The Vatican’s chief prosecutor has confirmed that despite prior denials, the Vatican does possess a confidential file on the disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi, the so-called “Vatican girl” who went missing over 40 years ago. Source: CNA.
The Vatican “found” the file, it does “exist,” the Vatican’s promoter of justice, Alessandro Diddi, said at a public book presentation in Rome on November 27, according to Italian media.
Emanuela’s brother, Pietro Orlandi, has maintained for years that the Vatican had information on his missing sister that it was withholding from the Italian authorities.
Mr Diddi said the content of the dossier is confidential, but the Vatican continues to collaborate with Italy in its new investigation into how the 15-year-old Emanuela disappeared in 1983.
Emanuela was the daughter of an envoy of the prefecture of the pontifical house and a citizen of Vatican City State. Her disappearance in June 1983 has been one of Italy’s biggest unsolved mysteries and, since it occurred, the subject of international intrigue, including speculation about the Vatican’s role.
Public interest in the case was also rekindled in 2022 after the release of the documentary Vatican Girl: The Disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi on Netflix.
At the request of the Orlandi family, the Vatican conducted a new investigation into the case at the beginning of 2023, sharing its findings with Rome prosecutors that summer.
In November 2023, the Italian Senate voted to begin a new parliamentary inquiry into Emanuela and another girl who went missing in Rome about the same time.
The four-year parliamentary commission has “full investigative powers” and a budget of 50,000 euros ($A81,000) per year to shed light on the disappearance of the two girls.
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Prosecutor confirms existence of Vatican dossier on disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi (By Hannah Brockhaus, CNA)
