Recent last-minute cancellations of two Catholic funerals for prominent Italian Freemasons have revealed growing confusion over Freemasonry and its relationship with the Italian Church after a decade of controversial efforts to establish dialogue with the secretive group, long proscribed by the Church.
In early August, a funeral had been scheduled for Bruno Battisti D’Amario, 88 — an accomplished Italian classical guitarist known for his long collaboration with the late film-score composer Ennio Morricone — who died on Aug. 5.
Due to take place on Aug. 7 at the Church of Santa Maria in Montesanto, otherwise known as the “Artists’ Church” in Rome, the funeral was canceled after the Grande Oriente d’Italia, one of the country’s main Freemasonic lodges, revealed in an online tribute (since removed) that the musician was a top-ranking (“33rd degree”) Freemason.
After the Italian Catholic daily La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana alerted the local priest to the deceased’s Masonic connections, the priest informed the church’s rector, Bishop Antonio Staglianò. Staglianò then contacted Cardinal Baldassare Reina, the Vicar General of Rome, who consulted the diocese’s legal office before refusing authorization for the funeral Mass. As Bishop Staglianò put it, Cardinal Reina “had no choice but to refuse authorization of
