We hope that the information we present here will help you clarify your opinion about this matter and abandon any negative preconceptions, based more on libellous hearsay than on any facts or realities.

This is maybe surprising for whoever doesn't know it, but there is really nothing mysterious about the Grand Lodge of France, a non-profit organization governed by the French law of 1901 concerning such associations. It is very democratic in its structures, which is not always the case elsewhere. All the members of its hierarchy, including the Grand Master, are elected by secret ballot and for relatively brief periods (one year, renewable up to three years at most) by and among the representatives of its Lodges, convened twice yearly in general assemblies called Grand Lodge Communications. The Lodges' representatives are themselves elected in the same way by the members of their own Lodges. These general assemblies have the power to approve or disapprove the actions and activities of the hierarchy, to define future projects, to modify, enact or repeal rules and regulations, to control, approve or reject the budget of the Grand Lodge of France.

The principal goal of the Grand Lodge of France, a goal from which stem all the others, is to give men, without distinction of race, religion, social origin, faith or wealth  but who are men of good repute, morally and intellectually capable, the possibility of improving themselves, thus making good men better. Which means getting them to know themselves better, to have a better understanding of other people, to learn to listen and to express themselves better, to better use qualities and talents which they already had but of which they often weren't aware and, in our age of excessive specialization, to significantly widen their general knowledge and education. All of which would allow them to become, in turn and on the individual level, more useful to their fellow men and to society in general, without ever involving the Grand Lodge into any political or religious controversy or action.

The Grand Lodge of France does not do this in a didactical, scholastic manner. It is neither a school, nor a university, nor a seminary. There are here no gurus nor lesson-givers. The Grand Lodge of France does it very simply by congregating men who all know something worth being known, appreciated, learned and understood, by transforming these men into friends and Brethren and by giving them the appropriate setting and structures so that they might learn from each other.
 
The Grand Lodge of France also does this by using ritual and traditional methods which have proven themselves for three centuries at least and possibly millenia.