Editing Scottish Rite (section)

== Europe ==
=== Austria ===
====Growth and challenge in the 19th century====

In the aftermath of the ratification of Scottish Rite bodies, the Rite experienced steady growth in Austria during the late 1700s and early 1800s. However, [[Anti-Masonry|anti-Masonic]] sentiments arose in the mid-19th century, as occurred in other [[List of sovereign states and dependent territories in Europe|European countries]], constraining Masonic activity. The [[Catholic Church]] exerted political pressure on Masonic organizations, associating the Scottish Rite with anti-religious conspiracy theories.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Hoyos |first=M. |year=2015 |title=Fear and Suspicion: Catholic Condemnation of Freemasonry in 19th Century Vienna |journal=Modern Austrian Studies |volume=22 |issue=4 |pages=209–230}}
</ref> In 1894, these pressures resulted in the Emperor Franz Joseph officially suspending all Masonic lodges in Austria, forcing the Scottish Rite underground until 1918.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Heindl |first1=L. |last2=Hoffmann |first2=S. |year=2010 |title=The Scottish Rite in Austria |journal=Transactions of Quator Coronati Lodge |volume=23 |pages=11–25}}
</ref>

====Resilience and reemergence in the 20th century====

After the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Scottish Rite swiftly reestablished itself under the new Republic of German-Austria. Bick (2016) explains how the Scottish Rite provided a philosophical beacon during volatile social circumstances in the interwar period in Vienna and Austria in the early 20th century. Moreover, the Scottish Rite upheld ideals of religious unity, morality, and service as Austria rebuilt.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Lorenz |first=E.A. |year=2004 |title=Modernity, Nationalism and the Austrian Scottish Rite |journal=Austrian History Yearbook |volume=36 |issue=3 |pages=239–269}}
</ref>

While [[antisemitism]] and [[nationalism]] eventually permeated Austria in World War II, the Scottish Rite lodges centered humanism. After the war, the Supreme Council based in Vienna continued operating, despite [[Communism|Communist]] pressures in Eastern bloc countries.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Denslow |first=H. |year=1958 |title=History of Scottish Rite Masonry in Post-War Austria |journal=Ars Quator Coronatorum |volume=48 |pages=23–32}}
</ref> From the post-war period until present day, the Scottish Rite persevered as a bastion of moral enlightenment in Austria even given wider sociocultural trends.

====The Austrian Scottish Rite in the 21st century====

Presently, the Scottish Rite tradition remains intact in [[Austria]] with approximately 3,000 Freemasons participating in lodges across the country.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Lescak |first=M. |year=2008 |title=Contemporary Scottish Rite Freemasonry in Austria: A Modern Incarnation of Old Traditions |journal=Bruckner University Yearbook |pages=10–19}}
</ref> The Supreme Council serves as an international representation of the Scottish Rite by upholding universal values articulated across 33 degrees of initiation. Through moral education and philanthropy, Austrian Scottish Rite bodies perpetuate esoteric knowledge to endorse peace, community improvement, and individual actualization.

==== Current situation ====
Austria contends with persistent fragmentation within its Freemasonry landscape, hindering a revival of a [[tradition]] that once flourished. In [[Scandinavia]], a distinct Masonic tradition prevails, setting it apart from the broader Scottish Rite family.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Morris |first1=B. |last2=Radice |first2=M. |year=2009 |title=Scottish Rite Masonry: A Reputation Reconstituted |journal=Journal of Masonic Societies and Education |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=177–201}}
</ref>

===France===
==== History ====
When Comte de Grasse-Tilly returned to France in 1804, he worked to establish the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite there. He founded the first Supreme Council in France<ref>[[Pierre Mollier]], "Naissance et essor du Rite écossais ancien et accepté en France : 1804–1826", in ''1804–2004 Deux siècles de Rite Ecossais Ancien Accepté en France'', Dervy, 2004, pp. 70–113.</ref> that same year.

The [[Grand Orient of France]] signed a treaty of union in December 1804 with the Supreme Council of the 33rd Degree in France; the treaty declared that "the Grand Orient united to itself"<ref>In the original: ''Le Grand Orient unit à lui''.</ref> the Supreme Council in France. This accord was applied until 1814. Thanks to this treaty, the Grand Orient of France took ownership, as it were, of the Scottish Rite.

From 1805 to 1814, the [[Grand Orient of France]] administered the first 18 degrees of the Rite, leaving the Supreme Council of France to administer the last 15. In 1815, five of the leaders of the Supreme Council founded the ''Suprême Conseil des Rites'' within the Grand Orient of France. The original Supreme Council of France fell dormant from 1815 to 1821.<ref>The only known evidence of activity by this Supreme Council in this period is a rent receipt. Source: CG.</ref>

The ''Suprême Conseil des Isles d'Amérique'' (founded in 1802 by Grasse-Tilly and revived around 1810 by his father-in-law Delahogue, who had also returned from the United States) breathed new life into the Supreme Council for the 33rd Degree in France. They merged into a single organization: the Supreme Council of France. This developed as an independent and sovereign Masonic power. It created symbolic lodges (those composed of the first three degrees, which otherwise would be federated around a Grand Lodge or a Grand Orient).

