The history of the Masonic lodge Propaganda Due, known as P2, is one of the darkest chapters in modern Italy. It was not just a closed Masonic organization, but a secret network of power whose members had infiltrated politics, the Armed Forces, intelligence services, banks and the media.
P2 had its roots in the Propaganda Massonica lodge, which was founded in the 19th century and welcomed politicians, state officials and other figures who wished to remain out of the public eye. Its activities were suspended during the fascist regime, when Benito Mussolini banned Masonic organizations.
After World War II, it reemerged under the name Propaganda Due. However, its real transformation took place under the leadership of Licio Gelli, a controversial businessman with a fascist past and significant international connections.
Under his leadership, P2 evolved into a covert structure of political and economic influence. While officially dissolved by the Grand Orient of Italy, it continued to operate in secret, recruiting people who held key positions in the state apparatus.
The big revelation came in March 1981. During a search of Gelli's villa near Arezzo, authorities discovered a list of 962 names. Among them were high-ranking officers, heads of Italian secret services, politicians, judges, bankers, businessmen and journalists.
The list also included the name of Silvio Berlusconi, who at that time had not yet entered active politics. Later he repeatedly became Prime Minister of Italy. The presence of such powerful figures in the same secret organization caused a political earthquake and even led to the fall of the then Italian government.
P2 allegedly sought to reform the Italian state according to a plan called the “Democratic Rebirth Plan.” Despite its seemingly democratic title, the plan envisioned the concentration of political and communication power, the weakening of unions, the limitation of the influence of political parties, the reorganization of the Judiciary, and the strengthening of control over the media.
The parliamentary investigation committee, chaired by Tina Anselmi, concluded that P2 was a secret organization with political aims, which had created a dangerous network of parallel power. Its actions violated the country's constitutional principles, as it attempted to influence public life outside of any democratic and institutional control.
The name P2 was also linked to the Banco Ambrosiano financial scandal and to banker Roberto Calvi, known as “God’s banker” due to his connections to the Vatican Bank. Banco Ambrosiano collapsed in 1982, leaving behind a huge financial hole and a complex network of suspicious financing.
Shortly afterwards, Calvi was found hanging under Blackfriars Bridge in London. His death was initially ruled a suicide, but subsequent investigations strengthened the case for murder. Despite years of legal proceedings, no one was ever definitively convicted of his death.
P2 was linked in reports and investigations to terrorist attacks, the Mafia, attempts at destabilization, and some of the greatest unsolved mysteries of post-war Italy. Many of these connections were the subject of parliamentary and judicial investigations, but not all accusations and theories were proven in court.
In January 1982, the Italian Parliament officially dissolved P2 and established a stricter framework against secret organizations seeking to illegally influence the functioning of the state.
The case remains to this day a powerful example of the danger created when political, economic and communication power are concentrated in an opaque network. P2 did not become notorious simply because it was a Masonic lodge, but because it operated as a secret mechanism of influence within the institutions of the Italian Republic.
Sources: Treccani Italian Encyclopedia – P2, Treccani – Licio Jelly, Italian Ministry of Culture – Propaganda 2.
Photo By Unknown – coll.priv., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45656845, https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/
