Propaganda Due
Encyclopedia
Propaganda Due or P2, was a Masonic lodge
operating under the jurisdiction of the Grand Orient of Italy from 1945 to 1976 (when its charter was withdrawn), and a pseudo-Masonic or "black" or "covert" lodge operating illegally (in contravention of Italian constitution banning secret lodges, and membership of government officials in secret membership organizations) from 1976 to 1981. During the years that the lodge was headed by Licio Gelli
, P2 was implicated in numerous Italian crimes and mysteries, including the collapse of the Vatican
-affiliated Banco Ambrosiano
, the murders of journalist Mino Pecorelli
and banker Roberto Calvi
, and corruption cases within the nationwide bribe scandal Tangentopoli
. P2 came to light through the investigations into the collapse of Michele Sindona
's financial empire.
P2 was sometimes referred to as a "state within a state
" or a "shadow government
". The lodge had among its members prominent journalists, members of parliament, industrialists, and military leaders—including Silvio Berlusconi
, who later became Prime Minister of Italy; the Savoy
heir 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 union
s, and the rewriting of the Italian Constitution.
Outside Italy, P2 was also active in Uruguay
, Brazil
and in Argentina
, with Raúl Alberto Lastiri
, Argentina's interim president (between July 13, 1973 to October 12, 1973) during the height of the "Dirty War
" among its members. Emilio Massera, who was part of the military junta led by Jorge Rafael Videla
from 1976 to 1978, José López Rega
, minister of Social Welfare in Perón
's government and founder of the Argentine Anticommunist Alliance ("Triple A"), and General Guillermo Suárez Mason
were also members.
nobility
. The name was changed to "Propaganda Due" following World War II
, when the Grand Orient of Italy numbered its lodges. By the 1960s, however, the lodge was all but moribund, holding few meetings. This original lodge, however, had little to do with the one Licio Gelli
established in 1966, two years after becoming a freemason.
Italian Masonry had been outlawed by the fascist regime
of Benito Mussolini
, but was reborn after the Second World War under US influence. However, its traditions of free thinking under the Risorgimento morphed into a fervent anti-communism
. The increase of the influence of the left at the end of the 1960s had the Masons deeply worried. In 1971, Grand Master Lino Salvini of the Grand Orient of Italy—one of Italy's largest Masonic lodges—assigned to Gelli the task of reorganizing the lodge.
Gelli 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.
, the collapse of his bank and his ties to the Mafia
. A list of alleged adherents was found by the police in Gelli's house in Arezzo
in March 1981, containing 962 names, among which were important state officials, some important politicians and a number of military officers, including the heads of the three Italian secret services. Future Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi
was on the list, although he had not yet entered politics at the time. Another famous member was Victor Emmanuel
, the son of the last Italian king.
Prime Minister Arnaldo Forlani
(whose chef de cabinet was a P2 member as well) appointed a Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry, headed by the independent Christian Democrat
Tina Anselmi
. Nevertheless, in May 1981, Forlani was forced to resign due to the P2 scandal, causing the fall of the Italian government.
In July 1982, new documents were found hidden in the false bottom of a suitcase belonging to Gelli's daughter at Fiumicino airport in Rome. The two documents were entitled "Memorandum sulla situazione italiana" (Memorandum on the Italian situation) "Piano di rinascita democratica" (Plan of Democratic Rebirth) and are seen as the political programme of P2. According to these documents, the main enemies of Italy were the Italian Communist Party
(PCI) and the trade union
s. These had to be isolated and cooperation with the communists (the second biggest party in Italy and the largest in Western Europe
), which was proposed in the historic compromise
by Aldo Moro
needed to be disrupted.
Gelli's goal was to form a new political and economic elite to lead Italy towards a right-wing, authoritarian form of democracy
, with an anti-communist pre-occupation. P2 advocated a programme of extensive political corruption
: "political parties, newspapers and trade unions can be the objects of possible solicitations which could take the form of economic-financial manoeuvres. The availability of sums not exceeding 30 to 40 billion lire would seem sufficient to allow carefully chosen men, acting in good faith, to conquer key positions necessary for overall control."
. Others think it was nothing more than a sordid association of people eager to improve their careers by making powerful and important connections. Nevertheless, P2 was implicated in numerous Italian scandals and mysteries.
newspaper, a leading paper in Italy. At the time, the paper had run into financial trouble and was unable to raise bank loans because its then editor, Piero Ottone, was considered hostile to the ruling Christian Democrats. Corriere's owners, the publishing house Rizzoli, struck a deal with Gelli. He provided the money with funds from the Vatican Bank
directed by Paul Marcinkus
. Ottone was fired and the paper's editorial line shifted to the right.
The paper published a long interview with Gelli in 1980. The interview was carried out by the television talk show host Maurizio Costanzo
, who would also be exposed as a member of P2. Gelli said he was in favour of rewriting the Italian constitution towards a Gaullist
presidential system. When asked what he always wanted to be, he replied: “A puppet master”.
were condemned for attempting to mislead the police investigation of the Bologna massacre
on August 2, 1980, which killed 85 people and wounded more than 200.
(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 investigative journalists that some of the plundered funds went to P2 or to its members.
in Lugano
(Switzerland). It detailed the payment of US$ 7 million by the president of ENI
, Florio Fiorini through Roberto Calvi to the Italian Socialist Party
(PSI) leader Claudio Martelli
on behalf of Bettino Craxi
, the socialist Prime Minister from 1983-1987.
