How the ECHR Protects Masonic Secrecy

The European Court of Human Rights
“In a judgment handed down on December 19, 2024, “Grande Oriente d'Italia v. Italy” (No.29550/17), the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry on the phenomenon of mafias and other criminal associations had violated the privacy of a Masonic lodge by conducting a search to obtain the list of its members in Calabria and Sicily.”
The European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ) reports that “the ECHR considered that there were not enough safeguards around this parliamentary commission of inquiry, and therefore put the protection of Freemasons' privacy above the fight against mafia infiltration into circles of power and influence.”
The director of the center, Grégor Puppinck, gave a very interesting interview explaining all the ins and outs of this case, and more generally on the attitude of the ECHR when a case involved Freemasonry.
Historical Links
In Italy, explains Mr. Puppinck, there is a historical proximity between the mafia and secret societies, which have a similar operation: secrecy, hierarchy, and oaths. The danger is the possibility of the emergence of secret societies having political and criminal goals. He gives the example of the famous P2 lodge, which had mafia and political aims.
Article 18 of the Constitution prohibits any political activity by secret societies. After the P2 lodge affair, it was the mafia who sought to infiltrate Masonic lodges. Lodges are divided into public or semi-public (discreet) lodges, and secret lodges, which fall under the law. The Grand Orient (GO) – targeted by the search – thus has no legal status.
The Calabrian mafia, the ’Ndrangheta, and the Sicilian mafia, the Cosa Nostra, have thus infiltrated the GO. It is known and proven that in the 1990s, a mafia decision was made to infiltrate Freemasonry, especially in Calabria. It is within the Masonic framework that the mafia was able to penetrate the hierarchy. In these two regions, there is a fusion between the legal and illegal worlds.
Creation of a Parliamentary Commission
In 2013, an (umpteenth) Parliamentary Commission was tasked with studying the phenomenon. Due to the historical proximity described above, and the known complicity of certain lodges, especially in Sicily and Calabria, the Commission wanted the names of the Calabria and Sicily masons in order to cross-reference them with the names of the mafiosi.
Faced with the repeated refusal of the GO, justified by Masonic secrecy, searches were carried out which led to the seizure of a list of more than 6,000 names, which was not contested by the lodge. The Italian justice system did its job. But the ECHR defended Masonic secrecy and condemned the Parliamentary Commission.
A Succession of Cases
This case is part of a succession of others, on the question of membership in Freemasonry in Italy. For the country, it is a crucial issue to clean up its administration of these networks. Thus, since the 1980s and especially the 1990s, there have been provisions to oblige magistrates and police chiefs to declare their membership or non-membership in Freemasonry.
The application has varied depending on the regions. Some have simply applied the law, but others have required non-membership in Freemasonry to access these positions. It should be noted that in this they followed the High Council of the Judiciary which considers that it is not possible to be a magistrate and a Freemason.
All these situations have reached the ECHR with the question: can this declaration be required? Or can non-membership be required? Each time the ECHR considered that it was abusive: it protected the Masonic secret, despite the specific problem of Italian masonry, especially in Calabria and Sicily.
In the present case, the ECHR criticizes an overly broad request, extending over 30 years, which does not seem justified, as well as a lack of independence and impartiality. Mr. Grégor Puppinck reveals that the court often constructs its judgment a posteriori. It decides, and then it justifies as it can. It is obvious that these judgments hinder the Italian government’s fight against the mafia.
It is impossible to ignore that the lodges of Calabria and Sicily are gangrenous. It is normal to want to clean house, even in the GO. And besides, even within this lodge, there are tensions. The vice-president wanted to communicate the names so that justice can clean house. But the Grand Master absolutely refused, and the ECHR is preventing Italy from freeing itself from this grip.
The ECHR's argument is being manipulated, even if it is true that we must not fall into a political trial. But this Parliamentary Commission is representative of all parties, and it is making up for the incapacity of the legal system in these cases. Finally, it targets a problem recognized by all.
Last question to Mr. Puppinck: are there Freemasons at the ECHR? A question that must not be asked, the interviewee replies with a smile. Adding: "There are obviously some, as in all places of power.”
Appendix: Lodge P2 (Propaganda Due)
The Propaganda Due or P2 Masonic lodge was dependent on the Grand Orient of Italy from 1945 to 1976, then went underground from 1976 to 1981. Its existence was illegal according to article 18 of the Italian Constitution which stipulates that “secret associations and those that pursue, even indirectly, political goals by means of organizations of a military nature are prohibited.”
This lodge was involved in several Italian criminal cases, including the bankruptcy of the Ambrosiano bank, closely linked to the Vatican, assassinations, corruption cases related to the Tangentopoli bribery scandal (which gave rise to a vast investigation nicknamed "clean hands"). The lodge also had political goals
It brought together bankers, industrialists, magistrates, newspaper directors, all the heads of Italian secret services, hundreds of officers, deputies, and senators, three ministers, senior civil servants… A seized list contains 962 names, but indications suggest that it was much longer.
The lodge had been nicknamed a “state within a state,” and had a political aim. It was also an instrument for the mafiosi to get closer to power.
(Sources : ECJL/Wikipédia – FSSPX.Actualités)
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