London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, May 09, 2025

Pope Francis Wants Truth About 'Vatican Girl', Popularised By Netflix Documentary

Pope Francis Wants Truth About 'Vatican Girl', Popularised By Netflix Documentary

A Vatican investigator has been given full authority by Pope Francis to inquire into the disappearance of a schoolgirl 40 years ago.

The mysterious disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi has captivated Italy for 40 years. Emanuela was 15 years old when she disappeared on June 22, 1983, while she was returning from a flute lesson in Rome.

Now the case of her disappearance under mysterious circumstances entered a new chapter on Tuesday when her brother met with a Vatican investigator whom Pope Francis has given free rein to get to the bottom of the case.

Emanuela Orlandi was the daughter of a Vatican usher whose family lived in the Vatican. To find out exactly what happened to her, several investigations were conducted, including the reopening of tombs and grave sites.

Following the release of the Netflix series "Vatican Girl" in late 2017, the case has garnered new interest on a global scale. After receiving data from his retired predecessor, Vatican chief prosecutor Alessandro Diddi restarted an earlier, unsuccessful Vatican probe in January.

Laura Sgro, lawyer for the Orlandi family, talks to the press.


In an interview, Mr. Diddi claimed that Pope Francis has a strong desire for "the truth to emerge without any reservations" in this situation.

Pietro, the elder brother of Emanuela, and Laura Sgro, the family's attorney, spent more than five hours on Tuesday afternoon meeting with Mr. Diddi in the Vatican.

"We hope this can shed light on this episode and write a page of history," Sgro told reporters afterwards, saying that the Vatican's openness and the pope's determination were "absolutely positive."

Theories about Orlandi's disappearance have run the gamut. In the 1980s, Italian media speculated she had been kidnapped in an attempt to secure freedom for Mehmet Ali Agca, the Turk jailed in 1981 for trying to assassinate Pope John Paul II, though nothing came of the link and the suggestion faded.

Other reports linked her to the grave of Enrico De Pedis, a mobster buried in a Rome basilica. His tomb was opened in 2012, but nothing was revealed, and in the interview with Corriere della Sera, Diddi said the suspected link between the girl's disappearance and the Rome crime clan had been "over evaluated".

In 2019, the Orlandi family received an anonymous letter saying Emanuela's body might be hidden among the dead in the Teutonic Cemetery just inside the Vatican walls, where a statue of an angel holding a book reads "Requiescat in Pace," Latin for "Rest in Peace."

Two tombs were opened, but nothing was found-not even the bones of the two 19th-century princesses supposed to be buried there. They apparently had been moved during restructuring work decades before Orlandi was born.

In 2018, bones found during ground work at the Vatican embassy in Rome sparked a media frenzy, suggesting they might belong to Orlandi or to Mirella Gregori, another teenager who disappeared the same year. DNA tests were negative.

Last month, Italy's lower house approved the establishment of a parliamentary commission to investigate the disappearances of both girls.

Police have never excluded the possibility that Orlandi may have been abducted and possibly killed for reasons with no connection to the Vatican, or been a victim of human trafficking.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Historic Papal Conclave Set to Commence in Rome
Huge Copper, Gold, and Silver Discovery in Argentina and Chile — But the Profits Go Abroad
Prince Harry is pleading for reconciliation — but the royals are just as sick of his victimhood as everyone else
The Road to Freedom: She Protested Putin, Escaped House Arrest, and Survived a 2,800-Kilometer Journey
OpenAI's Flip-Flop: No Longer Going Commercial, Back to Nonprofit, After Musk Lawsuit and Backlash
“Trump Supporter” Aims to Bring a MAGA-Style Shift to Romania
First From China: Zhao Xintong Wins the Snooker World Championship
Nvidia Faces Billion-Dollar Losses – Warns: China Is on Its Way to Becoming an AI Superpower
Trump Rules Out Third Term, Names JD Vance and Marco Rubio as Potential Successors
Mexico Says ‘No’ to U.S. Troops: President Sheinbaum Rejects Trump’s Offer to Fight Cartels
Nigel Farage’s Reform UK Storms the Map, Wrecking the Two-Party Monopoly
DOGE: Reimagining Government Operations with AI
Common Sense Returns to Britain's Legal System: UK Supreme Court Declares a Woman Is… a Woman
Beijing Says U.S. Is ‘Reaching Out’ for Tariff Talks Amid Soaring Trade Tensions
U.K. Court Rejects Prince Harry’s Final Appeal Over Police Security
Prince Harry’s Heartfelt Outburst Rocks the Royal Family
Trump Shares AI-Generated Image of Himself as… Pope, Prompting Outrage Reaction
Transgender Swimmer Secures Five Gold Medals at U.S. Masters Championship
Prince Harry: “I Want Reconciliation with My Family”
Germany's Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party has now been officially labeled “right-wing extremist” by the federal office for the so-called “protection of the constitution.”
Amazon Launches Satellite Internet Service Amidst Competition with SpaceX
Transformative Changes in Women's Wrestling: The Rise of WWE Superstars
The Rush to the White Gold: Global Investment Surge in Natural Hydrogen Exploration
This is a day in Spain without electricity and internet
Reform UK Surprises in British Elections, Challenging Traditional Two-Party System
180-Year-Old Christian University in South Carolina Announces Closure Due to Unmet $6 Million Fundraising Goal
Brazilian Woman Jailed for Fourteen Years for Writing “You Lost, Idiot” on Statue During Protest
Trump Administration Removes National Security Adviser Mike Waltz Amid Signal Chat Controversy
Dutch Politician Eva Vlaardingerbroek Receives Spyware Threat Alert from Apple
Paramount Board Considers Settlement in Trump’s $20 Billion Lawsuit Over "60 Minutes" Interview
U.S. Economy Shrink in Trump’s First Quarter as Tariff Policy Raises Questions
Deadline Looms for RTS Meter Replacement: Hundreds of Thousands at Risk of Heating Disruption
Sweden Grapples with Deadly Gun Violence: Suspect Arrested After Three Young Men Killed in Uppsala Hair Salon
Walz Reveals Why Harris Chose Him as Her Running Mate and Reflects on Democratic Losses
Spain Restores Power After Unprecedented Nationwide Blackout
Carney Secures Liberal Mandate in Canada’s Federal Election
Death Penalty Sought as Luigi Manion Pleads Not Guilty in CEO Murder Case
President Trump contacts Jeff Bezos after reports of Amazon considering listing tariff surcharges; company clarifies no such plan for main platform
Spain and Portugal Recover from Massive Blackout
Liverpool Clinches Record-Equalling 20th English League Title Under Arne Slot
Singapore Politicians Warn Against Foreign Interference in Election
Driver Ploughs into Vancouver Festival Crowd, Killing Nine
Depression, Fear of Defamation, and a Tragic End: New Details on Virginia Giuffre’s Suicide
“Sharia for UK, Allah Akbar!”
Massive Explosion at Iran's Bandar Abbas Port Linked to Suspicious Chemical Shipments
Incident Reflection: A Harsh Reality Check
Pakistani migrants to Danish man: “ “We have 5 children while you have 1 or 2. In 10 years, there will be more Pakistanis than Danes here.“
Clashes Erupt in London as Tensions Rise Between Indian and Pakistani Communities
Specialized anti-drone weapons deployed among security personnel Ahead of Papal Funeral
How do you fix this culture?
×