The full extent of the payment only became clear twelve years later, in 1993, during the mani pulite
(Italian for "clean hands") investigations into political corruption. The money was allegedly a kickback on a loan which the Socialist leaders had organised to help bail out the ailing Banco Ambrosiano
. Rumours that the Minister of Justice, Martelli, was connected with the account had been circulating since investigations began into the P2 plot. He always flatly denied them. However, learning that formal investigations were opened, he resigned as minister.
(Gelli repeatedly suggested that he was a close friend of Juan Perón
) and with some people suspected of affiliation with the American Central Intelligence Agency
were also partly confirmed; but soon a political debate overtook the legal level of the analysis. The majority report said that P2 action resulted in "… the pollution of the public life of a nation. It aimed to alter, often in decisive fashion, the correct funtioning of the institutions of the country, according to a project which … intended to undermine our democracy." A minority report by Massimo Teodori
concluded that P2 was not just an abnormal outgrowth from a essentially healthy system, as upheld by the majority report, but an inherent part of the system itself.
in 1925, Masonic institutions have been tolerated in Italy since the end of World War II. A special law was issued, however, that prohibited secret lodges. The Grande Oriente d'Italia, after taking disciplinary action against members with P2 connections, distanced itself from Gelli's lodge. Other laws introduced a prohibition on membership in allegedly secret organizations for some categories of state officials (especially military officers). These laws have been recently questioned by the European Court of Human Rights
. 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 a breach of their human rights.
. Many on the list were apparently never asked if they wanted to join P2, and it is not known to what extent the list includes members who were formally initiated into the lodge. Since 1981, some of those on the list have demonstrated their distance from P2 to the satisfaction of the Italian legal system.
On May 21, 1981, the Italian government released the list. The Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry headed by Tina Anselmi considered the list reliable and genuine. It decided to publish the list in its concluding report, Relazione della Commissione parlamentare d’inchiesta sulla Loggia massonica P2.
The list contains 962 names (including Gelli's). It has been claimed that at least a thousand names may still be secret, as the membership numbers begin with number 1,600, which suggests that the complete list has not yet been found. The list included all of the heads of the secret services, 195 officers of the different armed forces (12 generals of the Carabinieri
, 5 of the financial police Guardia di Finanza
, 22 of the army, 4 of the air force and 8 admirals), as well as 44 members of parliament, 3 ministers and a secretary of a political party, leading magistrates, a few prefects and heads of police, bankers and businessmen, civil servants, journalists and broadcasters. Also included were a top official of the Banca di Roma, Italy's third largest bank at the time, and a former director-general of the Banca Nazionale del Lavoro
(BNL), the country's largest.
Some notable individuals include:
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
operating under the jurisdiction of the Grand Orient of Italy from 1945 to 1976 (when its charter was withdrawn), and a pseudo-Masonic or "black" or "covert" lodge operating illegally (in contravention of Italian constitution banning secret lodges, and membership of government officials in secret membership organizations) from 1976 to 1981. During the years that the lodge was headed by Licio Gelli
Licio Gelli
Licio Gelli is an Italian financier, chiefly known for his role in the Banco Ambrosiano scandal. He was revealed in 1981 as being the Venerable Master of the clandestine Masonic lodge Propaganda Due...
, P2 was implicated in numerous Italian crimes and mysteries, including the collapse of the Vatican
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
-affiliated Banco Ambrosiano
Banco Ambrosiano
Banco Ambrosiano was an Italian bank which collapsed in 1982. At the centre of the bank's failure was its chairman, Roberto Calvi and his membership in the illegal Masonic Lodge Propaganda Due...
, the murders of journalist Mino Pecorelli
Carmine Pecorelli
Carmine Pecorelli known as Mino, was an Italian journalist, shot dead in Rome a year after former prime minister Aldo Moro's 1978 kidnapping and subsequent killing...
and banker Roberto Calvi
Roberto Calvi
Roberto Calvi was an Italian banker dubbed "God's Banker" by the press because of his close association with the Holy See. A native of Milan, Calvi was Chairman of Banco Ambrosiano, which collapsed in one of modern Italy's biggest political scandals...
, and corruption cases within the nationwide bribe scandal Tangentopoli
Tangentopoli
Tangentopoli is a term which was coined to describe pervasive corruption in the Italian political system exposed in the 1992-6 Mani Pulite investigations, as well as the resulting scandal, which led to the collapse of the hitherto dominant Christian Democracy party and its allies.-Popular distrust...
. P2 came to light through the investigations into the collapse of Michele Sindona
Michele Sindona
Michele Sindona was an Italian banker and convicted felon. Known in banking circles as "The Shark", Sindona was a member of Propaganda Due , a secret lodge of Italian Freemasonry, and had clear connections to the Mafia...
's financial empire.
P2 was sometimes referred to as a "state within a state
State within a state
State within a state is a political situation in a country when an internal organ, generally from the armed forces, intelligence agencies or police, does not respond to the civilian leadership....
" or a "shadow government
Shadow government (conspiracy)
The term shadow government besides its party political meaning can also refer to what is sometimes called "the secret government" or "the invisible government" , an idea based on the notion that real and actual political power does not reside with publicly elected representatives but with private...
