John A Freeburg - Italian Lodge P2 in Review.pdf - The Grand ...

P2 IN REVIEW by John A. Freeburg VII0 Presented to the North Star College, S.R.I.C.R 22 April 1989 Duluth, MN Abstract - In 1966 the Grand Master of the Grand Orient of Italy, Giordano Gamberini, decided to form a new lodge under his jurisdiction. This lodge would consist of members of eminence in Italian society and would be supportive of and useful to Freemasonry. He picked a wealthy textile manufacturer from Tuscany to be Master of this new lodge; his name. Llcio Gelll. By 1981 this lodge had nearly 1,000 members among whom there were members of the Italian Cabinet, several former prime ministers, 43 members of Parliament, 54 top civil servants, 183 top military officers (including the Commander of the Armed Forces); nineteen judges; a host of lawyers, magistrates, police chiefs, leading bankers, newspaper proprietors, editors, and journalists; 58 university professors; political party leaders; and the directors of the three main intelligence services. Any Master of any lodge in the world would be rightfully proud of such tremendous growth over such a short period of time. The name of this lodge is Propaganda Due or "P2". When this detailed information and more about P2 was published by Stephen Knight in 1984 in his now famous "The Brotherhood"1 life changed – and not for the better -- for a number of Freemasons in Great Britain.

This presentation will attempt to deal with the phenomena of the rise and reported demise of the P2 lodge. This subject is of interest because of the media coverage received by the events surrounding the P2 affair. In many instances the media coverage would refer to the activities of this "Masonic" lodge without making a proper distinction as to the regularity or jurisdiction of this particular lodge. As we all know, these issues are at times confusing to us, much less to the public at large. The results of this confusion were a number of restrictions on members of the craft in the British Isles, especially those employed by government agencies, and a loss of stature in much of the rest of the free world. Locally the P2 story was carried by the Minneapolis Star Tribune and was reported on 60 Minutes. While most of the newsworthy events pertaining to P2 came to an end in about 1984, the repercussions are still felt today.

Knight1 admits that P2 "was not even a Lodge in the true sense. It was a secret grouping of Masons, but it was never officially constituted and never held regular meetings of all members." Nevertheless, by 1969 P2 was referred to as a lodge. Gelli was apparently an influence peddler of the first order. He was able to convince influential persons that he also had great influence in matters political and commercial, and urged them to join his lodge to further their careers. By the bootstrap process, Gelli became a very real life power broker. Soon he obtained vast quantities of "secret" information about government activities and personnel. With malice aforethought, he set about using this Information for his own gain. But just what was it that Gelli hoped to gain from all this power and influence? According to Knight1, he was recruited by the KGB early on in the formation of P2. Knight goes on to state: "From the beginning, Lodge P2 was a KGB-sponsored programme aimed at destabilizing Italy, weakening NATO's southern flank, sweeping the communists into power in Italy, and sending resultant shock waves throughout the Western world. It achieved its first aim, partially succeeded in its second, came close to realizing the third, and all but failed in the fourth." Thus with the aid of Knight and a few other journalists, the links were forged in the chain that united the Freemasons and the communist movement in the eyes of the reading public. It seemed as though James Bond's eternal nemesis "SPECTOR" had at last achieved embodiment. I was visiting England two years ago and attended lodge in London one evening. Before lodge, I shared refreshments with several brothers in a bar near Grand Lodge headquarters. I noticed that one of the brothers had a large ring on his right hand with a flat black stone set in it. I would have otherwise thought to see the square and compasses contained in the stone. After asking this brother why I didn't see the Masonic emblem on this otherwise handsome ring, he made a motion on the side 'of the ring and presto, there was the square and compasses. The face of the ring was arranged something like a Venetian blind such that when a small lever on the side was pulled the slats facing down are now facing up and vice versa. This brother worked for the government and would not want his membership in the craft to be known; thus the ring with the two-way inset. Several of the other brothers had similar tales to tell. These very cautious moves to hide ones' Masonic affiliations in the British Isles are the direct result of the P2 affair and the subsequent media and literature coverage of it, especially the publication of "The Brotherhood". I will now list some of the other charges and connections made by various authors linking the P2 affair and the "Freemasons".

