"Evidence? None. Clues? Least of all. Testimonies at least second or third hand? Not even the shadow. Only anonymous defamatory accusations".
This is how L'Osservatore Romano, in an editorial, defines the "alleged revelations about Pope Wojtyla and the Orlandi case".
"Madness - writes the Holy See newspaper -. And we are not saying this because Karol Wojtyła is a saint or because he was pope. Even if this media massacre saddens and dismays by wounding the hearts of millions of believers and non-believers, the defamation must be denounced because it is unworthy of a civilized country to treat in this way any person, living or dead, whether cleric or layman, pope, metalworker or unemployed young man".
The article in the Osservatore Romano, signed by the editorial director of the Vatican media Andrea Tornielli, recalls the "words that Pietro Orlandi accompanied to the audio attributed to a self-styled member of the Banda della Magliana who asserts - he too without proof, clues , testimonies, findings or circumstances - that John Paul II 'even if he took those together to the Vatican', meaning Emanuela and other girls: to put an end to this 'crap' the secretary of state at the time would have turned to organized crime to solve the problem".
"Think what would have happened if someone had gone on television to say, on the basis of 'hearsay'
coming from an anonymous source and without the shred of a match or testimony, even if only third-hand, that your father or grandfather left the house at night and together with some 'snack buddies' went around harassing underage girls - underlines the Vatican newspaper -.
And imagine what would have happened if your now deceased relative were universally known and esteemed by all, due to some important role held.
Wouldn't we perhaps have read comments and editorials that were indignant at the unspeakable way in which the good reputation of this great man, loved by so many, was damaged?". "It really happened, unfortunately, with Saint John Paul II, pontiff of the Catholic Church from 16 October 1978 to April 2, 2005 - continues the editorial -.
The accusation was launched by Pietro Orlandi,
brother of Emanuela, the girl who disappeared in the center of Rome on an afternoon in June 1983. Pietro, in the presence of his lawyer Laura Sgrò who nodded, recounted during the program Di tuesday hosted on La7 in prime time by Giovanni Floris, that Pope Wojtyla went out at night in the company of some monsignor to look for little girls.
Everything was presented as a credible indiscretion, accompanied by a few winking smiles, as if we were talking about an open secret". According to L'Osservatore Romano, "it is right that everyone is held accountable for any crimes, if they have been committed, without any impunity or privileges.
It is sacrosanct that a 360-degree investigation be undertaken to seek the truth about Emanuela's disappearance.
But no one deserves to be vilified like this, without even a shred of clue,
"Mr. Orlandi did not intend to make accusations against any person, he reiterated this to the Promoter, he also wrote it in a memorandum he filed during his deposition. He only asked that the search for truth be unconditioned. Sorry that some people have extrapolated a few sentences by manipulating the overall picture of his statements. It is equally regrettable that, among those who accuse him in the press of harming the memory of those who no longer exist, there are also those who, contacted over the years by Signor Orlandi, has always avoided an authentic and sincere confrontation with him".
This was stated by Laura Sgrò, Pietro Orlandi's lawyer.
"In relation to some press articles of recent days - writes Sgrò, lawyer of the Orlandi family - in the name and on behalf of Pietro Orlandi, I intend to clarify the following: Mr. Orlandi welcomed with positive sentiments the Holy Father's will to have given to the Promoter of Justice, Alessandro Diddi, maximum freedom of action to investigate on a wide range, without conditioning of any kind and with the firm invitation not to keep silent about the disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi.With this spirit, my client went to the meeting with the Promoter of Justice on 11 April last".
Accepting the Holy Father's invitation to shed full light on the matter, Pietro Orlandi - continues Sgrò - decided to share all the information in his possession with the investigators. All, none excluded. In this
optics has made available to the Promoter of Justice what it knows, even the most inconvenient facts, learned over the years, obviously leaving the evaluations and insights necessary to the investigators to verify its validity". "Mr. Orlandi - he underlines - he did not intend to make accusations against any person, he reiterated this to the Promoter, he also wrote it in a memorandum he filed during his deposition.
He only asked that the search for truth should not be conditioned "." I'm sorry - he continues - that some people have extrapolated a few sentences by manipulating the overall picture of his statements.
We are equally sorry that, among those who accuse him in the press of harming the memory of those who are no longer with us, there are also those who,
contacted numerous times by Mr. Orlandi over the years, has always avoided an authentic and sincere confrontation with him". "The search for the truth - concludes Sgrò - is an act of courage and the Holy Father has expressed his desire to follow this path with strength .
The wish is that this extraordinary but dutiful act does not belong only to his Holiness".
"It is necessary to have the courage to say that on this path the truth can only remain distant. And then: the respect that is due to Pietro Orlandi, can only include the regret and real pain that some of his words continue to cause , based on 'the rumors' and on conjectures without the slightest evidence".
The Catholic newspaper Avvenire, voice of the CEI, reacts in an editorial to the affirmations of Emanuela Orlandi's brother on "a direct involvement of Pope John Paul II in all the dramatic passages of the Orlandi affair".
"In his speeches he was gradually more and more explicit - recalls Angelo Scelzo, former deputy director of the Vatican Press Office -, up to declaring that he had heard that 'Wojtyla occasionally went out in the evening with two Polish monsignors'
adding that 'he certainly didn't go to bless houses'.
It is not enough.
An audio recording was played back in which the Pope's involvement was 'assured' by a member of the notorious 'Magliana band'". "A shocking recording - comments the bishops' newspaper -, with an interruption with 'irreferable content' , which Pietro Orlandi said he delivered to the Vatican's promoter of justice, in a very long deposition, in its entirety". "In support of such shocking statements and all centered on the responsibilities of Saint John Paul II - continues the editorial - , Pietro Orlandi also argued that, by common admission, in 1983 pedophilia in the Vatican was practically accepted.
Indeed, a gendarme would have confided to him,
immediately after the kidnapping, to have probed 'those three or four cardinals' whose 'vice' was known to have, in order to obtain some useful information". According to Scelzo, "perhaps precisely because of their enormity, these statements have gained a more than obvious limelight.
But at this point, when the search for truth seems to lengthen its pace, the need for an all-out verification of the ways in which it is sought and at the same time 'offered' becomes more urgent". And he adds: "in order to faced with the admirable dedication and unceasing commitment of Emanuela's brother and his collaborators - and of all those who care about the search for the truth - it is not possible to accept that the 'they say' find a place in this effort
or have room for statements to say the least surreal, according to which 'in the Vatican in 1983 pedophilia was not considered a crime'". concludes Avvenire -.
But if the proofs are those exhibited, it is Wojtyla's memory that is unjustly tarnished.
The rights that are rightly recognized to a man tried by the mysterious disappearance of his sister cannot in some way be taken away from the good name (one does not say holiness) of a person who cannot defend himself against such defamatory accusations.
There is no need, indeed it seems trivial, to recall the figure of a giant of the Church and of history, a beloved Pope to be amazed and bewildered in the face of statements of such serious significance".