". The lodge had among its members prominent journalists, members of parliament, industrialists, and military leaders—including Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi , also known as Il Cavaliere – from knighthood to the Order of Merit for Labour which he received in 1977 – is an Italian politician and businessman who served three terms as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011. Berlusconi is also the...
, who later became Prime Minister of Italy; the Savoy
House of Savoy
The House of Savoy was formed in the early 11th century in the historical Savoy region. Through gradual expansion, it grew from ruling a small county in that region to eventually rule the Kingdom of Italy from 1861 until the end of World War II, king of Croatia and King of Armenia...
heir to the Italian throne Victor Emmanuel
Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples
Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples, formerly Crown Prince of Italy is the only son of the Umberto II, the last King of Italy. He is commonly known in Italy as Vittorio Emanuele di Savoia...
; 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 union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
s, and the rewriting of the Italian Constitution.
Outside Italy, P2 was also active in Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
and in Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, with Raúl Alberto Lastiri
Raúl Alberto Lastiri
Raúl Alberto Lastiri was an Argentine politician who was interim president of Argentina from July 13, 1973 until October 12, 1973. Lastiri, who presided over the Argentine Chamber of Deputies, was promoted to the presidency of the country after Héctor Cámpora and Vicente Solano Lima resigned...
, Argentina's interim president (between July 13, 1973 to October 12, 1973) during the height of the "Dirty War
Dirty War
The Dirty War was a period of state-sponsored violence in Argentina from 1976 until 1983. Victims of the violence included several thousand left-wing activists, including trade unionists, students, journalists, Marxists, Peronist guerrillas and alleged sympathizers, either proved or suspected...
" among its members. Emilio Massera, who was part of the military junta led by Jorge Rafael Videla
Jorge Rafael Videla
Jorge Rafael Videla Redondo is a former senior commander in the Argentine Army who was the de facto President of Argentina from 1976 to 1981. He came to power in a coup d'état that deposed Isabel Martínez de Perón...
from 1976 to 1978, José López Rega
José López Rega
José López Rega was Argentina's Minister of Social Welfare during the Peronist government started in 1973 by Juan Perón and continued after Perón's death in 1974 by his third wife and vice-president, Isabel Martínez de Perón , until the coup d'etat of 1976 that initiated the so-called National...
, minister of Social Welfare in Perón
Juan Perón
Juan Domingo Perón was an Argentine military officer, and politician. Perón was three times elected as President of Argentina though he only managed to serve one full term, after serving in several government positions, including the Secretary of Labor and the Vice Presidency...
's government and founder of the Argentine Anticommunist Alliance ("Triple A"), and General Guillermo Suárez Mason
Guillermo Suárez Mason
Carlos Guillermo Suárez Mason was an Argentine military officer convicted for Dirty War crimes during the 1976 — 83 military dictatorship. He was in charge of the Batallón de Inteligencia 601.-Biography:...
were also members.
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 PiedmontPiedmont
Piedmont is one of the 20 regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,402 square kilometres and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital of Piedmont is Turin. The main local language is Piedmontese. Occitan is also spoken by a minority in the Occitan Valleys situated in the Provinces of...
nobility
Nobility
Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...
. The name was changed to "Propaganda Due" following World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, when the Grand Orient of Italy numbered its lodges. By the 1960s, however, the lodge was all but moribund, holding few meetings. This original lodge, however, had little to do with the one Licio Gelli
Licio Gelli
Licio Gelli is an Italian financier, chiefly known for his role in the Banco Ambrosiano scandal. He was revealed in 1981 as being the Venerable Master of the clandestine Masonic lodge Propaganda Due...
established in 1966, two years after becoming a freemason.
Italian Masonry had been outlawed by the fascist regime
Italian Fascism
Italian Fascism also known as Fascism with a capital "F" refers to the original fascist ideology in Italy. This ideology is associated with the National Fascist Party which under Benito Mussolini ruled the Kingdom of Italy from 1922 until 1943, the Republican Fascist Party which ruled the Italian...
of Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
, but was reborn after the Second World War under US influence. However, its traditions of free thinking under the Risorgimento morphed into a fervent anti-communism
Anti-communism
Anti-communism is opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed in reaction to the rise of communism, especially after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia and the beginning of the Cold War in 1947.-Objections to communist theory:...
. The increase of the influence of the left at the end of the 1960s had the Masons deeply worried. In 1971, Grand Master Lino Salvini of the Grand Orient of Italy—one of Italy's largest Masonic lodges—assigned to Gelli the task of reorganizing the lodge.
Gelli 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
Christian Democracy (Italy)
Christian Democracy was a Christian democratic party in Italy. It was founded in 1943 as the ideological successor of the historical Italian People's Party, which had the same symbol, a crossed shield ....
. From these initial connections, Gelli was able to extend his network throughout the echelons of the Italian establishment.
Expulsion
The Grand Orient of Italy allegedly expelled Gelli and the P2 Lodge in 1976. In 1974 it had been proposed that P2 be erased from the list of lodges by the Grand Orient of Italy, and the motion was carried overwhelmingly. However, in 1975 a warrant was issued by the Grand Master for a new P2 lodge. The Grand Orient in 1976 had actually suspended, but did not expel, the lodge on Gelli's request. Gelli was still active in the Grand Orient's national affairs two years later, financing the election of a Grand Master. In 1981 a Masonic tribunal decided the 1974 vote meant that the lodge had in fact ceased to exist and that Gelli's lodge had been illegal all along.Discovery
The P2 lodge was discovered by prosecutors while investigating the banker Michele SindonaMichele Sindona
Michele Sindona was an Italian banker and convicted felon. Known in banking circles as "The Shark", Sindona was a member of Propaganda Due , a secret lodge of Italian Freemasonry, and had clear connections to the Mafia...
