Emanuela Orlandi, her brother: "The Vatican has been blocking the truth for 42 years. Pope Francis and Leo XIV? They've raised a wall."
It was June 22, 1983. It was hot in Rome. A fifteen-year-old girl went to music class: she was playing the flute, preparing for a recital. In the afternoon, the girl left school. And disappeared into thin air . For 42 years, nothing had been heard of her: for forty-two years, her brother, Pietro , had continued to search for her.
Emanuela Orlandi was a citizen of the Vatican State: as a child, she played in the Vatican gardens. The Orlandi family was one of the very few secular families to live in the Vatican , a tiny state of enormous importance to the entire world, because it is where the Pope lives. And Pope John Paul II himself, a few days after Emanuela's disappearance, on July 3, 1983, surprising everyone, spoke publicly about her during the Angelus prayer, addressing "those responsible for her disappearance." Implicitly confirming the kidnapping hypothesis .
Since then, a thousand leads have been pursued . Mysterious phone calls, requests for an exchange between Emanuela Orlandi and Ali Agca, the man who had shot the Pope two years earlier. New public appeals from Pope John Paul II , but also suspicions of the involvement of the Magliana gang, the most feared criminal organization in Rome at the time. And hypotheses of a Vatican under blackmail, the shadow of pedophilia, of an immense debt the Vatican owed to the Magliana gang. Through it all, Emanuela has never been found . And 42 years have passed.
Pietro Orlandi presented the film at the Giffoni Film Festival , titled 42. It's a documentary directed by his daughter Elettra, in collaboration with his other daughter Rebecca, who served as assistant director and composed the closing song, "Mantello di rovere ." "We told our story to ensure Emanuela Orlandi isn't forgotten," says Pietro. We met with him.
What kind of documentary is this, Peter?
"A documentary made at no cost, without any major production behind it: it's thanks to the tenacity of Alessandra De Vita, a journalist who has been interested in Emanuela's story for years, and the work of my two daughters. I hope it will be helpful to families experiencing similar events, but in silence."
Who, in your opinion, has hindered the search for the truth about Emanuela for all these years?
"Someone within the Vatican. I've always considered the small state where we were born to be our home: and yet, it's precisely there that some continue to hide the truth. The Vatican has turned its back on us."
There are now three ongoing investigations into Emanuela's disappearance: a parliamentary commission of inquiry, a judicial inquiry, and even a Vatican proceeding. What are you waiting for?
Some parliamentary commissioners are willing to get to the bottom of the matter, but others are trying to hold it back. Until a few years ago, all the politicians would tell me, 'The Vatican's involved, I'm not getting involved.' Today, however, there is a commission, despite the Vatican's opposition. And that's a positive thing.
Theories surrounding your sister's disappearance range from the involvement of the Secret Service to the Magliana gang, from international terrorism to suspicions of pedophilia in the Vatican. How have you dealt with all these theories?
“When Emanuela disappeared, I had only heard about the Secret Service in movies: I didn't even believe it was real. Then, every day, the secret service agents came to our house. We trusted the secret service, the police, the Vatican. They all told us, 'Keep calm and quiet, don't say anything about what we do...' And we trusted, and trusted, and trusted: we spent years without saying anything. But we were left aside.”
There was blackmail going on, it was said.
“Yes: on one side there were the blackmailers, and on the other John Paul II.”
The popes who followed one another, however, did not speak about the affair.
"No. Pope Francis just told me 'Emanuela is in heaven,' and that was it. I asked for a meeting with him, but it was always denied. He could have received us and explained better why he had said that. But the wall has risen even higher than before."
Did Pope Francis avoid meeting you?
“Yes. He never wanted to meet.”
Did he ask for an audience with the new Pope Leo XIV?
"I asked people close to him to meet with him, but nothing. The very fact that there's an investigation in the Vatican means this isn't a minor matter. And even the stones have realized there's more to it than the simple disappearance of a young girl."
Are the signals from Pope Prevost not positive?
In his first speech, he said he was inspired by three principles: peace, truth, and justice. But the initial signs with Leo XIV aren't positive. He could have made a gesture of truth and justice. Yet he didn't remember Emanuela during the Angelus last June 22nd, which fell on the anniversary of her passing. He would have only had to say one word. I see this as a sign of no change from the past.
But what idea did you form of the truth?
If the Vatican can't get over the disappearance of a young girl, it's clear there's something bigger behind it. There was definitely a blackmailer and a victim. I'm convinced the victim was at the top of the Vatican. And the blackmailer is somewhere inside and outside the Vatican: someone who wanted to run the Vatican State at the time. If they've asked for something so big, it's because someone holds the real object of the blackmail. I believe the Vatican could close the matter at any time, making up anything. If they don't, it's because someone still holds the object of the blackmail.
Do you still hope to find Emanuela alive?
“Until I find the remains, I will always hold out hope that Emanuela is alive.”
Luce
