CLIPSAS
Centre de Liaison et d´Information des Puissances maçonniques Signataires de l´Appel de Strasbourg
Centre for liaison and information of the Masonic signatory powers of the Strasbourg Appeal.
The Grand Orient of Austria is a founding member of CLIPSAS. This liaison and information centre was established on 22 January 1961 in Strasbourg to uphold the sovereignty of lodges and obediences in their beliefs, their rites, and their symbols, within a real and indissoluble universal community.
The obediences thus united are convinced that respect for each individual’s freedom of conscience and a complete, reciprocal tolerance are the cornerstones of Masonic work. This commitment to tolerance, this affirmation of respect for the ways of thinking of others, forms the basis for the development of an attitude in which Freemasons can find common ground.
A Freemason will not allow himself to be deprived of the opportunity to engage with the truths that each person may carry within themselves. This engagement is the finest homage to the search for truth. It means practising tolerance in the noblest sense of the word. It is also the only attitude that can lead to that universality which all Freemasons strive for.
Numerous male, female, and mixed obediences from around the world subsequently joined this community. Today, CLIPSAS comprises 97 obediences.”
The foundation of this association is the Strasbourg Appeal — here are excerpts:
The sovereign Masonic obediences
resolve, in view of the fact that…
1. that it is urgently necessary to establish the chain of brotherhood among all Freemasons … in accordance with the principles of the Anderson Constitutions (the Old Charges) of 1723 …,
2. that for this purpose it is important, while taking into account all customs, all rites, all symbols, all forms of belief, and with an unconditional recognition of freedom of conscience, to seek together the conditions that are decisive for Masonic identity, …
“…to establish fraternal relations among one another and to open their doors, without any obligation of reciprocity, to every Freemason who has received the Light in a just and perfect lodge, …
and call upon all Freemasons to join this chain of brotherhood, which is founded upon complete freedom of conscience and perfect mutual tolerance.
Freedom of conscience is a fundamental principle of Freemasonry. Only where this principle has been upheld has Freemasonry been a source of intellectual, moral, and spiritual enrichment for humanity.
CLIPSAS analyses the problems of the present time and the future of humankind and proposes each year a theme to be addressed within the obediences worldwide. Once a year, a colloquium serves to discuss the results of these reflections from the various obediences. The contributions of Freemasons from different continents and cultures make possible a constructive synthesis of their shared deliberations.
CLIPSAS is a member of ECOSOC (the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations).
The Economic and Social Council is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations. CLIPSAS has been a member of ECOSOC in New York since 2011, and the Grand Orient of Austria has served as the liaison office to the UN in Vienna since 2012.
The tasks of ECOSOC include raising the general standard of living worldwide, formulating solutions to international economic, social, and health problems, promoting international cooperation in culture and education, and advancing human rights.
ECOSOC operates on the basis of nine functional commissions, two of which are located in Vienna.:
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