, the collapse of his bank and his ties to the Mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
. A list of alleged adherents was found by the police in Gelli's house in Arezzo
Arezzo
Arezzo is a city and comune in Central Italy, capital of the province of the same name, located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about 80 km southeast of Florence, at an elevation of 296 m above sea level. In 2011 the population was about 100,000....
in March 1981, containing 962 names, among which were important state officials, some important politicians and a number of military officers, including the heads of the three Italian secret services. Future Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi , also known as Il Cavaliere – from knighthood to the Order of Merit for Labour which he received in 1977 – is an Italian politician and businessman who served three terms as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011. Berlusconi is also the...
was on the list, although he had not yet entered politics at the time. Another famous member was Victor Emmanuel
Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples
Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples, formerly Crown Prince of Italy is the only son of the Umberto II, the last King of Italy. He is commonly known in Italy as Vittorio Emanuele di Savoia...
, the son of the last Italian king.
Prime Minister Arnaldo Forlani
Arnaldo Forlani
This article is about the Italian legislator. For the similar name used as an alias by terrorist Ramzi Yousef for Philippine Airlines Flight 434, see Ramzi Yousef....
(whose chef de cabinet was a P2 member as well) appointed a Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry, headed by the independent Christian Democrat
Christian Democracy (Italy)
Christian Democracy was a Christian democratic party in Italy. It was founded in 1943 as the ideological successor of the historical Italian People's Party, which had the same symbol, a crossed shield ....
Tina Anselmi
Tina Anselmi
Tina Anselmi, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI is an Italian politician, and a notable member of the Italian resistance movement during the World War II.-Biography:Tina Anselmi was born in Castelfranco Veneto, province of Treviso....
. Nevertheless, in May 1981, Forlani was forced to resign due to the P2 scandal, causing the fall of the Italian government.
In July 1982, new documents were found hidden in the false bottom of a suitcase belonging to Gelli's daughter at Fiumicino airport in Rome. The two documents were entitled "Memorandum sulla situazione italiana" (Memorandum on the Italian situation) "Piano di rinascita democratica" (Plan of Democratic Rebirth) and are seen as the political programme of P2. According to these documents, the main enemies of Italy were the Italian Communist Party
Italian Communist Party
The Italian Communist Party was a communist political party in Italy.The PCI was founded as Communist Party of Italy on 21 January 1921 in Livorno, by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party . Amadeo Bordiga and Antonio Gramsci led the split. Outlawed during the Fascist regime, the party played...
(PCI) and the trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
s. These had to be isolated and cooperation with the communists (the second biggest party in Italy and the largest in Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
), which was proposed in the historic compromise
Historic Compromise
In Italian history, the Historic Compromise was an accommodation between the Christian Democrats and the Italian Communist Party in the 1970s, after the latter embraced eurocommunism under Enrico Berlinguer. The 1978 assassination of DC leader Aldo Moro put an end to the Compromesso storico...
by Aldo Moro
Aldo Moro
Aldo Moro was an Italian politician and the 39th Prime Minister of Italy, from 1963 to 1968, and then from 1974 to 1976. He was one of Italy's longest-serving post-war Prime Ministers, holding power for a combined total of more than six years....
needed to be disrupted.
Gelli's goal was to form a new political and economic elite to lead Italy towards a right-wing, authoritarian form of democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
, with an anti-communist pre-occupation. P2 advocated a programme of extensive political corruption
Political corruption
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
: "political parties, newspapers and trade unions can be the objects of possible solicitations which could take the form of economic-financial manoeuvres. The availability of sums not exceeding 30 to 40 billion lire would seem sufficient to allow carefully chosen men, acting in good faith, to conquer key positions necessary for overall control."
P2's influence
Opinions about the importance and reach of P2 differ. Some see the P2 as a reactionary, shadow government ready to take over power in case of an electoral victory of the Italian Communist PartyItalian Communist Party
The Italian Communist Party was a communist political party in Italy.The PCI was founded as Communist Party of Italy on 21 January 1921 in Livorno, by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party . Amadeo Bordiga and Antonio Gramsci led the split. Outlawed during the Fascist regime, the party played...
. Others think it was nothing more than a sordid association of people eager to improve their careers by making powerful and important connections. Nevertheless, P2 was implicated in numerous Italian scandals and mysteries.
Corriere della Sera takeover
In 1977 the P2 took control of the Corriere della SeraCorriere della Sera
The Corriere della Sera is an Italian daily newspaper, published in Milan.It is among the oldest and most reputable Italian newspapers. Its main rivals are Rome's La Repubblica and Turin's La Stampa.- History :...
newspaper, a leading paper in Italy. At the time, the paper had run into financial trouble and was unable to raise bank loans because its then editor, Piero Ottone, was considered hostile to the ruling Christian Democrats. Corriere's owners, the publishing house Rizzoli, struck a deal with Gelli. He provided the money with funds from the Vatican Bank
Vatican Bank
The Institute for Works of Religion , commonly known as the Vatican Bank, is a privately held institute located inside Vatican City run by a professional bank CEO who reports directly to a committee of cardinals, and ultimately to the Pope...
directed by Paul Marcinkus
Paul Marcinkus
Paul Casimir Marcinkus was an American archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church. He was best known for his tenure as President of the Vatican Bank from 1971 through 1989.-Early life:...
