May 26
[ 2007-05-28 09:00 ]
 |
| The scandal over the P2
lodge is thought to involve many eminent
figures |
| 1981: Italian government resigns |
England have
The Italian cabinet has resigned following the scandal over the alleged
activities of a secret Masonic Lodge.
The collapse of Arnaldo Forlani's coalition government looked imminent
after his Socialist allies boycotted a meeting called by the prime
minister.
The Italian Communist Party had said it would call for a no-confidence
vote in parliament unless the government resigned over revelations that several prominent
politicians were members of the P2 (Propaganda Two) Masonic Lodge.
The Minister of Justice Adolfo Sarti resigned last week amid
allegations that he had applied for admission to the lodge.
Senator Sarti has denied he made any attempt to join P2 and, in a
letter to the prime minister, said he had been forced out of government
because his name was tainted in a "slanderous campaign".
'Secret society'
Two other ministers and 30 MPs have been included in a list of alleged
members of P2, which is now under investigation.
P2 is one of more than 520 Masonic lodges which belong to the Grand
Orient of Italy, the principal Masonic organisation in the country.
The lodge has been described as "a state within a state" amid
allegations that it plotted to carry out a right-wing coup in Italy.
A three-man commission appointed by the government has been set up to
establish whether the lodge was a "secret society" of a type banned under
the constitution.
Prime Minister Forlani has met with President Sandro Pertini to submit
the resignation of the cabinet following a meeting with his ministers
earlier in the day.
The Cabinet session took longer than normal because urgent economic
decrees had to be approved first.
The prime minister thanked his ministers for their work before driving
to the presidential palace.
Flaminio Piccoli, secretary of the Christian Democrats, said:
"Membership of the party and adherence to the Freemasons cannot be other
than incompatible."
Freemasonry is not illegal in Italy and there are believed to be up to
200,000 members.
However, it is associated with anti-Roman
Catholic Church activities and Pope John Paul II has explicitly condemned
the secret society. |
|
|
|
 |
| Fifty years on, there is
still widespread anger at Japanese brutality towards British PoWs
during the war |
|
1998: Veterans reject Japanese
'sorrow' | Artificially 1969:
The Emperor
Akihito of Japan has spoken of his "deep sorrow and pain" over the
suffering inflicted by his country during World War II, but did not
apologise for the treatment of prisoners in work camps.
Addressing a state banquet at Buckingham Palace, attended by the Queen,
Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Mother and 11 other senior Royals, the Emperor
said he could "never forget" the many kinds of suffering experienced by so
many.
"The Empress and I can never forget the many kinds of suffering so many
people have undergone because of that war." Emperor Akihito of Japan
said.
War veterans said that Emperor Akihito had not gone far
enough and demanded a "real, meaningful apology."
They are angry with Japan over its refusal to offer more substantial
compensation and a full apology for their suffering during the war.
Backs turned to the emperor
Earlier, in a gesture of contempt, former prisoners of war turned their
backs on Emperor Akihito and whistled the wartime anthem Colonel Bogey as
he rode with the Queen in a Royal carriage down The Mall.
Later, outside nearby Westminster Abbey where the emperor laid a wreath
at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a memorial to the dead of World War I,
around 500 protesters repeated their protest, turning their backs and
humming Colonel Bogey again.
Under the post-war Japanese constitution, Emperor Akihito is a
non-political figurehead and, as such, cannot formally apologise for the
suffering inflicted by the Japanese imperial army.
But in the banquet speech on Tuesday, delivered in Japanese, he came
close to saying sorry.
"It truly saddens me, however, that the relationship so nurtured
between our two countries should have been marred by the Second World War.
"The Empress and I can never forget the many kinds of suffering so many
people have undergone because of that war.
At the thought of the scars of war that they bear, our hearts are
filled with deep sorrow and pain. All through our visit here, this thought
will never leave our minds.
We sincerely hope that such a history will never be repeated between
our two nations."
|
|
| Vocabulary:
|
| |
|
revelation: the act of revealing or
disclosing;something
disclosed（揭露，被揭露的事）
slanderous:
誹謗性的，中傷的
|
|
