Pietro and Natalina Orlandi reacted badly to the prosecutor's office' The suggestion that their uncle may have kidnapped their sister. Photo: Andreas Solaro/AFP via Getty Images
A teenage girl whose disappearance from Rome 40 years ago remains one of Italy's greatest unsolved mysteries may have been kidnapped by her uncle, Italian prosecutors, she suggested, angering her family.< /p>
Emanuela Orlandi, daughter of a Vatican official and resident of the tiny city-state, was only 15 years old when she disappeared on her way home from a flute lesson in June 1983.
There were decades of hectic speculation. about what happened to her, with the accusation of the underworld of mafiosi, prelates of the Vatican, gangs of sexual harassment and various secret services embroiled in the intrigues of the cold war.
Now, in a new twist on a cold case that recently appeared in Netflix's four-episode series The Vatican Girl, it has been suggested that her late uncle may be the key to her disappearance.
The allegations have angered the Orlandi family, who are insisting on that the secret of what happened to her lies in the Vatican. The disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi is one of Italy's greatest mysteries. Photo: Riccardo De Luca/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Mario Meneguzzi raped Emanuela's older sister, Natalina, and also may have had an interest in Emanuela, according to claims made in a report by the Italian television network La7.
Meneguzzi died a few years ago. , bears a striking resemblance to an identikit of a man seen with Emanuela the night she disappeared in 1983, the network said.
He was identified as potentially involved in the case in September. 1983, just three months after her disappearance, but now the evidence is being re-examined.
According to the Italian press, Meneguzzi ran a bar in the lower house of parliament in Rome and had shady connections with the Italian secret services.
, seen with Emanuela on the night of her disappearance; her uncle Mario Meneguzzi (right) Photo: news.italy24.press/trends/689567
A Catholic priest told the then Vatican secretary of state — a role equivalent to a prime minister — that Natalina Orlandi told him during confession that she had been subjected to «unhealthy» and «intrusive» attention from her uncle. The priest took the unusual step of revealing what she said during confession after she was contacted by the then Vatican Secretary of State, Agostino Casaroli, who was investigating the case.
The Vatican is accused of «hushing up»
For years, the Vatican has been accused of obstructing attempts to get to the bottom of what happened to the schoolgirl, with suggestions made by the Netflix series that she was kidnapped so she wouldn't reveal she was sexually abused by a high-profile Catholic. a clergyman described as «someone close to the Pope», who at the time was John Paul II.
The suggestion that her uncle, and not anyone in the Holy See, might be responsible for her disappearance, has been seen by some analysts as a distraction by the Holy See.
At a press conference held in Rome on Tuesday about the latest theory, Natalina Orlandi denied being raped or sexually abused by her uncle. She said he only «verbally flirted» with her. «I'm surprised this story has come up again,» she told the Foreign Press Club.
She confirmed that she told her priest about the courtship, as well as her then-boyfriend and now husband.
The Vatican, under the leadership of Pope Francis, seems to be making an effort to get to the bottom of the matter, and began investigating the matter in January.
Then in May, Rome's prosecutors launched their own investigation. A few weeks ago, the Holy See handed over the case file to the Italian prosecutor's office, stating that it contains «some lines of investigation that merit further investigation.» /> Pope Francis remembered Emanuela Orlandi in his prayers in St. Peter's Square in June. Photo: AP Photo/Andrew Medichini
But the brother of the missing teenager, who has tirelessly tried to find out what happened to her, said he was «furious» at the suggestion that a family member was responsible for her disappearance.
He is convinced that the blame lies with Vatican, and the theory of sexual harassment is a red herring designed to remove responsibility from the Holy See.
“They decided to blame everything on my family without any sense of shame. They are scum. It disgusts me,” Pietro Orlandi told the Corriere della Sera newspaper.
He said he would demand a private audience with Pope Francis to ask for an explanation.
Pope Francis referred to the case. during an audience in St. Peter's Square last month marking the 40th anniversary of Emanuela's disappearance.
He expressed «closeness» to her family, but made no remarks about what might have happened to her.< /p >
“It was a positive sign, I didn’t expect it, I think it’s a good step forward,” Pietro Orlandi said at the time. «Emanuela Orlandi's taboo has finally fallen.»
The fact that the Pope publicly prayed for her was «a sign of hope to get to the bottom of the truth,» he said.
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