. Ottone was fired and the paper's editorial line shifted to the right.
The paper published a long interview with Gelli in 1980. The interview was carried out by the television talk show host Maurizio Costanzo
Maurizio Costanzo
Maurizio Costanzo is an Italian television host and journalist. He is married to Maria De Filippi, an Italian television host.-Biography:Costanzo was born in Rome....
, who would also be exposed as a member of P2. Gelli said he was in favour of rewriting the Italian constitution towards a Gaullist
Gaullism
Gaullism is a French political ideology based on the thought and action of Resistance leader then president Charles de Gaulle.-Foreign policy:...
presidential system. When asked what he always wanted to be, he replied: “A puppet master”.
Bologna massacre
P2 members Gelli and the head of the secret service Pietro MusumeciPietro Musumeci
Pietro Musumeci is a former general and deputy director of Italy's military intelligence agency, SISMI.A member of Propaganda Due, Musumeci was convicted in 1985, alongside with other SISMI officers Francesco Pazienza and Giuseppe Belmonte, for embezzlement and criminal association. Musumeci and...
were condemned for attempting to mislead the police investigation of the Bologna massacre
Bologna massacre
The Bologna massacre was a terrorist bombing of the Central Station at Bologna, Italy, on the morning of Saturday, 2 August 1980, which killed 85 people and wounded more than 200. The attack has been materially attributed to the neo-fascist terrorist organization Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari...
on August 2, 1980, which killed 85 people and wounded more than 200.
Banco Ambrosiano scandal
P2 became the target of considerable attention in the wake of the collapse of Banco AmbrosianoBanco Ambrosiano
Banco Ambrosiano was an Italian bank which collapsed in 1982. At the centre of the bank's failure was its chairman, Roberto Calvi and his membership in the illegal Masonic Lodge Propaganda Due...
(one of Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
's principal banks, owned in part by the Vatican Bank
Vatican Bank
The Institute for Works of Religion , commonly known as the Vatican Bank, is a privately held institute located inside Vatican City run by a professional bank CEO who reports directly to a committee of cardinals, and ultimately to the Pope...
), and the suspicious 1982 death of its president Roberto Calvi
Roberto Calvi
Roberto Calvi was an Italian banker dubbed "God's Banker" by the press because of his close association with the Holy See. A native of Milan, Calvi was Chairman of Banco Ambrosiano, which collapsed in one of modern Italy's biggest political scandals...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, initially ruled a suicide but later prosecuted as a murder. It was suspected by investigative journalists that some of the plundered funds went to P2 or to its members.
Protezione account
One of the documents found in 1981 was about a numbered bank account, the so-called "Protezione account," at the Union Bank of SwitzerlandUnion Bank of Switzerland
Union Bank of Switzerland was a large integrated financial services company located in Switzerland. The bank, which at the time was the second largest bank in Switzerland, merged with Swiss Bank Corporation in 1998, to become UBS to form what was then the largest bank in Europe and the second...
in Lugano
Lugano
Lugano is a city of inhabitants in the city proper and a total of over 145,000 people in the agglomeration/city region, in the south of Switzerland, in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino, which borders Italy...
(Switzerland). It detailed the payment of US$ 7 million by the president of ENI
Eni
Eni S.p.A. is an Italian multinational oil and gas company, present in 70 countries, and currently Italy's largest industrial company with a market capitalization of 87.7 billion euros , as of July 24, 2008...
, Florio Fiorini through Roberto Calvi to the Italian Socialist Party
Italian Socialist Party
The Italian Socialist Party was a socialist and later social-democratic political party in Italy founded in Genoa in 1892.Once the dominant leftist party in Italy, it was eclipsed in status by the Italian Communist Party following World War II...
(PSI) leader Claudio Martelli
Claudio Martelli
Claudio Martelli is an Italian politician, and the right-hand man of Bettino Craxi, the socialist Prime Minister from 1983–1987.-Biography:Martelli was born at Gessate, in the province of Milan....
on behalf of Bettino Craxi
Bettino Craxi
Benedetto Craxi was an Italian politician, head of the Italian Socialist Party from 1976 to 1993, the first socialist President of the Council of Ministers of Italy from 1983 to 1987.-Political career:...
, the socialist Prime Minister from 1983-1987.
The full extent of the payment only became clear twelve years later, in 1993, during the mani pulite
Mani pulite
Mani pulite was a nationwide Italian judicial investigation into political corruption held in the 1990s. Mani pulite led to the demise of the so-called First Republic, resulting in the disappearance of many parties. Some politicians and industry leaders committed suicide after their crimes were...
(Italian for "clean hands") investigations into political corruption. The money was allegedly a kickback on a loan which the Socialist leaders had organised to help bail out the ailing Banco Ambrosiano
Banco Ambrosiano
Banco Ambrosiano was an Italian bank which collapsed in 1982. At the centre of the bank's failure was its chairman, Roberto Calvi and his membership in the illegal Masonic Lodge Propaganda Due...
