Post by Tamrin on Apr 28, 2014 12:59:45 GMT 10
Freemasonry and Mussolini
(Benito Mussolini, Italian Fascist & mistress, captured, tried, & shot this day 1945):
(Benito Mussolini, Italian Fascist & mistress, captured, tried, & shot this day 1945):
Much has been written about how Freemasonry suffered in Europe under the Nazi regime during World War Two, but in Italy Mussolini and his blackshirts were just as ruthless.
Masonry enjoyed a long and honourable history in Italy before Mussolini`s seizure of power. It was established in Florence by the Duke of Middlesex in 1773 under a Warrant of the Grand Lodge of England. By 1862 a Grand Orient of Italy was organized, and Freemasons were in the forefront of their nation`s intense wars of independence. Both Garibaldi and Mazzini were Grand Masters. Freemasonry was a refuge, a sanctuary, for decent men Christian and Jew who believed in individual and political liberty, opposed dictatorship, and favoured constitutional government.
Masonry was popular among military patriots as well as intellectuals, appealing to men of honour desiring to clasp the hand of fellowship with men of honour desiring to clasp the hand of fellowship with men of similar inclinations without distinction of race and religion. In short Italian Masonry was what our craft has always been — men of integrity sworn to brotherhood based on the ethical and moral principals of Freemasonry.
Freemasonry was not the special preserve of any political party and did not oppose Mussolini`s March on Rome - an act that was considered legal, and indeed patriotic, since Mussolini enjoyed the patronage of the Italian king, Victor Emmanuel III.
It wasn`t until Mussolini openly became a dictator and began his attacks on liberty that Freemasonry began to oppose him. Mussolini soon attacked the press. Many of the liberal newspapers were owned, edited, and supported by Freemasons, men who understood a free press is necessary to preserve a free society. These men refused to bend the knee to the Duce. The Italian Black Shirts sent hired thugs to beat and humiliate them. As one, the Masonic Brotherhood rose in righteous indignation against this treatment.
In 1925, Mussolini reacted to the Masonic protests by abolishing all "secret" societies and informing the world`s press: "Masonry must be destroyed and Masons should have no right to citizenship in Italy. To reach this end all means are good, from the club to the gun, from the breaking of windows to the purifying fire ... The Masons must be ostracized ... Their very life must be made impossible."
Masonry enjoyed a long and honourable history in Italy before Mussolini`s seizure of power. It was established in Florence by the Duke of Middlesex in 1773 under a Warrant of the Grand Lodge of England. By 1862 a Grand Orient of Italy was organized, and Freemasons were in the forefront of their nation`s intense wars of independence. Both Garibaldi and Mazzini were Grand Masters. Freemasonry was a refuge, a sanctuary, for decent men Christian and Jew who believed in individual and political liberty, opposed dictatorship, and favoured constitutional government.
Masonry was popular among military patriots as well as intellectuals, appealing to men of honour desiring to clasp the hand of fellowship with men of honour desiring to clasp the hand of fellowship with men of similar inclinations without distinction of race and religion. In short Italian Masonry was what our craft has always been — men of integrity sworn to brotherhood based on the ethical and moral principals of Freemasonry.
Freemasonry was not the special preserve of any political party and did not oppose Mussolini`s March on Rome - an act that was considered legal, and indeed patriotic, since Mussolini enjoyed the patronage of the Italian king, Victor Emmanuel III.
It wasn`t until Mussolini openly became a dictator and began his attacks on liberty that Freemasonry began to oppose him. Mussolini soon attacked the press. Many of the liberal newspapers were owned, edited, and supported by Freemasons, men who understood a free press is necessary to preserve a free society. These men refused to bend the knee to the Duce. The Italian Black Shirts sent hired thugs to beat and humiliate them. As one, the Masonic Brotherhood rose in righteous indignation against this treatment.
In 1925, Mussolini reacted to the Masonic protests by abolishing all "secret" societies and informing the world`s press: "Masonry must be destroyed and Masons should have no right to citizenship in Italy. To reach this end all means are good, from the club to the gun, from the breaking of windows to the purifying fire ... The Masons must be ostracized ... Their very life must be made impossible."