Wasn't one of the leading Catholic figures in Goa's freedom struggle a
Freemason? I seem to forget who it was.

Eugene

On Thu, Nov 16, 2023 at 9:04 AM John de Figueiredo <[email protected]>
wrote:

> Frederick,
> Do you have any evidence that Antonio Floriano de Noronha was a Mason or
> free Mason, or that he was influenced by that ideology, or is it just a
> suspicion or rumor? There were atheists and “free thinkers” in Europe who
> were not free Masons or influenced by Freemasonry. And not all free Masons
> were atheists as far as I know.
> John
> From:
> John M. de Figueiredo
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Nov 16, 2023, at 5:06 AM, Frederick Noronha <
> [email protected]> wrote:
>
> 
> Am still searching for links on this topic, as there seem to be gaps in
> understanding Goan history. There are pointers to FreeMasonry in Portugal
> and some other colonies, but finding links to Goa itself seems a bit of a
> challenge. Yet, we do know that some of the prominent writers of, say, the
> 1920s (such as Antonio de Noronha) came from this side of the ideological
> spectrum. It would be fair to say it influenced their perspective, their
> writing and even the subsequent debates in Goa, some that continue till
> this day.
>
> Closer to the 1940s (even a bit before) and before 1961, many of the
> critics of Portuguese colonialism in Goa were influenced by the global Left
> (Tristao braganca Cunha and many of the dozen-and-half freedom fighter
> groups too) or the Indian extreme religious Right (Priolkar, Lawande, etc).
> But, the ideological moorings of the thought leaders from periods before
> that in Goa are clearly yet to be understood.
>
> There is some confusion because of the original links of Free Masonry with
> Scotland and British colonialism, but available scholarship does point to
> its links with the Portuguese (and French) colonies too. The secrecy of the
> Freemasons is a thing of the past, and today they have online references to
> their activities in Ramnathi, Margao or Porvorim. But in the past, it was
> more or less a secret society, with its records and membership lists not
> accessible, much like the RSS has been for much of its existence.
>
> Given the role that Freemasons played in influencing the overall Indian
> discourse (among those claimed to be Freemasons in India are  Motilal
> Nehru, the Maharaja of Patiala, ex-President Frkruddin Ali Ahmed, the Nawab
> of Rampur, Masoor Ali Khan Pataudi, the Maharaja of Kapurthala, olympian
> Dhyan Chand, the Maharaja of Bikaner, the now famous and politically
> supported Swami Vivekananda, the first President of India Dr Rajendra
> Prasad, the last Governor General of India Dr C Rajagopalachari, the Indian
> industrialist of the British Raj Sir Dorabji Jamshedbhai Tata, cine star
> Ashok Kumar, the Maharaja of Scindia, Madhav Rao Scindia, nobleman and art
> collector from Hyderabad-Deccan Nawab Salar Jung, among others
> https://rglni.org/well-known-freemasons/ ) it would be indeed surprising
> if this group was wholly absent from shaping the history of Goa. There are
> vague references about Freemasons competing with the Church, as rival
> centres of power. The Pilar Seminary Museum page [
> https://pilarmuseum.org/portuguese-conquest/] talks about "Freemasons and
> atheists" being behind the expulsion of the Jesuits and religious Orders in
> the 18th and 19th centuries. But not much else.
>
> Would be grateful for any pointers that refer to such ideological trends
> specifically in a Goan context. Thanks, FN
>
> On Tue, 7 Nov 2023 at 03:46, Frederick Noronha <
> [email protected]> wrote:
>
>> Am just curious to know what was the role of Free Masons, if any, in
>> pre-1961 Goan politics. Was Freemasonry influential in Portuguese
>> mainstream politics at some point in time, including during the Republic?
>> Has any study been done, especially in the context of the colonies? Thanks
>> for any pointers you could offer. FN
>> --
>>
>> FN * +91-9822122436 * 784 Saligao 403511 Bardez Goa
>>
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