Members of the Swiss Guard stand in front of the entrance to Sant'Uffizio in the Vatican. © Andrew Medichini/AP/dpa/ EPA/STF
Will the mystery of the girl, who has been missing since 1983, finally be solved? The public prosecutor's office and the Vatican are to work together for the first time in the case of Emanuela Orlandi.
Rome – Forty years after the mysterious disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi, the Rome Public Prosecutor's Office (Italy) is reopening the investigation. It is a spectacular turn of events in the case of the Vatican girl. There has been no trace of the then 15-year-old since June 22, 1983. Now the Rome prosecutor's office is said to have received documents from the Vatican.
"It is a positive thing that the Rome prosecutor's office has received documents from the Vatican," said the Orlandi family's lawyer, Laura Sgrò, as reported by the Italian news agency Ansa. For the first time, there would be cooperation between the Holy See and the ordinary judiciary. It is what the girl's family has been demanding for years to find out the truth about Emanuela.
The judges of the Holy See, led by Alessandro Diddi, and the Roman judges, led by Francesco Lo Voi, are working together, according to the Italian newspaper Repubblica. The investigation had been handed over to Stefano Luciani, a "very experienced deputy prosecutor".
Emanuela Orlandi case: Missing Vatican girl – search for the truth continues
The search for the truth has been driving Brother Pietro Orlandi in particular for years. The 66-year-old is the last person to see his sister before her disappearance. Emanuela's brother apparently recently stirred up a lot of dust behind the Vatican walls. In a TV broadcast, he also raised serious suspicions against the late Pope John Paul II (1978 to 2005). Even Pope Francis reacted indignantly to these accusations. The Pope himself had previously ordered a complete investigation of the missing person case of his sister "without consideration".
Missing Emanuela Orlandi case: 40 years after her disappearance, the Vatican is opening an investigation. © Massimo Valicchia/imago
Emanuela Orlandi case: dubious theories and rumors about Vatican girls
The public prosecutor's office in Rome announced as early as January 2023 that it would reopen the Orlandi missing person case and follow up on clues. It could be a breakthrough. Presumably, the 15-year-old daughter of a Curia employee was kidnapped and murdered. The Vatican or the Mafia – theories and rumours surrounding the story of Emanuela Orlandi have been circulating for years, some of which are considered dubious:
- Emanuela Orlandi was kidnapped in order to free the Pope's assassin Ali Agca.
- Emanuela Orlandi was abused by a high official of the Curia.
- The Roman mafia clan Banda della Magliana is involved in the case.
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The Netflix documentary "Vatican Girl" dealt with various scenarios and suspicious elements surrounding the Orlandi case. This brought additional attention. The Italian judiciary had actually put the case on file in 2015 after seven years. In the search for the girl's body, even tombs and ossuaries behind the Vatican wall had been opened. Previously, the investigations from 1983 to 1997 had been archived.
Missing person case Emanuela Orlandi: Two graves in the German pilgrim cemetery in the Vatican were opened. © dpa / Gregorio Borgia
Vatican girl disappeared without a trace: what happened on June 22, 1983?
Emanuela Orlandi has been missing since June 22, 1983. The 15-year-old did not come home after her music lessons in the old town of Rome. A body was never found. What happened to the girl has never been clarified. The fate of the daughter of a Curia employee and citizen of the Vatican is a mystery. Whether that will change remains to be seen. (ml)