Insinuations against John Paul II are unjustified, according to Pope Francis
On April the 16th, Pope Francis dismissed as insulting and unsubstantiated remarks made by the brother of a Vatican schoolgirl who vanished 40 years prior against one of his predecessors as pope, Saint John Paul II.
The Vatican usher’s daughter Emanuela Orlandi vanished on June 22, 1983, after leaving a piano lesson in Rome. At the time, she was 15 years old and resided within the Vatican with her family. One of Italy’s most lasting mysteries is her disappearance.
Tuesday’s meeting between her brother Pietro and Vatican head prosecutor Alessandro Diddi, whom Francis has granted full authority to investigate the matter, marked the beginning of a new chapter in the case.
Pietro Orlandi appeared on a television program after spending more than eight hours speaking with Diddi, where he played a segment of an audio recording featuring the voice of a man he claimed was a member of the organized crime group that Italian media has long speculated may be connected to his sister’s disappearance.
The accused criminal claims that Pope John Paul was aware that females were taken into the Vatican more than 40 years ago to be assaulted.
In his own words, Orlandi said, “They tell me Wojtyla (Pope John Paul II’s last name) used to go out in the evenings with two Polish monsignors, and it most definitely was not to bless houses.”
to the pope’s intervention at his midday speech to approximately 20,000 people in St. Peter’s Square, the statements had raised a stir and had been denounced by Vatican authorities in the previous few days.
Francis added, “I convey a thankful thought to the memory of St. John Paul, who in recent days has been the subject of insulting and baseless insinuations, certain that I am expressing the thoughts of the faithful from all over the globe.
The largely Italian audience started cheering.
Laura Sgro, Pietro Orlandi’s attorney, was called by Diddi on Saturday. According to the Vatican, she used the attorney-client privilege. I have never questioned the holiness of John Paul II, Sgro texted to Diddi after telling Reuters that they did not discuss John Paul in their chat.
By phone on Sunday, Orlandi informed Reuters that it was “correct that Francis defended John Paul II.” Orlandi said, “I was echoing what other people had stated during the televised appearance. Without a doubt, I did not witness it.
Andrea Tornielli, the editorial director of the Vatican, had denounced Orlandi’s remarks as a “sleazy” denigration of the pontiff, who presided over the Catholic Church from 1978 to 2005 and was canonized in 2014.
While serving as John Paul’s secretary, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz described Orlandi’s conduct as “ignoble, unrealistic, laughable if not tragic, even criminal.”
In an effort to learn more about Emanuela Orlandi’s fate, a number of tombs have been uncovered, bones have been removed from unmarked graves, and conspiracy theories abound.
After the Netflix series “Vatican Girl” was released late last year, the case—which has been the focus of intermittent investigations in Italy and the Vatican—attracted new global interest.
If she were alive today, she would be 55.