. Rumours that the Minister of Justice, Martelli, was connected with the account had been circulating since investigations began into the P2 plot. He always flatly denied them. However, learning that formal investigations were opened, he resigned as minister.
Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry
The Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry, headed by Anselmi, concluded that the P2 lodge was a secret criminal organization. Allegations of surreptitious international relationships, mainly with ArgentinaArgentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
(Gelli repeatedly suggested that he was a close friend of Juan Perón
Juan Perón
Juan Domingo Perón was an Argentine military officer, and politician. Perón was three times elected as President of Argentina though he only managed to serve one full term, after serving in several government positions, including the Secretary of Labor and the Vice Presidency...
) and with some people suspected of affiliation with the American Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
were also partly confirmed; but soon a political debate overtook the legal level of the analysis. The majority report said that P2 action resulted in "… the pollution of the public life of a nation. It aimed to alter, often in decisive fashion, the correct funtioning of the institutions of the country, according to a project which … intended to undermine our democracy." A minority report by Massimo Teodori
Massimo Teodori
Massimo Teodori is an Italian author and politician; his books mainly focus on the differences between Europe and the United States....
concluded that P2 was not just an abnormal outgrowth from a essentially healthy system, as upheld by the majority report, but an inherent part of the system itself.
New Italian law prohibiting "secret lodges"
Even though outlawed by Fascist dictator Benito MussoliniBenito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
in 1925, Masonic institutions have been tolerated in Italy since the end of World War II. A special law was issued, however, that prohibited secret lodges. The Grande Oriente d'Italia, after taking disciplinary action against members with P2 connections, distanced itself from Gelli's lodge. Other laws introduced a prohibition on membership in allegedly secret organizations for some categories of state officials (especially military officers). These laws have been recently questioned by the European Court of Human Rights
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg is a supra-national court established by the European Convention on Human Rights and hears complaints that a contracting state has violated the human rights enshrined in the Convention and its protocols. Complaints can be brought by individuals or...
. 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 a breach of their human rights.
Licio Gelli's list found in 1981
On March 17, 1981, a list composed by Licio Gelli was found in his country house (Villa Wanda). The list should be contemplated with some caution, as it is considered to be a compilation of P2 members and the contents of Gelli's RolodexRolodex
A Rolodex is a rotating file device used to store business contact information currently manufactured by Newell Rubbermaid. The Rolodex holds specially shaped index cards; the user writes the contact information for one person or company on each card...
. Many on the list were apparently never asked if they wanted to join P2, and it is not known to what extent the list includes members who were formally initiated into the lodge. Since 1981, some of those on the list have demonstrated their distance from P2 to the satisfaction of the Italian legal system.
On May 21, 1981, the Italian government released the list. The Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry headed by Tina Anselmi considered the list reliable and genuine. It decided to publish the list in its concluding report, Relazione della Commissione parlamentare d’inchiesta sulla Loggia massonica P2.
The list contains 962 names (including Gelli's). It has been claimed that at least a thousand names may still be secret, as the membership numbers begin with number 1,600, which suggests that the complete list has not yet been found. The list included all of the heads of the secret services, 195 officers of the different armed forces (12 generals of the Carabinieri
Carabinieri
The Carabinieri is the national gendarmerie of Italy, policing both military and civilian populations, and is a branch of the armed forces.-Early history:...
, 5 of the financial police Guardia di Finanza
Guardia di Finanza
The Guardia di Finanza is a Italian law enforcement agency under the authority of the Minister of Economy and Finance. Like the Carabinieri, it is part of the Italian Armed Forces. The Guard is essentially responsible for dealing with financial crime and smuggling; it has also evolved into Italy's...
, 22 of the army, 4 of the air force and 8 admirals), as well as 44 members of parliament, 3 ministers and a secretary of a political party, leading magistrates, a few prefects and heads of police, bankers and businessmen, civil servants, journalists and broadcasters. Also included were a top official of the Banca di Roma, Italy's third largest bank at the time, and a former director-general of the Banca Nazionale del Lavoro
Banca Nazionale del Lavoro
Banca Nazionale del Lavoro SpA is an Italian banking firm. Founded in 1913 as Istituto di Credito per la Cooperazione, it was nationalized in 1929. It was re-privatized and listed on the Milan Stock Exchange in 1998, before being acquired by French banking group BNP Paribas in 2006...
(BNL), the country's largest.
Notable people on Gelli's list
- Silvio BerlusconiSilvio BerlusconiSilvio Berlusconi , also known as Il Cavaliere – from knighthood to the Order of Merit for Labour which he received in 1977 – is an Italian politician and businessman who served three terms as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011. Berlusconi is also the...
, businessman, founder of the Forza ItaliaForza ItaliaForza Italia was a liberal-conservative, Christian democratic, and liberal political party in Italy, with a large social democratic minority, that was led by Silvio Berlusconi, four times Prime Minister of Italy....
political party and Prime Minister of Italy. - Michele SindonaMichele SindonaMichele Sindona was an Italian banker and convicted felon. Known in banking circles as "The Shark", Sindona was a member of Propaganda Due , a secret lodge of Italian Freemasonry, and had clear connections to the Mafia...
, banker linked to the MafiaMafiaThe Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
. - Roberto CalviRoberto CalviRoberto Calvi was an Italian banker dubbed "God's Banker" by the press because of his close association with the Holy See. A native of Milan, Calvi was Chairman of Banco Ambrosiano, which collapsed in one of modern Italy's biggest political scandals...