1. Gelli was a close associate of Michele Sindona of Franklin National Bank fame in New York. Sindona is also named as a P2 member and is credited with looting the Franklin National Bank of 55 million dollars, and with conspiracy in the Bologna Italy railway station bombing in 1980, which killed 80 people. 1 2 3 4 2. P2 is alleged to have been connected with the laundering of Mafia drug money through their connections in the Vatican Bank.2 3 3. P2 and Gelli were agents of the CIA and the KGB at the same time, for the purpose, one supposes, of information gathering by both agencies.2 3 4. P2 has interlocking connections with the Mafia in Italy and the USA, simultaneously with the C1A.5 5. Pope John Paul I was poisoned by P2 members after he discovered that many P2 members had Vatican jobs, especially in the IOR or Vatican Bank.2 6. Gelli was invited to and did attend the inauguration of President Reagan in January 1981 through the links of Sindona to the Republican National Party.! 2 4 7. The murder of Roberto Calvl, President of Banco Ambrosiano, under the Blackfriars Bridge in London June 18, 19 8 2. 1 2 34 6

For those of you who thought that the William Morgan Affair of 1826 gave the detractors of Masonry plenty to talk about for a hundred years or more, contemplate what they can do with the above list. Admittedly, Robert Anton Wilson has a reputation for writing articles that can sensationalize any subject. But when it comes to the generators of anti-Masonic rhetoric, any source will generally do. A recent article in the Oregon Scottish Rite Freemason, entitled "Understanding and Planning for Masonic Criticism"7, the author indicates that the P2 scandal is one of the areas that is generating some bad publicity for the fraternity at large. The public in general did not become acutely aware of the P2 "Masonic Lodge" until after the Sindona/ Franklin National Bank scandal of 1980. Italian investigations of this scandal eventually led to Gelli and resulted in a raid on his villa outside of Arezzo, Italy on March 18, 1981. This raid produced the membership lists of the P2 lodge and the rest is history, as they say!1 When the membership lists were made public, the Italian government came down like a house of cards. The Minneapolis Tribune carried at least three good articles about this event, all indicating that the "Freemasons" were involved.8 9 10 In the first article of May 24, 1981, the first two sentences caught many a readers' eye (as they are supposed to do) and I will quote them in full. Dateline: Rome, Italy -- "Italy's Justice minister Adolfo Sarti resigned Saturday after reports linked him to a powerful, secret Masonic lodge that has been implicated in a variety of criminal activities. The growing scandal surrounding the lodge has shaken the coalition government of Prime Minister Arnaldo Forlani and has dwarfed other scandals that Italy has endured in the last 30 years."

It goes on to state that "Gelli had constructed a very real state within the state." The article discusses the 953 names of lodge members that were recently revealed and that many of these were high government and military officials. It also brings up the name of Roberto Calvi as having been recently arrested for currency export violations and that he and Gelli were involved in the fake kidnapping of Michele Sindona. Nowhere in the article was there any disclaimer or clarification regarding the relation of lodge P2 to the rest of Italian Freemasonry or of that to a regular or English Freemasonry. Almost anyone reading that article would assume that the Freemasons they know and that the lodge in their neighborhood is somehow involved in illegal activities in Italy. The next article on May 27, 19819 had the following opening line: Dateline: Rome, Italy -- "Prime Minister Arnaldo Forlani and his cabinet resigned Tuesday because of the revelation that hundreds of high-ranking Italian officials are members of a Masonic lodge that violated secrecy laws." Later on in the article, it was stated that: "There is a law in Italy against secret organizations. Italy's 550 Masonic lodges are not considered secret organizations because their membership lists, while not made public, are presumed to be available to the government upon request. However, authorities said Tuesday that Licio Gelli, Grand Master of the Masonic lodge that the high-ranking military and civilian officials belong to, had kept his membership list secret, thus exposing the men on his list to prosecution for membership in an illegal organization." Again, no clarification of the relationship of the "Masonic lodge" to those of the rest of the world. The third article on May 29, 1981, by a different writer than the first two, didn't make the situation any better. Here is its opening sentence: Dateline: Rome, Italy -- "Premier Arnaldo Forlani began trying to form Italy's 41st postwar government Thursday, and a committee of Parliament promised a probe of the Masonic lodge scandal that brought down Forlani's coalition." Many of the items in the first two articles were reviewed and some new information was made available, mostly concerning Gelli's association with the government of Argentina. Knight1 indicates that Gelli carried dual ItalianArgentine nationality and was a long time friend of Argentine President Juan Peron. As the events in Italy began to fade from memory and from the pages of the media, the Masonic roast appeared to be nearing an end.

