Secret society

From SourceryForge

A secret society is an organisation which works in secrecy for its protection and/or for the accomplishment of its goals. These goals may be of spiritual or social nature (or both).

Many organisations work in a secret or semi-secret way because of political and philosophical oppresion by the governments, the church, etc. Some organizations such as the Inquisition and the Gestapo have been secretive as intruments of such oppression.Freemasonry is perhaps the oldest and largest secret society and was long targeted by various regimes and established Catholicism.