Orange Order

The Orange Order is a Protestant fraternal organisation largely based in the province of Ulster, Ireland and in western Scotland but which has a worldwide membership. The Orange Order was founded in Loughgall, County Armagh, Ireland in 1795. Its members and supporters see it as a pious organisation, celebrating Protestant culture and identity. Its critics accuse it of sectarianism and anti-Catholicism.

Requirements for entry

Members are required to be Protestant with a belief in the Trinity, which excludes Unitarians and certain other Christian denominations and all non-Christians. Most jurisdictions require both the spouse and parents of potential applicants to be Protestant, although the Grand Lodge can be appealed to make exceptions for converts. In 1998 Ulster Unionist Party leader and Northern Ireland First Minister-designate, David Trimble representing Northern Ireland attended the funeral Mass for a child murdered in a Real IRA bombing, some Orangemen demanded that he be expelled by the Orange Order for attending a "Papist ceremony". Members are forbidden to marry Catholics, as the Catholic Church requires its adherents to make all reasonable efforts to raise all their children in the same religion, regardless of the other parent's faith.

Related Topics:
Unitarian - Ulster Unionist Party - David Trimble - Mass - Real IRA - Papist - Requires

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Qualifications of an Orangeman according to the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland

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An Orangeman should have a sincere love and veneration for his Heavenly Father;

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A humble and steadfast faith in Jesus Christ, the Saviour of mankind, believing in Him as the only Mediator between God and man.

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He should cultivate truth and justice, brotherly kindness and charity, devotion and piety, concord and unity, and obedience to the laws;

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His deportment should be gentle and compassionate, kind and courteous;

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He should seek a society of the virtuous, and avoid that of the evil;

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He should honour and diligently study the Holy Scriptures, and make them the rule of his faith and practice;

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He should love, uphold, and defend the Protestant religion, and sincerely desire and endeavour to propagate its doctrines and precepts;

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He should strenuously oppose the fatal errors and doctrines of the Church of Rome, and scrupulously avoid countenancing (by his presence or otherwise) any act of ceremony of Popish worship;

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He should by all lawful means, resist the ascendancy of that Church, its encroachments, and the extension of its power, ever abstaining from all uncharitable words, actions or sentiments, towards his Roman Catholic brethren;

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He should remember to keep holy the Sabbath day, and attend the public worship of God, and diligently train up his offspring, and all under his control, in the fear of God, and in the Protestant faith;

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He should never take the name of God in vain, but abstain from all cursing and profane language, and use every opportunity of discouraging these, and all other sinful practices, in others; his conduct should be guided by wisdom and prudence, and marked by honesty, temperance, and sobriety;

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The glory of God and the welfare of man, the honour of his Sovereign, and the good of his country, should be the motive of his actions.

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Candidates must promise to:

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at all times conform to the Laws and Ordinances of the Loyal Orange Institution of Ireland, and will at all times recognise and support the authority of the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland.

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I promise that, if admitted a member of this Lodge, I will always show due respect to the Worshipful Master and other Officers, and will endeavour to conduct myself as a Brother ought towards all members of the Lodge and of the Brotherhood, and that I will always observe and never knowingly violate, the By-Laws of the Lodge.

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I was born at ................... in the county of ...................... of Protestant parents, was educated in the Protestant faith, and have never been in any way connected with the Church of Rome. My wife is a Protestant/I am unmarried..

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