Overview

Licio Gelli was the Grand Master of Propaganda Due (P2); a secret Masonic lodge in Italy that operated as a shadow government; with members including cabinet ministers; military generals; intelligence chiefs; judges; media moguls; and financiers. When Italian police raided Gelli's villa in 1981; they discovered a membership list of 962 names including the heads of all three Italian intelligence services; 44 members of parliament; 22 generals; and numerous industrialists. The P2 Lodge was connected to some of Italy's darkest episodes: the 1980 Bologna railway station bombing that killed 85 people (the deadliest terror attack in Italy's postwar history); the collapse of Banco Ambrosiano and the murder of its chairman Roberto Calvi (found hanging under Blackfriars Bridge in London); and the Vatican Bank scandal involving Archbishop Paul Marcinkus. Gelli maintained connections to CIA-backed Operation Gladio; a NATO stay-behind network that orchestrated false-flag terrorist attacks in Italy to discredit the political left (the "strategy of tension"). He had links to Argentine military juntas; reportedly helping Nazis escape to South America via Vatican "ratlines." Gelli was convicted of financing terrorism in connection with the Bologna bombing (sentenced to 12 years); fraud in the Banco Ambrosiano collapse; and obstruction of justice. He escaped from a Swiss prison in 1983 and was eventually extradited to Italy. The P2 scandal brought down the Italian government in 1981 and led to the passage of a law banning secret organizations.

Key Affiliations

Controversies & Concerns

Related Investigations (1)

Known Associates & Connections

Sources & Documentation

2 documented sources from official records, investigations, and reports