Propaganda Due

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Propaganda Due (Italian pronunciation: [propaˈɡanda ˈduːe]), 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a Masonic lodge operating under the jurisdiction of the Grand Orient of Italy from 1945 to 1976 (when its charter was withdrawn), and a pseudo-Masonic or "black" or "covert" lodge operating illegally (in contravention of Italian constitution banning secret lodges, and membership of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.[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, members of parliament, industrialists, and military leaders—including Silvio Berlusconi, who later became Prime Minister of Italy; theSavoy 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 unions, and the rewriting of the Italian Constitution.[4]

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 byJorge 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.[5]

[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 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.[6]

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.[7]

Gelli took a list of "sleeping members"—members who were not invited to take part in masonic rituals...