As always let us begin our story about the legal system in Vatican City. Vatican City is incredibly unique as the canon law of the Catholic Church is above all else. Canon law is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority, for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. Pope Francis has stated that principles of canon law are essential to the interpretation and application of the laws of Vatican City State. Along with Canon law there is Fundamental Law of the Vatican City State which was ordered by Pope John Paul II in 2000. The Fundamental Law consists of 20 articles and known as the constitutional law of Vatican City. There is also Positive Civil Law, which is based on the Italian code from 1889, but in 2008 the Vatican announced that they would not longer automatically adopt Italian laws. Also note that Vatican officials have immunity from International Law. There is a judiciary system in Vatican City which consists of Giudice Unico, a tribunal, a Court of Appels, and Supreme Court. Now if you were to commit a crime in Vatican City you would most likely be handed a fine, but there is a police force called the Corps of Gendarmerie of Vatican City State. Article 22 of the Lateran Treaty provides that the Italian government, when requested by the Holy See, seeks prosecution and detention of criminal suspects, at the expense of the Vatican. Also, there are a few Jail cells at the Vatican but most likely if you arrested at the Vatican you will be held in an Italian jail.
Now before researching this story, I thought that only the Pope lived in Vatican City, in fact Vatican City has just over 800 residents living within its walls. Making it the smallest sovereign state in the world in both population and area. Citizenship is granted by jus offci doctrine which means it is appointed to you and this extends to spouses of the Holy See and their children. The Vatican’s citizenship consists of two main groups, the church’s clergy, and soldiers of the Pontifical Swiss Guard. There is a small female population at the Vatican, which only makes up 5% of the total population.
Our crime story today focuses on the disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi, who disappeared on June 22, 1983 when she was 15 years old. Though she disappeared in Rome, Italy, Emanuela was a resident and citizen of Vatican City for her father Ercole worked at Vatican Bank or at the prefecture as a clerk in the city. Emanuela was the fourth child of Ercole and Maria Orlandi she had one brother and three sisters. Emanuela was beautiful, had just finished her second year of high school, and loved music. Emanuela played piano, flute and sang in a choir, she was very musically gifted. The Orlandi citizens were known to love to play in the Vatican gardens together. This case has garnered attention because she was a resident of the Vatican and crazy conspiracy theories have popped up in the 37 years Emanuela has been gone.
Emanuela was out of school for the summer break but she was still attending her music school three times a week for practice in Rome. Emanuela would travel by bus to school and walk only a few blocks to the building. On June 22, 1983 she asked her brother Pietro to ride the bus with her to class but he declined, later stating “I’ve gone over it so many times, telling myself if only I had accompanied her maybe it wouldn’t have happened”. Emanuela was late to class presumably to call her sister who she told that an Avon Cosmetics representative in a dark colored BMW stopped her and offered her a job, her sister stated that she should talk to her parents before taking the job. Emanuela seemed troubled by the incident. Once at her flute lesson she asked her teacher if she could leave 10 min early. She left her lesson around 6:50pm and saw a friend at the bus stop and again reiterated about the representative who asked her to work for Avon Cosmetics. Once on the bus she was seen talking to a red-headed woman and was never seen again.
I could not find any information about what happened the night of Emanuela’s disappearance, but I would assume that her family was worried sick and the Italian and Vatican authorities were contacted. The next day Emanuela was official declared a missing person, and her parents called the music school to see if they could gather any more information. Announcements of Emanuela’s Disappearance were published in different newspapers. On June 25th, a call came into the Orlandi’s line from a man named Pierluigi who stated that his girlfriend saw a girl who looked like Emanuela was playing the flute in the Campo dei Fiori (which is a Piazza in Rome) going by the name Barbra and was selling cosmetics. Another man named Mario (Mario and Luigi, come up with better names yall) called stating a similar story. Unfortunately something that happens with missing family’s a lot is people trying to exploit the family calling in prank calls, or making up lies, or trying to get money and the Orlandi family was no different, they to received these calls. By June 30th, 3,000 posters about Emanuela’s disappearance was spread throughout the Eternal City.
A move that is often criticized, on July 3rd, Pope John Paul II pleaded for the safe return on Emanuela after a public prayer, saying “I am close to the Orlandi family” this wasn’t the last time the pope did this, he asked for her safe return publicly eight more times. This move was criticized because it made Emanuela known, high profile. Which is a good move in a missing persons cases, the more people that know the greater odds of solving the case. But this move by the Pope but a target on Emanuela’s back, it made her a political chess piece. Everyone knew her name now and knew that the Pope wanted her back within his Vatican City Walls.
Two days after the Pope’s first public appeal, the first of a number of anonymous phone calls. The man on the other end was given the name The American due to his accent. The American stated that she had been taken as by a Turkish terrorist group and they took her to secure a release of Mehmet Ali Agca, who tried to shoot and kill the Pope in 1981. The American later called the Vatican and again asked for a prisoner exchange. The American proved that he had Emanuela by sending photos of Emanuela’s registration card, sheet music that Emanuela was studying and a handwritten note from Emanuela. The American also stated the Mario and Pierluigi were also apart of the organization. The American later reached out to a news agency saying that the Pope only had 20 days to make the exchange happen. A police officer working on the case thought The American was not credible. On July 8th, a man with an alleged Middle Eastern accent phoned one of Orlandi's classmates saying Orlandi was in his hands and that they had 20 days to make the exchange with Agca. The man also asked for a direct telephone line with the Vatican Secretary of State Agostino Casaroli. The line was installed on 18 July. A total of 16 telephone calls were made by "The American" from different public telephone booths. No exchange was ever made and the American did not contact anyone after October 27, 1983.
