Their activities, which have been gaining in prominence in recent years, intrigue the general public, which is left wondering what really hides behind their activities. In its special report, Kurir provides an overview of their activities, analyses what they do, and seeks an answer to the question of what their ultimate goals are when they donate equipment to schools and expensive machines to hospitals, or make donations to nurseries, as well as to what extent the members of these societies run our lives, i.e. whether they really are the rulers of the world, as many people are saying.
Dr Marko Lopušina, a journalist and publicist who has examined their activities and written two books about them, says for Kurir that the Regular Grand Lodge of Serbia alone has around 2,000 Freemasons.
"The most important societies in Serbia are the Masonic Brotherhood, The Knights Templar of Serbia, The Order of the Dragon, The Rotary Club, and various sects. In Serbia, counting in the less important societies, there are about 20,000 members of secret and half-secret organizations, including the mafia. There are legally registered societies, as well as illegal Masonic, Knights Templar, and sect lodges, so their exact numbers aren’t known. The legal Masonic lodges include the Regular Grand Lodge of Serbia, The National Lodge of Serbia, The Grand Lodge of Serbia, and The French Lodge. The Regular Grand Lodge of Serbia has about 2,000 members, while the Knights Templar of Serbia have about 200 members. All the more important organizations are registered with the Business Registers Agency as social organizations and citizen associations," Lopušina says, adding that the aim of the Masonic and Knights Templar organizations is upholding and developing the tradition of Christianity, disseminating the Masonic or Templar teaching among the younger generations as much as outside Serbia. The Freemasons have erected a drinking fountain in Belgrade and several nurseries, and they plan to open a Masonic university. They are helping people out, particularly children from Kosovo, and fund the medical treatment of socially vulnerable groups. They have organized Masonic burials of the first Freemason, Zoran Nenezić, and the first Knight Templar, Dragan Malešević Tapi. However, although the humanitarian actions are public, other activities of these societies are performed discreetly.
"First off, they help each other out with doing business – a Freemason can lend money to another one for business purposes, and then helps them market the product. In the socio-economic sphere, they are merchants of power. They lobby for themselves, help each other out in getting government and other kinds of business deals. On the other hand, in diplomacy they fight for the rights of our nation. They spoke to the German Freemasons about stopping the NATO bombing, and with the French ones about discontinuing the media demonization of Serbs," Lopušina explains.
The Knights Templar, on the other hand, number app. 200 members, and their public image is the protection of Christianity. However, it is less well-known that the Knights Templar also lobby abroad for the interests of our nation. The Knights Templar of Serbia have published the Declaration on the Protection of the Christian Culture in Kosovo, and the international Knights Templar have sent this declaration to the UN.
The Knights Templar, on the other hand, number app. 200 members, and their public image is the protection of Christianity. However, it is less well-known that the Knights Templar also lobby abroad for the interests of our nation. The Knights Templar of Serbia have published the Declaration on the Protection of the Christian Culture in Kosovo, and the international Knights Templar have sent this declaration to the UN.
"They respect the tradition of the Serbian dynasties which had the dragon as a family protector in their coats of arms, as is the case with most of the Nemanjić and, subsequently, Karađorđević family coats of arms. They are also involved in using political influence, spreading the truth about the dynasty and the Serbian people, as well as in humanitarian actions. As for the Rotarians, they have business interests. They team up in order to do business deals, but also to then help the society as well. They lobby for their interests at government ministries and state institutions," Lopušina, who has written the book Secret Societies in Serbia, recounts.
All the secret societies in Serbia are concerned with influence and power, he says, adding that these societies are alliances of noble, respectable people who have power in their lines of work and spheres of activity, but that their essential activity is trading in power in the domain of social consciousness, real life, economy, business, and even politics, although they claim that they are prohibited from getting involved in it.
"History has shown that some Serbian presidents, prime ministers, government ministers, and bishops were members of secret societies, which means that they exerted a strong sway on the executive power and the goings-on in the country. In more recent times, a couple of Serbian government ministers were Freemasons. The Freemasons had a hand in the creation of the first and most recent Serbian constitutions," Dr Marko Lopušina says.
Kurir.rs / Ružica Kantar