The news slipped away between the lines of daily newspapers, devoured by the incessant flow of other urgencies, other controversies, other scandals.
In Prato, the prosecutor’s office raided the headquarters of Masonic lodges, seizing membership lists. The review court confirmed the measure, deeming sufficient, to reject the appeals, the mentions of Freemasonry appearing in extortionate letters sent to a councilor of Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers of Italy).
Nothing new under the sun. Since that spring of 1981 when the membership lists and the program of the Propaganda Due (P2) lodge were found and published, Italian history seems condemned to repeat itself: periodically, justice digs into the folds of secret societies, and periodically the suspicion emerges that under the initiatory guise lurk plots of power, exchanges of favors, and occult dossiers.
Yet, in half a century, what changes are the names of the protagonists, not the substance of the problem. The P2 scandal was not a procedural incident, but the revelation that a covered lodge had operated for a long time to condition the fate of Italy, infiltrating state apparatuses, secret services, publishing, finance, and politics. Its Grand Master, Licio Gelli—who maintained relations with organized crime, institutional leaders, and foreign powers—became the symbol of an opaque system in which true power has no face, name, or responsibility. Today, decades later, the Cocci case raises disturbing questions. The former municipal councilor reported receiving anonymous envelopes with his “hot” photos and letters containing heavy accusations, ranging from drug use to pedophilia. The judicial police acquired documentation in the lodges’ premises, considering the “question of Freemasonry central to this matter.” The regional delegate of the Grand Lodge of Italy hastily declared that the lodge is a “victim” just as Cocci is. But the fact remains that the membership lists were seized, and the investigations seek to identify any discrepancies in the names—because if such discrepancies emerge, the presence of hidden affiliates could be hypothesized.
In Messina, another case sheds light on the internal dynamics of one of the main Masonic obediences. Notary Silverio Magno, after being a candidate for “Grand Orator” for the renewal of the leadership of the Grand Orient of Italy in the spring of 2024, denounced a smear campaign orchestrated against him. The prosecutor’s office investigated three “brothers” accused of stalking and defamation, but then requested the archiving of the case, sparking a reaction from Magno’s lawyers. It is a “challenge” between Masons, but it casts a sinister light on an environment where power struggles seem to take place with methods that have little to do with the pursuit of truth and the common good. The judiciary will have to decide whether to proceed or archive definitively.
The most sensational case is perhaps that of Garlasco. Lawyer Massimo Lovati, defender of Andrea Sempio, argued that Chiara Poggi was killed by a “white Freemasonry,” a criminal organization linked to pedophilia and human organ trafficking. It would be a “pedophilic Freemasonry, dedicated to pedophilia, dedicated to the trade of human organs, and with international roots.” The thesis, however extreme, shows to what extent the narrative of Freemasonry is now inseparable from that of the occult, the criminal, the unspeakable.
It is no coincidence that, in the same days, Deputy Minister of Justice Francesco Paolo Sisto and Senate President Ignazio La Russa clashed with Prosecutor Nicola Gratteri, who had stated that in the referendum on justice, “the investigated, the defendants, the deviant Freemasonry, and centers of power” would vote yes. The accusation is explicit: Freemasonry is perceived as a lobby that defends its own privileges and opposes transparency.
Italian Freemasonry, with its approximately 35,000 members divided among different obediences—the Grand Orient of Italy (21,000 members) and the Grand Lodge of Italy of the Alam (about 10,000)—represents a crucial node of the power system. Its lodges are present in every corner of the country, and their influence extends from politics to economics, from culture to the judiciary. Recent scandals show that, despite the 1982 law banning secret associations, Freemasonry has continued to operate, and its ties to organized crime, deviant secret services, and occult financial circles are still to be explored.
From the mafia massacres of 1992-1993 to the corruption and extortion trials that periodically involve political figures, Freemasonry has always been implicated. Yet, despite proclamations of transparency, membership lists remain jealously guarded, while police raids continue to clash with the resistance of those who do not want light to penetrate those sacred enclosures.
The words of a recent Grand Master, who at the end of 2025 invited a serious reflection on the future of the institution, seem today a distant echo. In an Italy that struggles to free itself from its shadows, Freemasonry remains an enigma and a test case. Will it be capable of truly reforming, or will it remain forever that two-faced creature with many faces? Only time, and perhaps justice, can say.
In the meantime, citizens watch and hope. But hope, as we know, is not enough to illuminate the cellars of power.
RVSCB
