Origins and History

The Royal Arch has its origins in the 18th century in Scotland, where it was established as an essential degree that delves into the mysteries and teachings of Freemasonry. This degree is considered the culmination of the pursuit of Masonic knowledge.

The teachings of the Royal Arch are based on the search for truth and self-knowledge, promoting values such as fraternity, integrity and dedication to the service of humanity.

The Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Scotland

In 1800, the Grand Lodge of Scotland warned lodges not to work degrees other than Apprentice, Fellow Craft and Master Mason in response to the Secret Society Acts.

The additional degrees associated with Royal Arch Masonry were worked in separate lodge assemblies, but after a while the brethren decided that they wanted to legitimize these meetings in some way.

While some obtained Charters from the Grand Encampment of Ireland, others turned to the Grand Templar Corps of England. The Royal Grand Conclave of Scotland was constituted in 1810, and Alexander Deuchar was appointed first Grand Master.

He was empowered to grant Charters to confer the degrees of Knight Templar to Royal Arch Masons. However, Deuchar considered it unsatisfactory to have only these degrees and the first three degrees under his control, but not the intermediate and qualifying degrees of the Royal Arch. He convened a special committee in 1815 to contact the corps in Scotland working the Royal Arch degrees. He wanted to form a Grand Corps and sought advice from the United Grand Lodge of England. He enlisted the support of the Duke of Sussex, who wanted Deuchar to persuade the Grand Lodge of Scotland to take the Royal Arch under its protection.

Progress was made, but in 1817 the meeting could no longer be delayed. Representatives of 34 Chapters met in Edinburgh, leading to the constitution of the Supreme Grand Chapter of the Royal Arch of Scotland. It issued Charters and the Grand Body gradually grew until all bodies working the Royal Arch degree were soon under its control.

*From https://sgrac-scotland.com/history/

The Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Ecuador

The Royal Arch Masonry has been little known in our country, since the beginnings of Freemasonry in Ecuador, has had sources from Colombia, Spain and Peru, which, in turn, has kept the ideas of the enlightenment very high and has been evidently a builder of society.

In the case of our country, it was in 1974 that Brothers belonging to the Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Ecuador such as Ricardo LOPEZ PINTO or our Past Grand Master Evaristo ALPRECHT, decided with a large group of Brothers, to request the District of Peru, the creation of two Chapters of Real Arco; The first one in the city of Quito with the name of Eugenio de SANTA CRUZ Y ESPEJO whose assigned number was 827 and in the city of Guayaquil the Chapter Estrella de Guayaquil with the assigned number 832.

Both Chapters went to sleep (ceased to work) making it clear that the case of the Eugene Chapter of SANTA CRUZ Y ESPEJO N° 827, could not continue to meet, since several of its members founded an irregular Grand Lodge, so for obvious reasons could not continue working as such.

In the year 2018, three Master Masons saw the need to form a Chapter, formed only by Regular Masons, that is, of the Grand Lodge of Ecuador, and contact was made with the authorities of the Superintendence of the District Peru, who arrived in the city of Quito on Thursday, January 30, 2020; they were received with all the honors that their positions referred and on January 31 and February 1, took all the Degrees of the Royal Arch series 16 Master Masons from various Lodges of the Grand Lodge of Ecuador.

The pandemic by COVID-19, prevented the face-to-face meetings of the new Enoch Chapter in formation, so there was a growing fear that the project that was born with much hope would be diluted; as time went by, a response was requested from the District Peru to our request for the formation of the Enoch Chapter, which never arrived; This forced the first Principal of the mentioned Chapter to make a direct approach with the Supreme Grand Chapter of the Royal Arch of Scotland, where there was no knowledge of the steps initiated in the year 2020, that is to say, the bad faith on the part of its authorities became evident.

Advantageously, the direct approaches with the Supreme Grand Chapter of the Royal Arch of Scotland, allowed the issuance of the Charter of the Enoch Chapter which was assigned the number 909 and since then, grew in number of members and has allowed the opening of three more Chapters, which are Noah No. 911 in the city of Cuenca, Moshe No. 912 in the city of Quito and Bóveda Real de Manabí No. 914 in the city of Manta.

Nothing is hidden between earth and heaven, when you have members belonging to a Regular and Recognized Grand Lodge, the legal and true support is not delayed in arriving, being this one of the fundamental requirements to be part of the Royal Arch of Scottish tradition, since its Article 25 in the Constitution (Supreme Grand Chapter of the Royal Arch of Scotland), indicates that only Master Masons who are recognized by the Jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Scotland are Candidates to the Order of the Royal Arch, in short, in the Republic of Ecuador, only Master Masons of Lodges under the registry of the Grand Lodge of Ecuador meet this requirement.

Four years have passed since the formation of Enoch Chapter No. 909, and our commitment is total in welcoming Master Masons who wish to be part of our institution, so we open our arms to continue writing the history of Freemasonry in our country.