The Vatican has announced that it will be opening two tombs in a Vatican City cemetery to determine if the body of Emanuela Orlandi is buried there.
Her case, still unsolved, is very popular in Italy as it has been the focus of several conspiracy theories.
Emanuela Orlandi was fifteen years old when she disappeared on June 22, 1983 en route home from a music lesson in Rome.
A citizen of Vatican City, Orlandi’s father worked and lived in the Vatican.
On April 10, it was announced that the Vatican Secretariat of State had authorized an investigation into a grave in the Vatican that some believe could be where Orlandi’s remains are located. This came after the Orlandi family lawyer received an anonymous note suggesting that her remains were buried there.
The decision by the Vatican office now approves the opening of two tombs in the Teutonic Cemetery, next to St Peter’s Basilica, which will occur on July 11, according to Interim Director of the Holy See Press Office Alessandro Gisotti.
Once the tombs are opened and the remains exhumed, they will be dated and DNA tested.
In November 2018, bones found underneath the Vatican nunciature to Italy were speculated to be those of Orlandi, or Mirella Gregori, another 15-year-old who went missing shortly before her, but testing showed that the bones belonged to a Roman man who died sometime between the years 90 and 230 AD.
Areas of Catholic Herald business are still recovering post-pandemic.
However, we are reaching out to the Catholic community and readership, that has been so loyal to the Catholic Herald. Please join us on our 135 year mission by supporting us.
We are raising £250,000 to safeguard the Herald as a world-leading voice in Catholic journalism and teaching.
We have been a bold and influential voice in the church since 1888, standing up for traditional Catholic culture and values. Please consider donating.