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The Holy See’s desire for clarity in the Emanuela Orlandi mystery

epa07709630 A handout picture provided by the Vatican Media shows the opening of two tombs at the Teutonic Cemetery in relation to the investigations into the case of Emanuela Orlandi, Vatican City, 11 July 2019. The tombs of two princesses in the Vatican's Teutonic Cemetery, opened in a search for the body of Emanuela Orlandi, have been found empty, her brother Pietro said Thursday. Orlandi, the daughter of a Vatican worker, disappeared in summer 1983 at the age of 15. The Vatican confirmed 'the outcome of the search has been negative'. The Vatican court's promoter of justice ordered the two tombs to be opened after a petition from Orlandi's family. EPA-EFE/VATICAN MEDIA HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

On Saturday, experts will examine two ossuaries – small chambers where dead are buried – in the latest attempt to unravel the mystery of the disappearance of a teenage Italian girl 36 years ago.

The first attempt on 11 July exhumed two tombs a tip-off had said might contain Emanuela Orlandi’s remains.

Orlandi’s family hopes the search at the Vatican’s Pontifical Teutonic College holds the key to a mystery that has gripped Italy since 1983.

Andrea Tornielli in an editorial for The Vatican News wirtes on the Vatican’s wish for clarity in the mystery of Emanuela Orland, the fifteen-year-old daughter of a Vatican employee who mysteriously disappeared in the centre of Rome in June 1983.

In it Tornielli writes that the recent opening of the two tombs in the Teutonic Cemetery inside the Vatican show the readiness of the Holy See to help shed light on this case that has puzzled many for all these years.

He writes that  the accuracy of the investigations and technical surveys, the decision to have DNA tests done on the eventual remains, the technical expertise with which the operations were carried out under the guidance of the Promoter of Justice and the coordination of the Vatican’s Gendarmerie Corps led by Domenico Giani, clearly demonstrate the will of the Holy See to take the family’s request seriously.

He adds that the fact that the two tombs were devoid of remains has triggered new questions about the resting place of the two noblewomen who died two centuries ago. However, the attempt to shift the focus, aiming to involve the Holy See as regards the whereabouts of those remains is misleading.

 

Read more at Vatican News

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