The Vatican has decided to reopen the 40-year-old investigation into the disappearance of a 15-year-old girl from the compound, following a successful 2022 Netflix documentary series about the case.
Vatican prosecutors will re-examine the case of Emmanuelle Orlandi, who disappeared in 1983 from Rome Street in the Vatican complex, where she lived with her family who worked at the Vatican.
The decision to reopen the case was made following consistent pressure from Orlandi's family.
Matteo Bruni, the Vatican's spokesman, said yesterday (Monday) that the Vatican's chief prosecutor, Alessandro Didi, "confirmed that he opened the case, also due to the many requests of the family."
Bruni did not comment on the Netflix documentary series, Vatican Girl: The Disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi (2022), and whether it was a factor in the decision.
Emmanuela Orlandi (photo: screenshot, official website)
The Orlandi family's lawyer, Lauro Seguro, said yesterday that the family first heard about the decision to open the case from news reports.
"We are happy and believe that there will be a thorough and thorough investigation. If the Vatican is responsible, it is time for the truth to come out," he said.
The 15-year-old Orlandi, who was one of five children of Vatican employees whose families lived in the compound itself, left her home on June 22, 1983 for a music lesson held in an apartment about two kilometers from the Vatican.
She was seen talking to a man in a BMW.
green, and has not been seen since.
The investigators then were unable to reach a final conclusion about what happened to her.
Over the years, her disappearance has troubled many in Italy and led to the creation of conspiracy theories, including corruption at the Vatican Bank, the 1981 assassination attempt on Pope John Paul, and the Italian mafia.
In the series, the theory was put forward according to which the Polish Pope, who opposed the secular communist regime and the Soviet Union due to the suppression of the various religions - and especially Christianity - in his domain, financially supported the Polish solidarity movement that opposed the government.
For this, he received money from the mafia - who demanded it back, also through the kidnapping of the Orlandi girl.
Emmanuela Orlandi (photo: screenshot, official website)
John Paul II (Photo: Reuters)
In 2012, the grave of a crime boss in Rome was opened after a tip was received that Orlandi's body might be in it.
But her bones were not found.
In 2019, after a tip that her remains might be buried in the Teutonic cemetery in St. Peter's Basilica, two graves were opened there but nothing was found.
Another claim made in the series was from Orlandi's childhood friend, who said the girl was sexually abused by "someone close to the Pope".
The investigation will also focus on the case of Mirella Gregory who also disappeared in Rome at the age of 15, a few weeks before Orlandi.
The popular belief is that there is a connection between the two disappearances.
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