The {{ill|Suprême Conseil de France|fr|vertical-align=sup}} (emerging from the Supreme Council of 1804 and restored in 1821 by the Supreme Council of the ''Isles d'Amérique'' founded in 1802 in [[Saint-Domingue]], the modern [[Haiti]])
In 1894, the Supreme Council of France created the [[Grand Lodge of France]]. It became fully independent in 1904, when the Supreme Council of France ceased chartering new lodges.<ref>{{harv|Revue "Points de vue initiatiques"|1980|p=17}}</ref> The Supreme Council of France still considers itself the overseer of all 33 degrees of the Rite. Relations between the two structures remain close, as shown by their organizing two joint meetings a year.

France has two additional Supreme Councils:
* The ''Suprême Conseil Grand Collège du Rite écossais ancien accepté'' (emerging from the Supreme Council on 1804 and constituted in 1815), affiliated with the [[Grand Orient de France]].
* The ''Suprême Conseil pour la France'' (emerging from the Supreme Council of the Netherlands, constituted in 1965), affiliated with the [[Grande Loge Nationale Française]]. In 1964, the Sovereign Grand Commander Charles Riandey, along with 400 to 500 members,<ref>{{Harvard citation|Daniel Ligou et al.|2000|pp=185–188}}</ref> left the jurisdiction of the Supreme Council of France and joined the [[Grande Loge Nationale Française]]. Because of his resignation and withdrawal of hundreds of members, there was no longer a Supreme Council of France. Riandey then reinitiated the 33 degrees of the rite in Amsterdam.<ref>{{harvard citation|Riandey|1989|p=169}}</ref> With the support of the Supreme Council of the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States, he founded a new Supreme Council in France, called the ''Suprême Conseil pour la France''.
The distinction between the symbolic degrees (1st-3rd) and the high/side degrees (4th-33rd) has not always been as clearly defined as it is today, especially in France, where symbolic lodges practice the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite from the first degree onward. Nowadays, some of the rituals for certain high degrees still make reference to "prerogatives" dating back to their origins, predating the establishment of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite.

In 2004, a noteworthy milestone was achieved when the AASR officially commemorated its establishment in [[France]], marked by the founding of the Supreme Council under the leadership of de Grasse-Tilly. This momentous occasion marked the beginning of a developmental trajectory intricately linked with the activities of Masonic obediences in the country, resulting in a richly diverse and multifaceted network.

The year 2015 witnessed a pivotal commemoration, namely the AASR's historic alignment with the Grand Orient de France (GODF) in 1815. This event provided historians with a valuable opportunity to engage in a comprehensive and scholarly examination of the AASR's evolution in France, tracing its roots back to 1804. International symposiums, notably hosted by the Supreme Council and the Grand College of the REAA-GODF in cities such as Lyon and Paris, featured distinguished speakers who represented both the Southern Jurisdiction and the Supreme Council for France. These symposia were conceived with the overarching objective of transcending partisan debates and fostering a platform for erudite discourse within the Masonic community.

Beyond France, this distinctive pattern is observed in Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Switzerland, where the AASR demonstrates relative vitality, albeit in proportionate terms.

==== Practices ====
In France and Belgium, depending on the jurisdictions, the degrees typically practiced and initiated include the 4th, 9th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 17th, 18th, 22nd, 26th, 28th, 30th, 31st, 32nd, and 33rd degrees. In some Belgian jurisdictions, initiation into the 5th and 29th degrees are also conducted. Differences in the number of degrees practiced exist from one jurisdiction and country to another. Generally, French jurisdictions practice fewer Areopagus degrees than Belgian jurisdictions and prioritize capitular degrees.

In present-day the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite has been growing rapidly in France, which prompted some changes to make it more difficult to be invited, in 2023, the G.N.L.F. changed the requirement from three years as a Master Mason to being a Past-Master to be invited into the Scottish Rite's upper degrees (4th onwards).

===Ireland===
The Ancient and Accepted Rite for Ireland was established in Ireland in 1824 by the [[Supreme Council, Scottish Rite (Southern Jurisdiction, USA)|Southern Jurisdiction of the USA]],<ref>Crowe, ''Irish Master Masons' Handbook'', 85</ref> following dramatic American expansion.<ref name="freemason.ie"/> Its Supreme Council operates from the Freemasons' Hall in Dublin,<ref name="freemason.ie"/> which also serves as the headquarters for the [[Grand Lodge of Ireland]]. In Ireland, membership of the Ancient and Accepted Rite is strictly by invitation only.<ref name="freemason.ie"/> Canvassing for, or requesting, membership results in automatic disqualification.

