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Pope Francis on Sunday rejected as “offensive and baseless” what he called satire by the sister of a Vatican schoolboy who disappeared 40 years ago about former pope Saint John Paul II.
Emanuela Orlandi, the daughter of the Vatican usher, failed to return home on June 22, 1983, after studying music in Rome. He is 15 years old and lives with his family in the Vatican. His disappearance is one of Italy’s most enduring mysteries.
The case entered a new chapter on Tuesday when Pietro’s brother met with the Vatican’s chief prosecutor Alessandro Diddi, who Francis has given the freedom to solve the case.
After talking with Didi for more than eight hours, Pietro Orlandi appeared on a television program, where he played an audio recording. The recording included the voice of a man who Orlandi said was part of an organized crime group organized by Italian media for decades and may have been involved in his sister’s disappearance.
The alleged gangster’s voice says that more than 40 years ago, girls were brought to the Vatican to be molested and Pope John Paul II knew about it.
Orlandi then said in his own words on the show: “He told Wojtyla [Pope John Paul II’s surname] used to go out in the evening with two Polish monsignors and certainly not to bless the house.”
The comments sparked a storm and were condemned by Vatican officials in the past few days, before the Pope himself entered the conversation in a noon address on Sunday to around 20,000 people in St. Peter’s Square.
“Certainly when I interpret the sentiments of the faithful from all over the world, I give thanks to the memory of St. John Paul, who in recent times has become the object of offensive and baseless satire,” Francis said.
Most of the Italians applauded.
Diddi called Pietro Orlandi’s lawyer, Laura Sgro, on Saturday. The Vatican said he invoked attorney-client privilege. Sgro told Reuters on Sunday that John Paul did not come to the conversation with Didi, adding in a text message: “I never questioned the purity of John Paul II.”
Orlandi told Reuters on Sunday by phone that “it is true that Francis is defending John Paul II.” He added that when he appeared on television, he “repeated what other people said. I certainly didn’t see it myself.”
The Vatican’s editorial director, Andrea Tornielli, previously condemned Orlandi’s comments as a “sleazy” slander of the former pope, who led the Catholic Church from 1978 to 2005, and was canonized in 2014.
Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, who was John Paul’s secretary during his leadership, called Orlandi’s actions “disrespectful, unrealistic, laughable if not tragic, even criminal.”
Over forty years ago, graves have been opened, bones have been exhumed from forgotten gravesites and conspiracy theories have abounded in trying to determine just what became Emanuela Orlandi.
The case, which has been the subject of investigations in Italy and the Vatican, has attracted worldwide attention following the release of the Netflix series last year. Vatican Girl.
He would be 55 now.
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