Now there are many theories as to what happened to Emanuela, lets go over them. One theory is that she was lured by a random sexual predator was raped then murdered. Another states that the Vatican knows where Emanuela is and have been paying for her expenses since 1983, this theory came to light from a stolen document from the Vatican which the Vatican later stated that this theory is “false and ridiculous”. One of the crazier ones was coined by a Journalist named Pino Nicotri who wrote a book stating that Emanuela was a victim of satanic sexual orgy organized by Catholic Priests.
In 2008, a former mistress of a gangster named Enrico De Pedis told authorities that De Pedis organized Emanuela’s disappearance at the behest of American archbishop, Paul C Marcinkus who was at on time was the President of the Vatican Bank. Remember when Emanuela was seen talking to the man in the BMW? A traffic warden saw this exchange and said the man looked remarkably similar to De Pedis. Some have theorized that Emanuela's father had evidence of wrongdoing committed by Marcinkus, and that he asked De Pedis to kidnap the girl to keep the clerk quiet. Another theory is that De Pedis' group, the Banda della Magliana, took Emanuela as a way to try to restore some of the money they lost in the crash of the Banco Ambrosiano, which Marcinkus was involved in. In 2012, De Pedis's grave was exhumed to see whether Emanuela's remains might be hidden inside with his, but nothing matched Emanuela.
Yet, another theory is that the daughter of the Pope’s personal butler was being followed for weeks before Emanuela’s disappearance. When the Butler’s daughter told her father, more protection was ordered for her. After since whoever could not take the Butler’s daughter did their eye shift to Emanuela?
Of course, there is the theory with Turkish Terrorist group wanted to preform a prisoner exchange. Agca, the man who tried to assassinate the pope stated that Emanuela had been kidnapped by Bulgarian agents of the Grey Wolves, a Turkish ultra-nationalist, neo-fascist youth organization of which Agca was a member. Agca stated that Emanuela was alive and not in danger but he did not have a direct link to Emanuela. In 2000, an Italian Judge based on the information about the Grey Wolves, declared that Orlandi, by then an adult, was living a perfectly integrated life in the Muslim community and that she had probably lived for a long time in Paris. I do not know where he got this info or this idea from…
Emanuela’s case is often compared to another disappearance that happened in 1983 to the Roman girl, Mirella Gregori. She only disappeared 40 days before Emanuela. Mirella told her mother that she had a date and left the house and was never seen again. In a letter published in 2006, Agca claimed that Emanuela Orlandi and Mirella Gregori, were abducted as part of a plan to secure his release from prison. He claimed that the girls were whisked away to a royal palace in Liechtenstein. In a 2010 interview, Agca claimed that the assassination attempt that he was imprisoned for was orchestrated by the Vatican itself. He also said Emanuela was living in a Central European country as a nun in a Catholic Monastery and the Orlandi’s knew of her whereabouts and were able to visit her whenever they liked.
In 2019, this case was thrust back into the news when tombs inside the Vatican were opened. In 2017, Pietro Orlandi, Emanuela’s brother was told by people working inside the Vatican that Emanuela might be buried inside the Vatican. Sources told his to seek the place where an angel was pointing in the cemetery, which is between St. Peter’s Basilica and the Paul VI Audience Hall. That led Pietro to the tomb of Princess Sophie of Hohenlohe, who died in 1836. The tomb was empty, no Emanuela and no Princess. The Princess’s bones were later found nearby. Emanuela’s brother has stated publicly that he believes the Pope and the Vatican knows what happened to Emanuela.
What do you think happened to Emanuela? Do you think the Vatican covered something up? Do you think the Grey Wolves had something to do with it? Or that it was a random attack by a sexual predator? I think the prominence of Emanuela’s family and her being a Vatican City State citizen has something to do with her disappearance but I am not sure exactly what. I do not think it was a random attack and I do not think the Vatican knows what happened to Emanuela. This case has so many angles that it can be looked at from and a conspiracy theorist can have a felid day with this one. I am going to throw out a scenario, what is Emanuela was abducted a rouse to get a hefty ransom. Then when the Pope asked for the safe return of Emanuela and her face was everywhere, even in international news, the preparator got scared and killed her. I find it crazy though that no evidence and no remains have popped up in the 36 years since her disappearance. And I have learned in my studies of Missing Persons cases there is always some truth in the rumors. So maybe it was the Grey Wolves?! I would love to hear your thoughts!
That concludes the sixth episode of A Crime Story. I would love to hear your thoughts about today’s case. You can comment on a crime story’s Instagram @acrimestorypod, where I will be posting images from today’s story. Or you can comment on A Crime Story Podcast on Facebook or @acrimestorypod on Twitter. Or even comment and see additional photos on A Crime Story Podcast on YouTube. I have also started a website, where you can listen to the podcast as well as read a transcript of today’s story under the blog tab. The website is acrimestorypodcast.com Thank you so much for listening. If you could please leave a review of the podcast, it helps others find it. Also, if you could tell a friend about A Crime Story, I would greatly appreciate it. I hope to see you next time where I will be covering a case from the United Kingdome. You will not want to miss it.
A Crime Story is hosted and written by me, Kailin Lois. Sources for today’s episode can be found in the show’s notes. Theme Music is by Ross Bugden. Additional story editing is brought to you by my father, Mike. Thank you for listening to A Crime Story! Stay safe and be kind.
Sources: Vatican.com, Insider.com, catholicnewsagency.com, Georgia Marie, The Guardian, ABC News, The New York Times
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