Daily Times

Emanuela Orlandi, the 15-year-old daughter of a Vatican employee, was last seen leaving a music class in Rome on June 22, 1983. Decades of speculation followed over what happened to her, with suggestions that mobsters, the secret services or a Vatican conspiracy were to blame — theories that sparked a hit Netflix series. After his weekly Angelus prayer at the Vatican, Pope Francis said he wanted to use the anniversary “to once again express my closeness to the family, above all her mother, and assure them of my prayers”. “I extend my remembrance to all the families who bear the pain of a loved one who has disappeared,” he added. Orlandi’s family has for years campaigned for the truth and in January the Vatican’s chief prosecutor opened a file into the case. On Thursday’s anniversary, the Vatican revealed he had forwarded his findings to the Rome prosecutor’s office, which is conducting its own probe. There had been “some lines of inquiry worthy of further investigation”, the Vatican said in a statement, without giving further details. But it said it had collected evidence from Vatican institutions and accounts from senior officials at the time. The Vatican has been accused of obstructing investigation efforts over the decades, but Orlandi’s brother Pietro expressed hope Sunday that some progress might finally be made.