, so-called "banker of God", allegedly killed by the MafiaMafiaThe Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
. - Umberto Ortolani, leading P2-member.
- Franco Di Bella, director of Corriere della SeraCorriere della SeraThe Corriere della Sera is an Italian daily newspaper, published in Milan.It is among the oldest and most reputable Italian newspapers. Its main rivals are Rome's La Repubblica and Turin's La Stampa.- History :...
. Di Bella had commissioned a long interview with Gelli, who openly talked of his plans for a "democratic renaissance" in Italy—including control over the media. The interview was carried out by the television talk show host Maurizio CostanzoMaurizio CostanzoMaurizio Costanzo is an Italian television host and journalist. He is married to Maria De Filippi, an Italian television host.-Biography:Costanzo was born in Rome....
, who would also be exposed as a member of P2. - Angelo RizzoliAngelo RizzoliAngelo Rizzoli was an Italian publisher and film producer.- Early life :Orphaned at a young age and raised in poverty, Rizzoli rose to prosperity...
, owner of Corriere della Sera, today cinema producer. - Bruno Tassan Din, general director of Corriere della Sera.
- General Vito MiceliVito MiceliVito Miceli was an Italian general and politician. He was chief of the SIOS , Italian Army Intelligence's Service from 1969 and SID's head from October 18, 1970 to 1974...
, chief of the SIOSSIOSServizio Informazioni Operative e Situazione , was an Italian military intelligence and security service. Its main duty was safeguarding the internal security of military bases and its personnel and military intelligence activities against enemy and foreign forces, especially through SIGINT...
(Servizio Informazioni), Italian Army Intelligence's Service from 1969 and SID's head from October 18, 1970 to 1974. Arrested in 1975 on charges of "conspiracy against the state" concerning investigations about Rosa dei venti, a state-infiltrated group involved in the strategy of tensionStrategy of tensionThe strategy of tension is a theory that describes how to divide, manipulate, and control public opinion using fear, propaganda, disinformation, psychological warfare, agents provocateurs, and false flag terrorist actions....
, he later became an Italian Social MovementItalian Social MovementThe Italian Social Movement , and later the Italian Social Movement–National Right , was a neo-fascist and post-fascist political party in Italy. Formed in 1946 by supporters of former Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, the party became the fourth largest party in Italy by the early 1960s...
(MSI) member. - Federico Umberto D'AmatoFederico Umberto D'AmatoFederico Umberto d'Amato was an Italian secret agent, who led the Office for Reserved Affairs of the Italian of the Minister of Interior from the 1950s till the 1970s, when the activity of the intelligence service was undercover and not publicly known.-Biography:D'Amato was born in Marseille, and...
, leader of an intelligence cell (Ufficio affari riservati) in the Italian Minister of Interior. - Federico Carlos Barttfeld (Argentina), ambassador to Yugoslavia from 1991 to 1995, under-secretary of state in Néstor KirchnerNéstor KirchnerNéstor Carlos Kirchner was an Argentine politician who served as the 54th President of Argentina from 25 May 2003 until 10 December 2007. Previously, he was Governor of Santa Cruz Province since 10 December 1991. He briefly served as Secretary General of the Union of South American Nations ...
's government, relieved of his functions in 2003 following allegations of involvement in the Dirty WarDirty WarThe Dirty War was a period of state-sponsored violence in Argentina from 1976 until 1983. Victims of the violence included several thousand left-wing activists, including trade unionists, students, journalists, Marxists, Peronist guerrillas and alleged sympathizers, either proved or suspected...
. - Emilio Massera (Argentina), a member of the military junta led by Jorge Rafael VidelaJorge Rafael VidelaJorge Rafael Videla Redondo is a former senior commander in the Argentine Army who was the de facto President of Argentina from 1976 to 1981. He came to power in a coup d'état that deposed Isabel Martínez de Perón...
in Buenos Aires from 1976 to 1978. - José López RegaJosé López RegaJosé López Rega was Argentina's Minister of Social Welfare during the Peronist government started in 1973 by Juan Perón and continued after Perón's death in 1974 by his third wife and vice-president, Isabel Martínez de Perón , until the coup d'etat of 1976 that initiated the so-called National...
(Argentina), Argentinian minister of Social Welfare in PerónJuan PerónJuan Domingo Perón was an Argentine military officer, and politician. Perón was three times elected as President of Argentina though he only managed to serve one full term, after serving in several government positions, including the Secretary of Labor and the Vice Presidency...
's government, founder of the Argentine Anticommunist Alliance ("Triple A"). - General Giuseppe Santovito, head of the military intelligence service SISMISISMIServizio per le Informazioni e la Sicurezza Militare was the military intelligence agency of Italy from 1977-2007....
(1978-1981). - Admiral Giovanni Torrisi, Chief of the General Staff of the Army.
- General Giulio Grassini, head of the intelligence service SISDESISDEServizio per le Informazioni e la Sicurezza Democratica , was the domestic intelligence agency of Italy.With the reform of the Italian Intelligence Services approved on 1 August 2007, SISDE was replaced by AISI....
(1977-1981). - General Pietro MusumeciPietro MusumeciPietro Musumeci is a former general and deputy director of Italy's military intelligence agency, SISMI.A member of Propaganda Due, Musumeci was convicted in 1985, alongside with other SISMI officers Francesco Pazienza and Giuseppe Belmonte, for embezzlement and criminal association. Musumeci and...
