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Worshipful and Illustrious Brother Mark Antoine Gauchie President of CLIPSAS Worshipful and Illustrious Sisters and Brothers Members of the Office of CLIPSASWorshipful and Illustrious Grand MastersSisters and Brothers Members and Participants

The speech which will be addressed to you now is the synthesis of repeated

fruitful meetings of brothers in our Lodges: Meleager, Akhenaton, Haramoun, and

Brothers of Patrimony, working under the auspices the Grand Lodge Bet-El.

We are gathered today to commemorate a great event which is the Fiftieth

anniversary of the Appeal of Strasbourg and reaffirm our resolve to remain

faithful to our principles of Freemasons. 50 years already that "Sovereign

Masonic powers met in Strasbourg, on January 22, 1961, have decided to

strengthen the chain of fraternal union, based on a total freedom of conscience

and a perfect mutual tolerance." "Eleven Masonic sovereign powers decided to

appeal to all Freemasons that they gather, respecting their sovereignty, their

beliefs, their rituals and their symbols, for a genuine and indissoluble chain of

Universal Union ".

The Masonic family CLIPSAS is expanding; the members count nowadays 64

Obediences spread over five continents, and many others, in the future, will join

us in the Appeal of Strasbourg.


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After this brief review I would like to dwell a little on this figure 50. What does it

mean to us? And what does that symbolizes? Through centuries and civilizations

and among the many beliefs and philosophical meanings we have, I summarized

some:

"It is considered among "the most holy numbers

"because it is equivalent

to the sum of 9 + 16 + 25. These numbers are the squares of 3, 4 and 5

which are the sides of the "sacred" triangle of Pythagoras. It is also equivalent to 5 x 10, the product of the numbers of generator life

and world harmony, the microcosm and the macrocosm".For Philo the philosopher, the number 50 symbolizes freedom.And finally according to Rene Allendy the famous French physician,

homeopath and psychoanalyst, 50 represent the universe speaking by the

individual lives. "This is a positive number marking a grace, a blessing, and

regeneration".To me the figure 50 is considered as a call to an individual regeneration for

material and moral improvement of man, and therefore a progress for

humanity, and at the same time a reminder of the essence of Freemasonry:

Liberty, Fraternity and Equality. Isnt our task is to fight any fanatism, reject

any intolerance and work for the universal harmony and peace? Tolerance is

our watchword. Are we really tolerant? Do we, in good conscience, act

according to the Constitutions of Anderson?

May I ask "What is tolerance?"

Tolerance is neither concession nor indifference. Tolerance is simply the

knowledge of the other. It is the mutual respect born from a mutual

understanding. Let us get rid of old myths and agree with the results of

current researches: The man is not violent by nature. Intolerance is not


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registered in our genes. Fear and ignorance are the roots of intolerance, and

its mechanisms .It is registered in the human psyche from the earliest age. Tolerance is the key to live in harmony with the other. It is to understand the

other, with respect, and reciprocal love unconditionally. Our worldconsidered as a vast family, it can be depicted as a tree

with many

ramifications. Each nation, symbolized by a branch, is abrother or sister byalliance, with his own family. These families, representedby branches of thetree, are the various regions where we find composed of all thereligions, ofall ethnic groups, and of all civilizations. When we look at the roots of the

history by placing members of the human family on such a family tree, thisperspective shows complementarities between all and tends to prove that atrue coexistence is possible. Any tree draws its support from the roots which

are common born from a single seed, so the human family cannot bedifferent.The goal of tolerance is Peaceful Coexistence. By accepting the individuality

and thediversity, tolerance removes masks which divide and dissipates thetension created by ignorance. It gives the opportunity to eliminate thestereotypes and prejudices associated with those who are perceived asdifferent because of their nationality, religion orcultural heritage.Love, is the seed of tolerance, it must be sowed with compassion and

kindness. The more you love and share love, the greater is the power itcontains. When there is a lack of love, the tolerance is absent. So Tolerance is this force that allows the individual to confront and transform

misunderstandings and difficulties. So let us be more tolerant and spread the

seed of love in order to live in Harmony.Together we are stronger and more effective in our action. Solidarity will

strengthen our Fraternal Chain.


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Our goal is the moral transformation of humanity to be much better. We

should work to boost up and improve our role in society by being recognized

as an organization active in the United Nations. This will augment our

Universality.

I would like to conclude this speech by few words from the "Treaty on the

tolerance" written by our Brother Franois Marie Arouet who is known as

Voltaire, the French writer and philosopher: "May all men remember that

they are brothers! Let them have in horror the tyranny exercised on souls, as

they have disgust banditry which delights by force the fruit of the labor and

of peaceful industry! If the scourges of war are unavoidable, we do not hate

each other in the midst of peace and use the moment of our lives to bless in a

thousand different languages, from Siam to California, your kindness who

gave us this moment".

I Said.

2011eng-glbethel

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