Grand Master Visits the Old Country

Grand Master

Visits the Old Country

by Oscar Bartoli, PM Secretary, Italia Lodge No. 2001

Susan Brackshaw, our Grand Master’s wife, together with hundreds of other spectators was beating time to the rhythms of the Stadio, the popular musical group that for over 30 years has been at the forefront of Italian music in Europe. At one point even Grand Master Crociata let loose and started clapping while the Grand Orient of Italy’s Grand Master, Gustavo Raffi, gave clear indication to the surrounding Grand Masters how much he was enjoying the show. The Stadio concert was one of the highlights of the Grand Orient of Italy’s (GOI) welcome to the 35 foreign delegations on the occasion of the Grand Orient’s annual communication held in Rimini on March 30-April 1, 2012. Thousands of participants, brothers and profane, crowded onto the bleachers of the new Conference Hall. It was a wonderful setting for the labors of Italy’s Freemasons. Most Worshipful Joe Crociata, on his third “incursion” into Rimini, was this time in his full element as Grand Master. His presentation took place at the special communication of Italia Lodge, No. 2001, of which he is one of the founding fathers along with Grand Master Raffi. There he underlined the strong and genuine fraternal relations between the two communities, on both sides of the Atlantic. Italia Lodge’s special session has been listed for years in the GOI’s official annual program and is proof of their enduring strong Masonic ties. These ties were confirmed by the “historical” session held on March 14th between the American Lodge and the Lodge of Montaperti di Siena via Skype. Grand Master Crociata participated from Washington, DC. It was the beginnings of an initiative to be soon followed by others that will allow the Brothers of Italian Lodges twinned with Italia

The Grand Master traveled to Italy last spring to attend the annual session of the Grand Orient of Italy

Lodge No. 2001 to maintain and strengthen their relationships and erase electronically the 7,500 km. of physical distance. A video of this first Washington-Siena communication was projected on the large screen of the Castle Hall together with another video that highlighted the twinning rituals between Italian workshops and Italia Lodge. Italia Lodge’s special session ended with the brothers of the Risorgimento Lodge of Turin awarding Brother Oscar Bartoli with honorary membership after having bestowed the same honor on Brother Giancarlo Oderda in Turin. Massimo Bianchi, deputy Grand Master of GOI, once again welcomed Italia Lodge and touchingly remembered Italy’s gratitude for the lives given by so many young Americans in WWII in defense of liberty against the danger of Nazi domination. Worshipful Master Melo Cicala introduced the special communication with heartfelt words. He

A gala dinner was held at Sicily’s prestigious Auto Yachting Club

was followed by the oration delivered by the Chaplain of Italia Lodge, Elio Grandi, who, despite his advanced age, decided to undertake a long intercontinental voyage in order to be present at this most memorable event.

On April 2, the American delegation flew to Palermo. At the airport, Brother Vincenzo Scaglione, the excellent organizer of the Palermo visit, welcomed the delegation. Past Grand Master Akram Elias and his lovely wife, Lourdes, later joined him. The stay in Palermo opened with a “special mission” of particular interest for Grand Master Crociata. The mayor and the assessors of San Giuseppe Jato, the town from which Joe Crociata’s grandfather emigrated to seek his fortune in America, reserved a warm welcome for their important American guest who was visiting in his capacity as a partner of a large law firm in Washington, DC. Distant Crociata relatives were found