during the 1820s brought about 50 years of factionalism and infighting. There are still many lodges throughout the nation, at least one in 30 of Mexico’s 32 states.
