The tombs of two princesses in the
Vatican's Teutonic Cemetry, opened in a search for the body of
Emanuela Orlandi, have been found empty, her brother said
Thursday.
Orlandi, the daughter of a Vatican worker, disappeared in
summer 1983 at the age of 15.
The Vatican court's promoter of justice ordered the two tombs
to be opened after a petition from Orlandi's family.
"The decision," said Vatican spokesman Alessandro Gisotti,
"was taken within the context of one of the files opened
following a petition by Emanuela Orlandi's family who, as is
well known, in recent months reported the possible burying of
her body in the small cemetery situated in the territory of the
Vatican State".
In April the Vatican decided to open an internal probe into
the case of Orlandi, a 15-year-old Vatican citizen who
disappeared in the summer of 1983.
The Secretariat of State authorised the opening of an
investigation into a grave in the Teutonic Cemetery inside the
Vatican that some think may be Orlandi's.
Orlandi's brother Pietro said he had met Vatican Secretary of
State Cardinal Pietro Parolin in the last few months, sometimes
with his lawyer Laura Sgro', and "we presented our requests".
"After 35 years of lack of cooperation, the start of an
investigation is an important breakthrough," he said.
"We have presented the Vatican with a series of issues,
including that relating to the tomb in the Teutonic Cemetery,
but not only," said Pietro Orlandi.
"Among the issues are those linked to the discrepancies in
the affair, the international legal probe requests that did not
succeed, and then the possibility of questioning some cardinals
and the request to hear from Giancarlo Capaldo, the magistrate
who investigated Emanuela's disappearance in 2012 and who, after
being contacted by the Vatican, went to see an authoritative
prelate for a sort of "negotiation" on the case.
"And then there's the request to carry out checks on one of
the tombs in the Teutonic Cemetery on which rumours have been
circulating inside the Vatican for years.
"But I don't want them to open this tomb to do me a favour, I
want the truth to emerge".
The Vatican said on March 27 it was handling a request from
Orlandi's family to see if the tomb was that of Orlandi.
"We're handling it, we'll find a way. I can't say any more,"
said the Vatican tribunal's promoter of justice, Gian Pierto
Milano.
A lawyer for the Orlandi family said "seeing that the Pope
has decided to open the Vatican Archives for the Pontificate of
Pius XII in 2020, we make an appeal to the pontiff to give us
access to the dossier that regards the investigation into the
disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi".
Last summer the Orlandi family lawyer received an anonymous
note saying "seek where the angel indicates".
Investigations then led the family to think her remains might
be in the tomb, which is pointed to by an angel on the cemetery
wall holding a sheet saying RIP.
Speculation on Orlandi's disappearance, and that of another
15-year-old girl in the same summer of 1983, has been rife over
the years.
In late November Rome prosecutors said bones found in an
annex to the Vatican's nunciature to Italy do not belong to
Emanuela Orlandi or the other girl, Mirella Gregori.
Analysis of the remains showed that they date back to before
1964 and belong to a man, the sources said.
Gregori disappeared in May 1983.
Orlandi, the daughter of a Vatican employee, went missing a
month later.
The Orlandi case has spawned several theories over the
years, including that she was murdered to gain traction to have
pope John Paul II's Turkish shooter Mehmet Ali Agca freed, or
that organised crime was involved.
Ali Agca was questioned in the case.
In 2016 investigations into the case were shelved.
Six people including a priest were implicated in the
investigations on suspicion of complicity in abduction and
murder.
All but one had links with the Banda della Magliana, a
now-defunct crime gang based in Rome.
In September last year the Vatican described as "false and
ridiculous" reports that the Vatican had spent large amounts of
money on the case.
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