2023-06-17 18:51:08
disappeared in 1983
Mysterious Vatican case – Emanuela Orlandi missing for over 40 years
40 years ago, a family found itself at the center of an alleged international conspiracy. The then 15-year-old Emanuela Orlandi disappeared. Will the case ever be solved?
published
Rumors are still circulating regarding the mysterious disappearance of the then 15-year-old Emanuela Orlandi.
MAGO/ABACAPRESS
On a hot and humid June evening in 1983, the 15-year-old disappeared without a trace.
imago images / Independent Photo Agency
Recently there was surprising movement in the case. In January, the Papal States launched official investigations for the first time.
imago images/Pacific Press Agency
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The case is considered one of the greatest mysteries in recent Italian criminal history.
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There was always new speculation regarding her disappearance.
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Emanuela Orlandi was also sought following abroad.
Abuse, extortion, foreign secret services or a connection with the mafia and the Vatican? There are still rumors surrounding the mysterious disappearance of the then 15-year-old Emanuela Orlandi. 40 years ago (June 22, 1983) the “Vatican Girl” disappeared.
Emanuela’s father was an employee of the Vatican – the family has lived in the smallest country in the world for 100 years and, according to their own statements, served seven popes – for that reason alone the case was and is explosive. But above all the circumstances of her disappearance make waves to this day.
That happened on June 22, 1983
On a hot and humid June evening in 1983, the 15-year-old disappeared without a trace. After attending a music school in the old town of Rome, she never came back home. From one moment to the next, a whole family found itself in the middle of a spectacular case. In the early years, it was even assumed that there was an international conspiracy with the teenager at its center.
These theories exist
The case caused a stir not only in Italy. There is even a four-part Netflix series (“Vatican Girl”) from 2022. Because what happened to her is still unclear. A body was never found. Since then, many theories, some of them adventurous, have been circulating regarding their disappearance. It was claimed, for example, that Orlandi had been kidnapped in order to free the Pope’s assassin Mehmet Ali Agca, or that secret services such as the KGB or the CIA were involved. There was also talk of cover-up of abuse by a curia official or kidnapping by the mafia.
They also looked abroad
Again and once more new alleged clues regarding her disappearance came up. Graves, including those in the German Cemetery in Rome (Campo Santo Teutonico), have been opened. They were also looking for her abroad. Nothing and nobody was found. And in May of the current year, an ex-carabinieri spoke up and claimed that Emanuela was buried under the Castel Sant’Angelo in Rome.
Official Vatican investigation
Recently there was surprising movement in the case. In January, the Papal States launched official investigations for the first time. The Vatican prosecutors under Alessandro Diddi want to investigate the indications that the “Vatican Girl” was kidnapped or murdered. “I am convinced that there are many people in the Vatican, including those in high positions, who know what happened back then,” Pietro Orlandi said at the time. A parliamentary commission of inquiry is also planned in Italy.
controversy in the case
The case is not free from controversy. In April, during a hearing with Vatican prosecutors, Pietro played a tape containing an alleged conversation between a journalist and the head of a criminal organization in Rome. In the recording, the boss indicated that John Paul II, who died in 2005, had been out with high-ranking clergymen outside the Vatican walls at night.
Part of the recording was broadcast on an Italian TV show starring Orlandi. He said on TV that he had heard that Karol Wojtyła (Johannes Paul) used to go out with two friends, two Polish priests, and certainly not to “bless the houses”. His comments unleashed a storm of indignation – even Pope Francis defended his predecessor once morest “offensive and unfounded allegations”.
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(dpa/fos)
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