A number of prominent Irish freemasons have served as Sovereign and Commander of the Supreme Council of the Ancient and Accepted Rite for Ireland, including [[Charles Cameron (physician)|Sir Charles Cameron]]<ref>McClenachan, ''Scottish Rite'', 668 (reference obtained from Anne Marie D'Arcy, 'Joyce and the Two-Headed Octopus of Judeó-Maçonerrie' [2013] ''The Review of English Studies'' Vol. 64, No. 267, pp. 857-877, at p.870)</ref> and [[Gerald FitzGibbon (judge, born 1837)|Gerald FitzGibbon]].<ref>Anne Marie D'Arcy, 'Joyce and the Two-Headed Octopus of Judeó-Maçonerrie' [2013] ''The Review of English Studies'' Vol. 64, No. 267, pp. 857-877, at p.870</ref>

=== Italy ===
==== Current situation ====
Italy, boasting a lineage of Scottish Jurisdiction dating back to 1805, sustains the dynamism of the AASR, preserving its enduring legacy and growing at a rapid pace.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

===Romania===
The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite was established in Romania in 1881, a year after the National Grand Lodge of Romania was founded. On 27 December 1922, the Supreme Council of Scottish Rite of Romania, received the recognition of the Supreme Council of France in 1922, and recognition from the Supreme Council, Southern Jurisdiction of the United States in 1925.

Between 1948 and 1989 all of Romanian Freemasonry, including the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Romania, was banned by the Communist regime.

The Supreme Council of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Romania was reconsecrated in 1993.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://scaasr.ro/en/supreme-council-of-33rd-and-last-degree-of-the-ancient-and-accepted-scottish-rite-of-romania/|title=Supreme Council of 33rd and Last Degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Romania – SCAASR|date=16 September 2016|website=scaasr.ro|access-date=28 April 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171219205655/http://scaasr.ro/en/supreme-council-of-33rd-and-last-degree-of-the-ancient-and-accepted-scottish-rite-of-romania/|archive-date=19 December 2017}}</ref>

===United Kingdom===
[[File:Structure of Masonic appendant bodies in England and Wales.jpg|thumb|The position of the ''Ancient and Accepted Rite'' among the Masonic appendant bodies in England and Wales]]
In England and Wales, whose Supreme Council was warranted by that of the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction of the USA (in 1845),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.beds-freemasonry.org.uk/rose_croix_masonry.htm|title=Property Market in the South East – Bedsfordshire Property Times|website=beds-freemasonry.org.uk|access-date=28 April 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170822014426/http://www.beds-freemasonry.org.uk/rose_croix_masonry.htm/|archive-date=22 August 2017}}</ref> the Rite is known colloquially as the "Rose Croix" although this is just one of the degrees. More formally, it is known as "The Ancient and Accepted Rite for England and Wales and its Districts and Chapters Overseas". In England, the adjective "Scottish" is generally left out, although in continental European jurisdictions, they retain the "Écossais".
[[File:Side Degrees of British Le Droit Humain.jpg|thumb|Position of the AASR among the Allied Degrees of British Le Droit Humain]]
There are 25,000 members of the Supreme Council out of the 160,000 members of the United Grand Lodge of England.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sc33.org.uk/|title=The Supreme Council|website=www.sc33.org.uk}}</ref> England and Wales are divided into Districts, which administer the Rose Croix Chapters within their District. There are also some eighteen Districts overseas, as well as some 'unattached' Chapters in a further nine countries. All candidates for membership must have been Master masons for at least six months.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Supreme Council – Who Can Join |url=http://www.sc33.org.uk/who-can-join.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170917232958/http://www.sc33.org.uk/who-can-join.html |archive-date=17 September 2017 |access-date=28 April 2018 |website=sc33.org.uk}}</ref>

Many degrees are conferred in name only, and degrees beyond the 18° are conferred only by the Supreme Council itself. In England and Wales, the candidate is perfected in the 18th degree with the preceding degrees awarded in name only. Continuing to the 30th degree is restricted to those who have served in the chair of the Chapter. Degrees beyond the 30th are conferred only upon a very small number of individuals.

In [[Scotland]], the 18th and 30th degree are practised. A minimum of a two-year interval is required before continuing to the 30th degree, again with the intervening degrees awarded by name only. Elevation beyond that is by invitation only, and numbers are severely restricted.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.supremecouncilforscotland.org/|title=Supreme Council for the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite|website=supremecouncilforscotland.org|access-date=28 April 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180315114737/http://supremecouncilforscotland.org/|archive-date=15 March 2018}}</ref>

The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite is also practiced from the 1st to the 33rd degree by the British Federation of [[Le Droit Humain]],<ref>{{Cite news |title=Fundamentals |url=https://ledroithumain.international/fundamentals/?lang=en |access-date=2013-10-18 |newspaper=Ordre Maçonnique Mixte International le Droit Humain}}</ref> and from the 1st to the 3rd degree by the all-male lodge The White Swan, No. 1348, of the [[Grande Loge de France]] in London, as well as by the mixed lodge Marco Polo of the [[Gran Loggia d'Italia]].