They asked for clarifications, with an attack on Grand Master Fabio Venzi. They received an immediate response: columns razed to the ground, their loggia was demolished. A war is taking place where at the moment there is no mention of the exclusion of blows in a part of Freemasonry, the one that refers to the Regular Grand Lodge of Italy.
On the one hand the Sardinian "brothers": the first to suffer the expulsion measures were the members of the Loggia San Giorgio n° 262 of Cagliari (meeting venue in via Sonnino) but according to rumors other organizations of the same level are about to be "affected" in the rest of the island, between Nuoro (the Loggia Nur n° 103) and Olbia (the Loggia Ilisso n° 257). At stake are also the members of the Prometheus Lodge No. 300 and half of the members of the Pythagoras Lodge No. 175 of Cagliari. On the other, the leaders of the Glri led by Venzi for the past 22 years.
Until recent days the clash had remained in the shadow of the Royal Arch. But on March 31, numerous Sardinian Freemasons (among them many doctors, entrepreneurs and professionals) signed a dispute document. It starts from a question of obedience: «We learn from the mass media that the United Grand Lodge of England recognized the Grand Orient of Italy on 8 March», we read, «the news amazes us because you, Grand Master, you have not told us anything, probably considering us not worthy of being informed. We ask you why." Goi is the obedience with the most members in Italy. The Glri has just over two thousand throughout the country.
The accusations then begin in the document: «In the long and interminable 22 years of your Grand Maestranza», the brothers wrote to Venzi, «a slow and continuous deterioration of your image in Italy and abroad. Before your advent, the Glri was the spearhead of English Freemasonry, it participated in international Masonic events, but silence fell with you. You perched on Rome and governed in a completely arbitrary way».
Speculation and esotericism? Not only. The Sardinian Freemasons write to the Grand Master that «it has been you, and only you, who have always drawn the maximum benefit from it, as can be seen from the balance sheets. Let's just take as an example the last budget for 2021, approved and certified», it reads, «you, Grand Master, were the highest cost, which corresponds to 234,670 euros with an incidence of 27.80% on the total of the proceeds which amount to 844,100". That is, the cash fund that derives from the payment of the capitations of each member.
The Grand Lodge, for the Sardinians, has lost members because of this management: «Since you were elected back in 2001 it has looked like a hotel with a revolving door at the entrance: profane people entering and Masons leaving. About 11,000 entered and about 9,000 left, with a current balance of about 2,000. It's a total failure." To close, the obvious request for resignation.
Not even 48 hours have passed since the letter was sent before the decree for the demolition of the lodge, signed by the Grand Secretary Franco Costa, arrived in Cagliari: all the "dissidents" were expelled because the content of their letter was considered "gravely offensive ». And the return of all the documentation "on the activity of the lodge and its members, of which no photocopy must be made," has been imposed.
The Masonic battle seems to be just beginning.
Henry Fresu