Pope Francis on Sunday offered prayers and solidarity to the family of a Vatican schoolgirl who went missing 40 years ago in one of Italy’s most enduring mysteries.
Emanuela Orlandi, the 15-year-old daughter of a Vatican usher, failed to return home on June 22, 1983, after a music lesson in central Rome.
The case has drawn renewed worldwide attention following the release of the Netflix series “Vatican Girl” late last year.
Referring to the 40th anniversary of her disappearance, Francis said he wanted “to express once again my closeness to her family, especially her mother, assuring my prayers”.
Delivering his Angelus message, Francis addressed crowds in St. Peter’s Square, including Orlandi’s brother Pietro, who has long campaigned for the Vatican to shed light on the mystery.
Pietro Orlandi was standing with a group of supporters, holding up photographs and banners that called for “truth” and “justice”.
He welcomed the pope’s remarks, calling them “a positive signal” and “a good step forward”, in comments to Italian news agency ANSA.
Foul play has long been suspected in the Orlandi case, and this year both Vatican and Italian investigators have reopened investigations into it with possible new leads.
Theories about Orlandi’s disappearance have run the gamut from speculation that it was linked to a plot to kill Pope John Paul II to suggestions that she was kidnapped by the Rome underworld, leading to accusations that she was the victim of a priestly paedophile group.
Earlier this year, Pietro Orlandi played an audio tape on Italian television from an alleged gangster who said girls were brought into the Vatican to be molested and that John Paul II knew about it.
In April, Pope Francis called the allegations “offensive and unfounded insinuations”.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
