Propaganda Due

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Propaganda Due or P2 was a Masonic lodge operating under the jurisdiction of the Grand Orient of Italy from 1877 to 1976 (when its charter was withdrawn), and a pseudo-Masonic or "black" or "covert" lodge operating illegally from 1976 to 1981. During the 1980s, when the lodge was headed by Licio Gelli, P2 was implicated in numerous Italian crimes and mysteries, including the nationwide bribe scandal Tangentopoli, the collapse of the Vatican-affiliated Banco Ambrosiano, and the murders of journalist Mino Pecorelli and banker Roberto Calvi. P2 came to light through the investigations into the collapse of Michele Sindona's financial empire.[1]

P2 was sometimes referred to as a "state within a state"[2] or a "shadow government".[3] The lodge had among its members prominent journalists, parliamentarians, industrialists, and military leaders -- including the then-future Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi; the Savoy pretender to the Italian throne Victor Emmanuel; and the heads of all three Italian intelligence services.

When searching Licio Gelli's villa, the police found a document called the "Plan for Democratic Rebirth", which called for a consolidation of the media, suppression of trade unions, and the rewriting of the Italian Constitution.[4]

Beside Italy, P2 was also active in Uruguay, Brazil and especially in Argentina's "Dirty War" (with Raúl Alberto Lastiri, Argentina's interim president from July 13, 1973 until October 12, 1973; Emilio Massera, who was part from 1976 to 1978 of the military junta led by Jorge Rafael Videla; José López Rega, minister of Social Welfare in Perón's government and founder of the Argentine Anticommunist Alliance ("Triple A"), and Guillermo Suárez Mason, in charge of the Batallón de Inteligencia 601 as members).[5]

Contents

[edit] Foundation

"Propaganda" was originally founded in 1877, in Turin, as "Propaganda Massonica". This lodge was frequented by politicians and government officials from across Italy who were unable to attend their own lodges. and included prominent members from the Piedmont nobility. The name was changed to "Propaganda Due" following the Second World War when the Grand Orient numbered its lodges. By the 1960s, however, the lodge was all but moribund, holding few meetings. This lodge has, however, little to do with the one Gelli established in 1966, two years after becoming a freemason himself.[6] He took a list of "sleeping members"—members who were not invited to take part in masonic rituals anymore, as Italian freemasonry was under close scrutiny by the reigning Christian Democrats. From these initial connections, Gelli was able to extend his network throughout the echelons of the Italian establishment.[7]

[edit] Expulsion

It has been argued that[who?] the Grand Orient of Italy expelled Gelli and P2 in 1976.[8] In 1974 it was proposed that P2 be erased by the Grand Orient of Italy, which was carried overwhelmingly. However in 1975 a warrant was issued for a new P2 lodge by the Grand Master. In 1976, The Grand Orient of Italy suspended, but did not expel, the lodge on Gelli's request. Gelli was still active in the Grand Orient's national affairs in 1978, financing the election of a Grand Master. In 1981 a masonic tribunal decided that the 1974 vote had meant that the lodge had already been erased and that the lodge had been illegal all along.[9]

[edit] Discovery

Licio Gelli

"God's Banker" Roberto Calvi's connections with the Worshipful Master Licio Gelli became a particular focus of press and police attention, and caused the lodge (then secret) to be discovered. A list of adherents was found by the police in Gelli's house in Arezzo in March 1981, containing over 900 names, among which were very important state officers, some important politicians (four ministers or former ministers, and 44 deputies), and a number of military officers, many of them enrolled in the Italian secret services. Notably, the then future Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi was on the list, although he had not yet entered elective politics at the time. Another famous member was Victor Emmanuel, Prince of Naples, the current head of the House of Savoy. A document was also found in the possession of Licio Gelli titled "Piano di Rinascita Democratica" (Democratic Rebirth Plan) which amounted to a declaration of the lodge's intent; essentially, Gelli's goal was to form a new political and economic elite to lead Italy towards a more authoritarian form of democracy, in an anti-communist perspective. "The objective of the division of the trade-union must be a priority," the Plan stated, "in order to allow the reunification with the autonomous unions of those confederal components sensitive to the Plan's actuation".[10]

Then-prime minister Arnaldo Forlani was forced to resign, causing the fall of the Italian government. Giovanni Spadolini of the Italian Republican Party (PRI) was then appointed, leading a center-left coalition. Spadolini was the first Italian prime minister not belonging to the Democrazia Cristiana ("Christian Democrats") party. All the secret services' heads, among them Vito Miceli, had to resign.

[edit] Criminal organization

[edit] Parliamentary commission directed by Tina Anselmi

The lodge was then examined by a special commission of the Italian Parliament, directed by Tina Anselmi of the Democrazia Cristiana. The conclusion of the commission was that it was a secret criminal organization. Allegations of surreptitious international relationships, mainly with Argentina (Gelli repeatedly suggested he was a close friend of Juan Perón) and with some people suspected of belonging to the American Central Intelligence Agency were also partly confirmed; but soon a political debate overtook the legal level of the analysis.

