The compass and square carved just above the entrance doors give a hint. Two steps in, the double-headed eagle confirms the suspicions: Perón 1242’s house is full of symbols and history. It has been in the neighborhood of San Nicolás since 1872 and, since then, it belongs to the Masons. He too called Palacio CangalloAs Perón Street was called until the 1980s, it proves that it saw many years and characters pass by. Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, Bartolomé Miter and Carlos Pellegrini – whose father designed the building – are just some of them.
“In here it is about all the adventures of the spirit to be understood”, he explains. Pablo Lázaro, Grand Master of Argentine FreemasonryPerhaps trying to explain the variety of professions, political thoughts and religious beliefs shared by Freemasons. He is a 42-year-old computer engineer who even directed the Cybercrime area of the Ministry of National Security between 2018 and 2020. A fan of science and passionate about technology, beyond the presidency of the lodge, he works in a laboratory. He joined the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons when he was 24 years old; Before, he had listened, fascinated, to a high school teacher who told him about the Masons. She always wondered if she herself would not be part of the organization. His father owns a printing press and is also a Freemason. The matter is relevant because an old rule, a remnant of persecution, still exists today: you cannot point to another Mason unless he has publicly said that he is.
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The aura of secrecy faded over the years: If during the dictatorships the Argentine freemasons hid, today they have Facebook and Instagram pages and open their headquarters for The Night of the Museums. Despite this, his figure still arouses suspicion. Some of this explains that in a recent antiquarantine demonstration, a column deviated from the Obelisk to go to destroy the Cangallo Building. The reason: they were accused of having created the pandemic. “The institution is surrounded by myths,” explains Lázaro. On the one hand, there are those who report that there is a “great Masonic Jewish conspiracy.” At the opposite extreme, there are also those who tried to be a Mason and approached the Buenos Aires headquarters talking about white supremacism. “We are the May Revolution and democracy!”
Classes: 88 bubbles were isolated in Buenos Aires schools by Covid-19
But who are the local Freemasons? Strictly speaking they are a civil association. According to the organization, There are about 12,000 members who, under the motto of “Science, Justice and Work”, meet weekly in lodges distributed in all the provinces of the country. Each of them is typically made up of between 40 and 50 “siblings,” as they are called. There they debate a variety of issues with a particular method: a reading is proposed and everyone who asks to speak is expected to contribute arguments in favor of that particular position. If a member does not agree with that approach, they can propose another job, but not confront.
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Lázaro explains that there is such a variety of people within the lodges that synthesis of arguments are generated that would not be achieved anywhere else. “I will never forget a meeting in a post-tragedy lodge in Cromañón: there was a legislator, a boy who had been there, a firefighter, a journalist and a grandfather who had lost a grandson at the recital,” he graphs.
Lázaro assures that it is easy to recognize a table of Masons seated in a bar. Because of the tone, because of how they dialogue and because they always speak one at a time. Masons recognize themselves when they use the word.
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As an institution, Freemasons intervene in public life on specific occasions and after an internal decision. They did this to advocate for the divorce law, oppose religious teaching in Salta public schools and, recently, promote an environmental education bill in Congress. The abortion law, on the other hand, did not have complete adherence among all members, so it was not promoted. Freethinking is a fundamental value for Freemasons.
Yesterday and today
The squares and compasses of the Cangallo Palace refer to the first Freemasons: those who in Europe built the most beautiful cathedrals and decided to group together to guard their precious knowledge. That is why today an apron, or apron, is also still used, which has a representation according to the grade and varies as the Mason goes from being an apprentice, to a companion and a teacher. Freemasonry preserves many rites and ceremonies and the passage between one degree and another is not exempt from them.
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In the Grand Master’s office there is a spectacular wooden desk that belonged to Hortensio Quijano, vice-president of Perón. Above him, an immense painting that the Masons consider fundamental: the one that shows José Roque Pérez —founder and first Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Argentina—, along with Manuel F. Argerich working together during the yellow fever epidemic. Pablo Lázaro points this out and explains that most of the Buenos Aires hospitals bear the names of well-known Masons. Next to them, a huge screen reminds that since 2020 there has been a pandemic that forced even the lodges to meet for Zoom.
A few floors up, the Great Temple has a curved ceiling that simulates the sky. It starts out as dark blue and becomes lighter as you approach the spectacular wooden canopy. It is that the Grand Master sits there, the one who is “closest to the truth” and the only one who wears a sun on his apron.
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