This lull was short lived. On June 18, 1982 the body of Roberto Calvi was found hanging under Blackfriars Bridge in London. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Calvi was President of Banco Ambrosiano and was listed in 1981 as a member of P2. Calvi was known as "God's Banker" because of his close associations with the Vatican Bank (IOR).6 He was involved in the scandal that resulted in the Vatican Bank losing 1.4 billion dollars in bad loans arranged by Banco Ambrosiano to several Panamanian companies. After this scandal broke, Calvi made his way to England. On June 17, the day before his death, Calvi's Italian secretary fell or was pushed to her death from a fourth floor window of the bank. Knight reports that she was also the bookkeeper for P2. The Masonic symbolism surrounding Calvi's death are many in number and widely reported. I shall attempt to list the most obvious ones here: 1. A Blackfriar is the logo of the brotherhood in Italy. * 2. Calvi was found hanging by a Masonic "cable-tow". 1 3. Calvi's pockets were filled with bricks or "chunks of masonry".! 4. There is a London lodge by the name of "Blackfriars Lodge".4 5. And of course, a bridge is a waterford. The P2 scandal and the Calvi murder received much more coverage in Europe than they did in the US because, of course, that is where most of the action took place. One of the notable exceptions however was the CBS Television Network presentation on Sunday, May 15, 1983 during the very popular 60 Minutes program. Here are Ed Bradley's opening remarks: "London, Friday the 18th of June, 1982. That morning the body of Italian banker Roberto Calvi was found hanging under Blackfriars Bridge in the heart of London's financial district. (bell tolls) We may never know exactly how Roberto Calvi met his death sometime around midnight under the bridge, but one thing seems sure: Alfred Hitchcock could not have staged a more sinister death. The members of the lodge to which Calvi belonged were said to wear black robes and to refer to each other as Brother of Friar; and remember, this is Blackfriars Bridge." By using such words as banker, hanging, financial district, death, midnight, Alfred Hitchcock, sinister, lodge. and black robes, anyone with the slightest interest in conspiracy theories would not be tempted to change the channel for at least the next twenty minutes. This presentation entitled "Saint Peter's Banker" was the first of the usual three presentations of that evening's show. And of course with a title like that anyone with any interest in the Vatican would also stay tuned. As usual, in any discussion of the P2 affair, the word Freemason is going to appear in the conversation and just as usual without proper explanation.

While giving further details of Calvi's death, Mr. Bradley goes on to say: "It was a mysterious death, one that raised many questions, some of those questions still unanswered. Did the 62-year old Calvi commit suicide or was he murdered? What had he done with the money that was missing from his bank in Milan, the incredible sum of 1.4 billion - that's billion -dollars? What was his connection with the secret society of Freemasons known as P2? And, above all, what role did the Vatican play in Roberto Calvi's life and in his death?" This use of the word Freemason appears in the second paragraph of the transcript of this presentation. A few paragraphs later while providing more background on Calvi, Mr. Bradley says: "Roberto Calvi's problems began in May of 1981 when the so-called P2 scandal was revealed here in the Italian Parliament. P2 was a secret lodge and an autonomous, breakaway group of Freemasons. If in Italy the Mafia is considered to be the underworld, the P2 was described here as the overworld, with members more powerful and more ruthless. Italian authorities discovered a list of nearly 1,000 members of P2 and on that list was the name of Roberto Calvi." Here for the first and only time does Mr. Bradley attempt to differentiate this group of Freemasons as being "autonomous" and "breakaway". But breakaway and autonomous from what, he does not say. I am sure thai the average viewer was totally unable to comprehend the fine points of that statement. But in his next sentence when he describes the P2 as "more powerful and ruthless than the Mafia" I feel quite sure that those words were easily comprehended. Much of this presentation dealt with the financial aspects of the Vatican Bank coming up short 1.4 billion dollars and why. Most of the public has the general perception that Freemasonry and the Catholic church are at odds with one another. Here Mr. Bradley interjects a very intriguing statement. "...even though the Catholic church has always been officially opposed to any kind of Freemasonry, many of the members of P2 had close links with the Vatican." By now those in the viewing audience with any proclivity towards a general conspiracy theory involving the Church, the banks and secret societies were probably going into cardiac arrest. Here on 60 Minutes, one of the most widely viewed network presentations, is Ed Bradley, with a beard something like Abe Lincoln, telling us how it is in the world today! Thank you, Ed Bradley. And just to make sure that the viewing audience has made the proper connections, Mr. Bradley has this to say in his closing remarks: "...to many Italians, the symbolism surrounding Calvi's death was all too clear. The bricks represented the ancient craft from which the Freemasons took their name. In their initiation

