Rome: Grand Master Goi Bisi appeal to candidates, ‘complete restoration of Garibaldi monument’

“The monument to Garibaldi that stands on the Janiculum is a symbol of freedom not only for Rome but for the whole of Italy and cannot be abandoned to decay”. This was underlined by the Grand Master Stefano Bisi, who yesterday, the day in which the Grand Orient of Italy celebrates the breach of Porta Pia, in placing a laurel wreath under the iconic statue of the Risorgimento as is tradition, launched also an appeal to the candidates for mayor of the capital to reopen the construction site and complete the restoration of the work, which was struck by lightning in September 2018 and has been cordoned off since then. As the Grand Orient of Italy itself says, “the Goi has come forward several times in recent years, making itself available to contribute to the work. But without success”. Il Grande Oriente “also paid tribute, in the same morning, to the equestrian monument to Anita Garibalidi made by the sculptor Mario Rutelli, which depicts the heroine, symbol of many battles for freedom, who died on August 4, 1849 in Mandriole, near Ravenna. “. The Goi delegation “then went in front of the breach of Porta Pia, at the plaque in the Aurelian Walls that commemorates the historic battle that was fought on 20 September 1870 between the Italian troops, led by General Raffaele Cadorna and the papal army, and which sanctioned the annexation of Rome to the Kingdom of Italy “.” We Masons of the Grand Orient of Italy Palazzo Giustiniani – said the Grand Master – have always celebrated September 20, which is a historic date, as every year. a date, which we hope will be solemnly remembered in the future also by public institutions, and which we hope will return to be indicated in red in our calendar. It has been a holiday for many years – recalled Bisi – and the hope is that The recurrence of September 20 in 2020 and 2021 was special “.” We are going through a pandemic that has taken away many lives, even those of many brothers. And that is why the feast of Freedom this year it must be accompanied by another word: responsibility, which means – the Grand Master remarked – observing the rules established by the authorities, rules that all the brothers of the Goi are required to respect. We want – he continued – that the word responsibility is always associated with the word freedom. Because freedom is responsibility. The more we are responsible – he recalled – the more we are free and we want to be free, free to exist, free to embrace ourselves in our traditional ways. And we want – he concluded – that our sense of responsibility spread to Italian society. And in the name of freedom and responsibility we celebrate this anniversary “.