The mystery of young Emanuela Orlandi: New docu explores shocking sex scandal deep in the Vatican
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VATICAN CITY, VATICAN: The disappearance of Vatican City resident Emanuela Orlandi, a 15-year-old girl in 1983 has remained an unsolved mystery for decades. Now, an unexpected twist in the case arises out of claims that the teen was sexually abused by someone close to the Pope, reported The US Sun.
Daughter of a Vatican office clerk, Orlandi went missing after she returned home from a flute lesson. Since then, she has never been found. While a ton of theories have emerged over the years trying to explain the nature of her disappearance, linking it to the Cold War, sex trafficking and even negotiations over the release of a gunman named Mehmet Ali Ağca who tried to assassinate Pope John Paul II.
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In light of these theories floating around for nearly four decades after her disappearance, a Netflix series titled 'Vatican Girl' aims to explore the unsolved case with a new theory. Orlandi's childhood friend claimed that merely days before her disappearance, the teenager had been sexually assualted inside the Vatican by "someone close to the Pope", referring to the then Pope, John Paul II. In the documentary, the woman revealed that Orlandi had a "secret to confess" merely a week before she went missing.
The theory explores that Morlandi's molestation was known to a mafia group called the Magliana Gang who decided to kidnap the 15-year-old and use the knowledge to pressurize the Vatican to repay the sum they had borrowed to secretly fund 'Solidarity', a trade union fighting communism in Poland, the Pope's motherland. Further, the outlet reported that the Institute for the Works of Religion, commonly known as the Vatican Bank, had been accused of sending money to 'Solidarity'.
Orlandi told her friend that she had been "bothered" by someone "very close to the Pope" while she was walking through the grounds of the Vatican. The friend recalled that Orlandi had been "scared, even ashamed" and that the attack was "absolutely" sexual. Emmy-winning director Mark Lewis revealed to The Telegraph that the friend "didn’t feel comfortable coming forward before because she feels the weight of the Church and of her own Catholic faith."
Claims of pedophilia surrounding the Vatican are not new. "The idea that there was pedophilia in the Church was such a taboo subject for so long. And this is even worse – it’s not just pedophilia inside the Catholic Church, it’s on Vatican soil. I think it was a very frightening place for her to go," said Lewis. Italian journalist Andrea Purgatori suggested that Orlandi may have been a "sacrificial lamb." The Vatican, has, however, refused to entertain any interviews in connection with the upcoming documentary.
It has also been alleged that the Holy See, the jurisdiction of the church in Rome, has been well aware of the circumstances surrounding Orlandi's case. The missing girl's family lawyer, Laura Sgrò asserted, "I am absolutely certain that the Vatican knows what happened to Emanuela. It is time for the Vatican to come clean on exactly what happened and give her family closure. There’s no time to lose." Her brother, Pietro, further added that they would "never stop looking for her" and that their 92-year-old mother should at least be given the courtesy of knowing where her daughter has been buried so that she may lay flowers at her grave.
A chilling confirmation regarding the whereabouts of Orlandi was given by Pope Francis after his election in 2013 when he remarked to the Orlandi family that "Emanuela is in heaven." Such an assertion without any other information certainly revealed that the church knew more than they let on. "It chilled my blood to hear the Pope say Emanuela was dead. We don't know if she is alive or dead because there is no evidence. But for a head of state to say that Emanuela was dead meant he knew more than we did," said Pietro Orlandi.