ceremonies, a Freemason swears never to reveal the secrets of his lodge. If he does, according to that oath, his body would be found near a shore where the tide ebbs and flows." Ed had previously pointed out that the feet of CaM's hanging body were wet from the rising tide. As the old joke goes, you know it's going to be a bad day when the 60 Minutes news team is waiting for you when you get to the office in the morning. And to some extent, that's what happened to Freemasonry when this show hit the airwaves. Fortunately or unfortunately, no one ever asked me anything about that presentation. Maybe the American public is so bombarded with sensationalism of this kind that its effects are short lived at best. In the October 1981 issue11 of The Philalethes magazine a brief article appeared written by the Italian Grand Master of the Grand Orient of Italy. The article was actually a letter to all the Grand Masters of the world trying to explore and clarify the Italian situation. Remember, this letter appeared in 1981, several months after the raid on Gelli's villa and several months before Calvi's death in London. I will quote from the opening remarks of this article. "A Brother, Licio Gelli, suspended from the I.-.G.-.O.-. in 1976; abusing of his lodge's name P2 -- this too suspended in 1976 from any Masonic activity -- continued on his own under no control, and in an extremely reserved manner. Against this P2 various press campaigns arose in time, culminating in legal inquests which ended in nothing." This letter is undated, but as we know the Italian government collapsed in May of 1981 as a direct result of the P2 scandal. So it would now appear that the Grand Masters statement "culminating in legal inquests which ended in nothing" was somewhat presumptuous on his part. In this same article Grand Master Battelli summarizes as follows: "...the Communists (not one results on the Gelli list) fan the fire, nourishing the slanderous campaign. The parties, though, 'compromised' on the lists, have let themselves be beheaded. The Armed Forces have all been hit and at the highest level, while information services are without leaders. The country waits for the 22(1) commissions of inquiry or judiciary to come up with concrete results on which to base accusations. We address ourselves to All the Brothers in the world in order that they comfort us with their solidarity as we fight to defend our constitutional rights, certain as we are of the total absence of the I.-.G.-.O.-. in political, financial or adventuristic manoeuvres. Fraternally and sincerely yours, Ennio Battelli Grand Master"

We should not doubt the sincerity of the Grand Master when he tells us that the Italian Grand Orient is not involved in activities deemed un-Masonic by the Grand Lodge. According to John Hamill of the Grand Lodge of England12, relations with Italian Grand Orient are very cordial at this time. The Philalethes also carried a very interesting article in October of 1985 entitled "The Masonic Witch Hunt of the 1980's: A Review of the Brotherhood".13 In this well written article the author reviews the highlights of the Brotherhood. He lists ten critical assertations made in the book; points 8 and 9 are applicable to our current discussion. They are: 8. That "a Masonic conspiracy of gigantic proportions" was effected through the Italian Lodge Propaganda Due [Propaganda Lodge No. 2 in English usage], shaking the Italian government to its foundations. 9. That the Russian secret police (KGB) were not only behind the Propaganda 2 scandal but have infiltrated British Freemasonry, so that Russian exploitation of the evils inherent in Freemasonry pose a major Masonic threat to the survival of a democratic government in Great Britain." The article concludes with the following: 'The Brotherhood appeals to the emotions, not to the mind. It, therefore, makes fascinating reading for the easily excitable and the uncritical. Its main attribute, however, is an aggressive, unfair sensationalism." While I certainly agree with this assessment I also must admit that this book along with all the items here referenced by me, plus many others not referenced, will provide the anti-Masonic movement with plenty of fuel for years to come. One current fine example of this occurring is the new Russian book Behind the Masonic Curtain by Vladimir Malyshev. This book has recently been reviewed by George Moshinsky in a brief paperback of the same title. 4 In his review, Moshinsky points out that the Soviets have recently published their book which is highly critical of Freemasonry. This book is intended for consumption by the Soviet man on the street. According to this governmentpublished book there are many things that make Freemasonry a bad organization. But among the worst are the dirty deeds done by the P2 lodge in Italy. I believe that this book is just one of many that will start to appear in the future, published by our traditional detractors. But what of Licio Gelli, the Grand Master of P2...where is he today? According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune of August 11, 1983, he escaped from prison in Switzerland after being arrested trying to withdraw money from

