Pope prays for ‘Vatican girl’ who disappeared 40 years ago
Pope Francis on Sunday marked the 40th anniversary of the abduction of Emanuela Orlandi, the 15-year-old daughter of a Vatican aide whose disappearance remains one of Italy’s most enduring mysteries and was recently the subject of a Netflix series.
In comments following his Angelus prayer and blessing, Francis expressed his “closeness to the family, especially the mother”, assuring them – as well as “all families who bear the grief of the disappearance of a loved one” – of his prayers.
His remarks may have been brief, but they were words Emanuela’s family had long awaited.
“It’s very positive,” says Pietro Orlandi, Emanuela’s older brother. He had come to St. Peter’s Square with hundreds of supporters hoping the pope would say something, anything, “words of hope,” he said.
The Orlandi family – first her parents and then her four siblings – are tirelessly searching for Emanuela. Relatives have lobbied judicial and parliamentary authorities to investigate, gone on countless television shows to advocate for tips, and made even the most outlandish claims.
The case has captivated Italians for four decades, and interest increased worldwide after Netflix aired a four-part documentary series titled “Vatican Girl” in October.
“After Netflix, I got messages of solidarity from all over the world,” Orlandi said at a sit-in on Sunday morning before the pope spoke.
Many people, he added, told him they had written to the Vatican expressing their displeasure that it had not helped the Orlandi family search for answers. The family has repeatedly accused the Vatican of being reluctant to admit what it knows about the case.
That changed this year, when Alessandro Diddi, the Vatican’s chief prosecutor, said he would investigate Emanuela’s disappearance. And on Thursday, Mr. Diddi said in a statement that an initial review of the evidence gathered to date, as well as interviews with people who worked at the Vatican 40 years ago, had uncovered clues “worthy of further investigation”.
Mr Diddi said he had submitted his findings to the Rome prosecutor’s office “to proceed in the direction it deems most appropriate”, and would continue to pursue the case.
This year, the public prosecutor’s office in Rome also opened a new investigation. Two previous investigations did not clarify the matter. “One was filed in 1997 and the other in 2016,” said Laura Sgro, the Orlandi family’s attorney.
Emanuela disappeared from a street in Rome on June 22, 1983 after leaving a music class. It would hardly have made news had it not been for a phone call to her family a few days later from a man who said her release was conditional on the release of Mehmet Ali Agca, the Turkish man who shot Pope John Paul II in St. Peter’s Square in May 1981.
That was just the first twist in what has become an ever-expanding plot that has led researchers to pursue numerous hypotheses involving a cast of suspicious characters and events, including the Sicilian Mafia; the 1982 collapse of Banco Ambrosiano, a bank associated with Vatican financial institutions whose chairman was found hanging under a London bridge; a pedophile group within the Vatican; and a notorious criminal gang from Rome.
Over the years, the hunt for Emmanuel, or her remains, has led to searches abroad and in Italy, a building in the Vatican Embassy in Italy, a cemetery in Vatican City, and a crypt in a Roman church where a tomb of a local crime boss was unearthed.
“The road that leads to the truth is a complex, difficult road, made up of complicated moments,” Ms Sgro said after the pope’s blessing on Sunday. “I believe the Pope has given an indication this morning to overcome these complications and move forward together to find Emanuela.”
This year, the Italian parliament decided to set up a commission to investigate what is known about the disappearance of Emanuela, as well as the disappearance of Mirella Gregori, another teenager who went missing in 1983. The 40-member commission would have broader scope than a judicial inquiry and could review previous leads. “Forty people asking different questions,” Orlandi said Sunday.
The commission was passed unanimously in the House of Commons in March but was blocked in the Senate after Mr Orlandi was wrongly accused of doing so affect the memory of St. John Paul II.
“The search for the truth is an important thing, an ideal that Parliament should aspire to,” Ms Sgro said last week at a presentation in Rome about a book she wrote about the case.
On Sunday, some supporters flocked to St. Peter’s Basilica with banners reading “Truth and Justice for Emanuela,” while others held up photos of the teen taken from a poster plastered across Rome after her disappearance. The photo of the smiling girl with a headband is an iconic image in Italy.
Not everyone was happy with Pope Francis’ curt remarks, and some supporters of the Orlandi family began chanting “Truth, truth” while the pope was still speaking.
It’s “outrageous,” said Cristina Bonomo, a kindergarten teacher who said it wasn’t enough for the pope to be “close to family — it’s too little.”
The Vatican “can no longer hide the truth about Emanuela Orlandi and Mirella Gregori,” she said.
“Many years have passed,” Ms. Bonomo said. “They must find the courage, the dignity and the strength” to say what really happened.
That’s what the Orlandi family continues to fight for.
‘Don’t give up, Pietro,’ someone shouted from the crowd.
“Never,” he replied.