[edit] New Italian law prohibiting "secret lodges"

Even though outlawed by Benito Mussolini in 1925, masonic institutions have been tolerated in Italy, but a special law was issued that prohibited secret lodges. The Grande Oriente d'Italia, after taking disciplinary action against members with P2 connections, distanced itself from Gelli's lodge and claimed to have respect for only honest Freemasons. Other laws introduced a prohibition on membership in such organizations for some categories of state officers (especially military officers). Such laws have been recently questioned by the European Court of Human Rights[citation needed]. Following an action brought by a serving British naval officer, the European Court has established as precedent the illegality of any member nation attempting to ban masonic membership for military officers, as being a breach of their human rights.

[edit] Banco Ambrosiano scandal

Main article: Banco Ambrosiano

P2 became the target of considerable attention in the wake of the collapse of Banco Ambrosiano (one of Milan's principal banks, owned in part by the Vatican Bank), and the suspicious 1982 death of its president Roberto Calvi in London, initially ruled a suicide but later prosecuted as a murder. It was suspected by many that some of the plundered funds went to P2 or its members.

[edit] Aldo Moro and the strategy of tension

Main articles: Aldo Moro and strategy of tension

It has been repeatedly alleged that P2 was involved in the assassination of Prime Minister Aldo Moro, murdered by the Red Brigades, after the Italian Security Services refused to strike a deal with the abductors, but no concrete proof was ever found. It has also been suspected that P2 was involved in the 1980 Bologna massacre as part of the strategia della tensione followed by "stay-behind" secret NATO clandestine structure Gladio, which led to the opening of investigations, in the 1990s, by the Italian Chamber of Deputies.

[edit] Licio Gelli's list of P2 members found in 1981

On march 17, 1981, Licio Gelli's list of members was found in his country house (Villa Wanda). The inquiry commission decided to publish the list in its concluding report. The list is in book 1, tome 1, pp 803-874 and 885-942, and in book 1, tome 2, p. 213 ss. and p. 1126 ss.[5]

The list contains 932 names (including Gelli); it has been said that at least a thousand names are still secret. It included 30 generals, 38 members of parliament, 4 cabinet ministers, former prime ministers, intelligence chiefs, newspaper editors, TV executives, businessmen, bankers, 19 judges, and 58 university professors.

Some notable individuals include:

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Masonic lodge affair leaves Italy shocked", The Times, 1981-05-23 
  2. ^ BBC On This Day: 26 May 1981
  3. ^ Jones, Tobias. p. 187
  4. ^ Jones, Tobias. p. 186
  5. ^ a b Propaganda Due member list
  6. ^ Grand Lodge of BC&Y
  7. ^ "How Licio Gelli took over Italy's secret power centre", The Times, 1981-05-30 
  8. ^ Decree No. 444 L.S. of June, 1976 quoted by masonicinfo.com
  9. ^ 5. What was the P2 Lodge?, Anti-masonry Frequently Asked Questions, Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon
  10. ^ La loggia massonica P2 (Loggia Propaganda Due) (Italian)
  11. ^ Dossier Stragi of the Democrats of the Left MPs members of the Commission on Terrorism headed by senator Giovanni Pellegrino (Italian)
  12. ^ Les USA derrière les "années de plomb", Resistances, note 2 (French)
  13. ^ Susana Viau and Eduardo Tagliaferro, Carlos Bartffeld, Mason y Amigo de Massera, Fue Embajador en Yugoslavia Cuando Se Vendieron Armas a Croacia - En el mismo barco, Pagina 12, December 14, 1998 (Spanish)
  14. ^ "Bielsa va a Brasilia para hablar con Itamaraty - A la vuelta, habrá relevos, Pagina 12, 29 May 2003 (Spanish)
  15. ^ Martín Granovsky, Un dinosaurio camino a casa, Pagina 12, 9 May 2004 (Spanish)
  16. ^ Moro's ghost haunts political life, The Guardian, May 9, 2003

[edit] Further reading

  • Normand, P.G. "The Italian Dilemma." American Masonic Review, Vol. 3, No. 2. (Publ. by St. Alban's Research Society, College Station, Texas; Spring 1994.)
  • deHoyos, Art. "The methods of anti-Masons." 1997. [1], accessed 23 December 2006
  • Jones, Tobias. The Dark Heart of Italy. New York: North Point Press, 2003.
  • Unger, Craig. "The war they wanted, the lies they needed." Vanity Fair. July 2006. [2], accessed 23 December 2006
  • Willan, Philip. The Last Supper: the Mafia, the Masons and the Killing of Roberto Calvi, Constable & Robinson, 2007(ISBN 978 1 84529 296 6)

[edit] See also

[edit] Film

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_Due"
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