a blocked Swiss bank account holding between 50 and 70 million dollars. I do not have the current status of his whereabouts. But he and P2 may still give us some headaches in times to come. It seems like just about everyone wants to get on the P2 bandwagon. In the trial of Mehmet Ali Agca. accused of trying to assassinate Pope John Paul II, the P2 also came up. According to an article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune of July 5, 198515, an Italian schoolgirl had been kidnapped to ransom the release of Ali Agca. The article goes on to say, "In earlier testimony, Agca said the abduction was engineered by the spurious Masonic lodge known as Propaganda 2, which he said knew he was Jesus Christ and sought to put him in the Vatican." It seems that no matter how wild the accusation, it will always make it into print at least once by the aid of some highly respected news organization. The latest P2 related news appeared in the Minneapolis Star Tribune on March 10, 1989. In this brief article the Vatican was reporting a projected 1989 budget deficit of 89 million dollars. The article also mentions that the Vatican Bank paid out 250 million dollars to Banco Ambrosiano's creditors. Banco Ambrosiano collapsed in 1982 as a direst result of the P2 scandal. My Fraters, I have attempted here to review just a few of the many sources of information pertaining to the Italian P2 scandal of the last several years. Doubtless there is much more to be found if one would look closer. The sources of such information come from the fringes of the conspiracy theory advocates such as Robert Anton Wilson to some of the most conservative and respected news organizations of the free world. In general, all of these sources make reference to the "Freemasons" without making proper distinction as to which Freemasons. But I doubt that even if they did make such a distinction that many readers would understand it. One thing is for sure though, all this ink is good news for those wishing to find more derogatory statements regarding our beloved fraternity. We of course can do nothing to stop this process. But we can do something to counteract such statements when presented to us by those truly wishing for understanding and clarification. I propose that we make greater use of the word taught us in the Blue Lodge ritual to describe organizations such as P2. And that word of course is "clandestine". My dictionary 1? defines it as "concealed, usually for some secret or illicit purpose." P2 Is truly a clandestine organization by contemporary or Masonic definition. The Blue Lodge ritual has given us another good tool; let's use it.

My many thanks to my secretary LesliRandaR for preparation of this manuscript.

REFERENCES 1. "The Brotherhood: The Secret World of the Freemasons", Granada Publishing Ltd.. London 1984. 2. "The Sapiens System: The Illuminati Conspiracy", Donald Holmes with Introductions by Robert Anton Wilson, Falcon Press, 1987. 3. "The Priory of Sion", Robert Anton Wilson, Gnosis Magazine #6. Winter 1988. 4. "Behind the Masonic Curtain: The Soviet Attack on Masonry", George Moshinsky, ZZY ZX Publishing Company, Denver Colorado 1986. 5. "The Messianic Legacy", Baigent Leigh & Lincoln, Henry Holt & Co., New York 1987. 6. "Saint Peter's Banker", 60 Minutes, Volume XV, Number 35, CBS Television, narrated by Ed Bradley, May 15, 1983. 7. "Understanding and Planning for Masonic Criticism", The Oregon Scottish Rite Freemason. Reverend William H. Stemper, Jr. 32* KCCH. February 1987. 8. "Italian official quits after reported link to secret group...", Minneapolis Star Tribune, Henry Tanner, New York Times Service. May 24. 1981. 9. "Secrecy scandal topples Italian government...". Minneapolis Star Tribune, Henry Tanner, New York Times Service, May 27, 1981. 10. "Italian Premier begins talks on forming new coalition...", Minneapolis Star Tribune, Victor L. Simpson, Associated Press, May 29, 1981. 11. 'To Clarify Italian Problems...", The Philalethes. Volume XXXTV. Number 5, Ennio Battelli, Grand Master Italian Grand Orient, October 1981. 12. Private telephone communication with John Hamill, Librarian and Curator of the United Grand Lodge of England, January 1989. 13. "The Masonic Witch Hunt of the 1980's: A Review of the Brotherhood", The Philalethes. Volume XXXVIII, Number 5, Thomas E. Weir MPS, October 1985. 14. "Key man in Italy scandal disappears from prison...", Minneapolis Star Tribune, Associated Press, dateline Geneva Switzerland, August 11, 1983. 15. 'Testimony reveals linked to kidnapping...", Minneapolis Star Tribune, New York Times Service, dateline Rome Italy. July 5. 1985. 16. 'Vatican reports record deficit; 'the Pope's banker' is ousted...", Minneapolis Star Tribune, Los Angeles Times Service, dateline Vatican City, March 10, 1989. 17. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, William Morris, Editor.