The Mafia and Freemasonry, despite their different origins, objectives, and paths, share numerous common characteristics that facilitate their intertwining. Among these are their hierarchical structure, the cult of secrecy, ritual, and the value placed on brotherhood. The Mafia , born as a response to critical socioeconomic conditions in Southern Italy in the 19th century, developed a system of power rooted in the territory, founded on social control, silence, and violence. Freemasonry , on the other hand, was established as an initiatory and philosophical society, characterized by symbolism, ritual, and a profound connection to political and economic power.
The Power of Secrecy: Connections Between the Mafia and Freemasonry
The most emblematic point of contact is the so-called " massomafia ," where the boundaries between organized crime and deviant Masonic lodges blur. A prime example is the creation, in the 1970s, of the " Santa ," an elite structure within the 'Ndrangheta promoted by the Calabrian boss Mommo Piromalli. The "santisti" were select mafiosi, often affiliated with covert Masonic lodges, who through a double oath gained power, protection, and access to institutional networks. This strategic alliance guaranteed the criminal organization an invisible web of alliances , useful for infiltrating politics, business, and finance.
The 'Ndrangheta's transformation into an economic powerhouse occurred with the internationalization of illicit trafficking and the diversification of its businesses, from drug trafficking to money laundering, including waste management and the construction sector. Joining Masonic lodges represented a veritable consecration of mafia power, allowing it to operate in a parallel system where decisions are made in the shadows. The Masonic oath, like the Mafia oath, enshrines absolute obedience, confidentiality, and loyalty, elements that strengthen collective identity and a sense of belonging.
The role of rites: building identity and legitimizing power
Ritual plays a central role in both the Mafia and Freemasonry. Rites are not simple ceremonies, but actual performative acts that define roles, affiliations, and status. As Arnold Van Gennep points out, rites of passage involve three phases:
- Separation: this is the moment in which the person undergoing the rite is removed from his or her family environment;
- Transition: in this phase the individual experiences a symbolic passage (through, for example, the completion of a test) which represents a transformation of his or her individuality;
- Reintegration: the neophyte acquires a new social status.
Mafia baptism is an initiation rite that marks an individual's entry into the gang, through sacred symbols, oaths to saints, the shedding of blood, and the burning of religious images. This rite creates an unbreakable bond with the organization and a new identity: that of " picciotto ."
The Role of Religion Between the Mafia and Freemasonry
Likewise, in Freemasonry, the initiation rite represents access to an esoteric dimension, governed by degrees, secret words, and symbols . The candidate Mason is guided through a ceremony in which he assumes a new status within the lodge. In the Mafia's "Santa," the double rite of affiliation symbolizes the consecration of personal power to two parallel structures, both marked by secrecy and hierarchy. The oath of the Santisti includes references not only to the mythical triad of Osso, Mastrosso, and Carcagnosso, but also to historical figures such as Giuseppe Mazzini, La Marmora, and Garibaldi, who represent the ideal bridge between the Mafia, patriotism, and Freemasonry.
Religion plays an ambivalent role. While the Church has firmly condemned the Mafia, the criminal organization has exploited the Catholic faith to strengthen its power. Religious processions stopping in front of the bosses' homes, requests for blessings while in hiding, sacred symbols burned during rites: all of this contributes to conferring moral legitimacy and social consensus. In isolated and impoverished contexts, the Church is often the only point of reference, and it is here that the Mafia has found fertile ground to take root and consolidate itself.
Status, affiliation, and control: identity as a social construct
Mafia affiliation not only implies a change in status, but represents a true existential transition. Through the initiation rite, the individual acquires power, income, and prestige. The sociology of role, as highlighted by Erving Goffman, describes how each social position is associated with specific behavioral expectations. The mafioso internalizes his role through socialization , which inserts him into a rigid and codified system. In this context, the neophyte transforms from an individual into an instrument of the organization.
Freemasonry also features a system of ranks and roles, with symbolic progressions that profoundly influence the member's identity. Membership in a lodge becomes part of the individual and collective identity, defined not only by values and symbols, but also by ritualized behaviors . Both structures use ritual to consolidate power and maintain internal order.
Mafia and Freemasonry as multinationals
According to Jean Ziegler, modern mafias are structured like multinationals: military hierarchy, capitalist economic structure, and ethnic base. The modern mafia is founded on these three pillars and finds a perfect ally in deviant Freemasonry. Rituals, far from being archaic remnants, are instruments of cohesion and power, legitimizing the system and strengthening members' identities . The separation between sacred and profane is becoming increasingly blurred, transforming ritual into a means of social control.
For this reason, the connections between the Mafia and Freemasonry must be interpreted not only historically or politically, but above all as cultural and symbolic phenomena. It is through a socio-anthropological lens that we can understand how ritual, affiliation, and role-building are the foundations of a power that operates in the shadows, yet continues to profoundly influence social and institutional reality.
Valentina Panicali
References
- MELOSSI D., State, Social Control, Deviance, Bruno Mondadori Editore, Milan, 2002.
- GIDDENS A., Foundations of Sociology, il Mulino, Bologna, 2001.
- GUARINO M., Secret Powers and Crime: The Unspeakable Connection Between the 'Ndrangheta, Freemasonry, and State Apparatus, Edizioni Dedalo, Bari, 2004.
- DI MARTINO P., Criminology: An Interdisciplinary Analysis of the Complexity of Crime, preface by La Vigna PL, Esselibri, Naples, 2009.