, deputy director of Italy's military intelligence service, SISMI. - General Franco Picchiotti.
- General Giovambattista Palumbo.
- General Raffaele Giudice, commander of the Guardia di FinanzaGuardia di FinanzaThe Guardia di Finanza is a Italian law enforcement agency under the authority of the Minister of Economy and Finance. Like the Carabinieri, it is part of the Italian Armed Forces. The Guard is essentially responsible for dealing with financial crime and smuggling; it has also evolved into Italy's...
(1974-1978). Appointed by Giulio Andreotti, Giudice conspired with oil magnate Bruno Musselli and others in a lucrative tax fraud of as much as $2.2 billion. - General Orazio Giannini, commander of the Guardia di FinanzaGuardia di FinanzaThe Guardia di Finanza is a Italian law enforcement agency under the authority of the Minister of Economy and Finance. Like the Carabinieri, it is part of the Italian Armed Forces. The Guard is essentially responsible for dealing with financial crime and smuggling; it has also evolved into Italy's...
(1980-1981). On the day the list was discovered Giannini phoned the official in charge of the operation, and told him (according the official's testimony to the parliamentary commission): "You better know that you've found some lists. I'm in those lists – be careful, because so too are all the highest echelons (I understood 'of the state') ... Watch out, the Force will be overwhelmed by this." - Carmine PecorelliCarmine PecorelliCarmine Pecorelli known as Mino, was an Italian journalist, shot dead in Rome a year after former prime minister Aldo Moro's 1978 kidnapping and subsequent killing...
, a controversial journalist assassinated on March 20, 1979. He had drawn connections in a May 1978 article between Aldo Moro's kidnapping and Operation GladioOperation GladioOperation Gladio is the codename for a clandestine NATO "stay-behind" operation in Italy after World War II. Its purpose was to continue anti-communist actions in the event of a shift to a Communist party led government...
. - Maurizio CostanzoMaurizio CostanzoMaurizio Costanzo is an Italian television host and journalist. He is married to Maria De Filippi, an Italian television host.-Biography:Costanzo was born in Rome....
, popular television talk show host of MediasetMediasetMediaset S.p.A., known as Gruppo Mediaset in Italian, is an Italian-based media company which is the largest commercial broadcaster in the country...
programmes (Mediaset is BerlusconiSilvio BerlusconiSilvio Berlusconi , also known as Il Cavaliere – from knighthood to the Order of Merit for Labour which he received in 1977 – is an Italian politician and businessman who served three terms as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011. Berlusconi is also the...
's commercial television empire). - Pietro LongoPietro LongoPietro Longo is an Italian politician.Longo was born in Rome. His mother, Rosetta Longo, from Campobasso, was an old member of the Italian Socialist Party...
, secretary of the Italian Democratic Socialist Party (PSDI). - Fabrizio CicchittoFabrizio CicchittoFabrizio Cicchitto is an Italian politician.-Career:Fabrizio Cicchitto entered politics during the earlier 1960s, supporting the Marxist left wing of Riccardo Lombardi in the Italian Socialist Party and then becoming secretary of the party's youth organization...
, member of the Italian Socialist PartyItalian Socialist PartyThe Italian Socialist Party was a socialist and later social-democratic political party in Italy founded in Genoa in 1892.Once the dominant leftist party in Italy, it was eclipsed in status by the Italian Communist Party following World War II...
, who later joined Berlusconi's centre-right party Forza Italia. - Publio FioriPublio FioriPublio Fiori is an Italian politician.-Career:Fiori was born in Rome and graduated in jurisprudence. He became a member of Democrazia Cristiana , to which he belonged for much of his political career....
, Christian DemocratChristian Democracy (Italy)Christian Democracy was a Christian democratic party in Italy. It was founded in 1943 as the ideological successor of the historical Italian People's Party, which had the same symbol, a crossed shield ....
politician.
Further reading
- Ginsborg, Paul (2003). Italy and Its Discontents, London: Palgrave Macmillan ISBN 1-4039-6152-2 (Review Institute of Historical Research | Review New York Times)
- Ginsborg, Paul (2005). Silvio Berlusconi: television, power and patrimony, London: Verso, 2005 ISBN 1844675416
- Jones, Tobias (2003). The Dark Heart of Italy. New York: North Point Press.
- Stille, AlexanderAlexander StilleAlexander Stille is an American author and journalist. He is the son of Ugo Stille, a well-known Italian journalist and a former editor of Italy's Milan-based Corriere della Sera newspaper. Alexander Stille graduated from Yale and later the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism...
(1995). Excellent Cadavers. The Mafia and the Death of the First Italian Republic, New York: Vintage ISBN 0-09-959491-9 - Willan Philip P. (2002). Puppetmasters: The Political Use of Terrorism in Italy, iUniverse, ISBN 0595246974
- 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 & S. Brent Morris (1997). The methods of anti-Masons, Masonic Information Center.
- Unger, Craig. The war they wanted, the lies they needed, Vanity Fair, July 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)
- Dickie, John. Cosa Nostra: A History of the Sicilian Mafia, Palgrave Macmillan, 2004 (ISBN 1403966966)
- Sterling, Claire, The Mafia: The Long Reach of the International Sicilian Mafia (ISBN 0586212345)