The Vatican’s chief prosecutor confirmed at a public event on Wednesday 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.
The Vatican “found” the file, it does “exist,” the Vatican’s promoter of justice, Alessandro Diddi, said at a book presentation in Rome on Nov. 27, according to Italian media.
Orlandi’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.
Diddi said Wednesday 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.
Orlandi was the daughter of an envoy of the prefecture of the pontifical house and a citizen of Vatican City State. Her disappearance at age 15 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 true-crime documentary “Vatican Girl: The Disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi” on Netflix.
At the request of Orlandi’s 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 Orlandi and another girl who went missing in Rome around the same time.
The four-year parliamentary commission has “full investigative powers” and a budget of 50,000 euros per year to shed light on the 1983 disappearance of the two girls.
This article was originally published on Catholic News Agency.
