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California Freemason Magazine: Freemasonry in Latin America Now

When Saul Alvarado, now a member of Santa Monica-Palisades No. 307, first began researching Freemasonry, he had a good idea about what it was all about. What he was more surprised to learn was Masonry’s importance to Mexican history. Just as the founding fathers of the United States had been Freemasons, so too had the heroes of the Mexican Revolution and the War of Independence. “It was like, wait a second, Mexico has Masons, too?” he recalls thinking. “That really gave me the nudge to learn more. It made me want to get more involved.”

In this special issue of California Freemason, we’re doing just that. We’re taking a Masonic road trip south of the border to learn about the long history of Freemasonry in Latin America, the surprising state of the craft both there and in certain pockets of California today, as well as taking a peek into what the future holds for the fraternity in multiple countries. From an architectural road trip through Cuba’s Masonic lodges, to dispatches from the center of a Masonic population growth in Brazil and Argentina, to inside California’s two Spanish-speaking lodges, it’s a chock-a-block tour through Masonic Latin America.

In addition, be sure to check out some fun online extras this issue, including video profiles of Logia Panamericana No. 513 and Napa Valley No. 93, plus a multimedia slideshow of a 1909 train trip from Los Angeles to Mexico City carried off by a special Masonic delegation.

By highlighting and celebrating the fraternal connections between members in California and those in Mexico, Argentina, and all points in between, we can deepen the bonds of friendship binding Masons together throughout the world and—just maybe—help to usher in our vision of “a world in harmony.”

Says one member in Guadalajara, Mexico, “When you go to a lodge in another country and see someone you haven’t met before, he’s going to call you a brother. It makes you feel like you’re part of something that’s very ancient and very big. I feel like I have a responsibility to keep it going and to keep it great.”

Spoken like a true hermano.