Document Revives Mystery of Vatican Teenager Who Vanished in ’83
The Vatican called the document fake, and a spokesman, Greg Burke, called the allegations contained in it "false and ridiculous." Even the investigative journalist who published the document said it could be a fake, noting
that it remains unclear who wrote the document, when or — crucially — why.
Mr. Fittipaldi said the document implies that the Vatican succeeded in tracking down Ms. Orlandi, but "instead of returning her to her family, they kept her in London, it’s unclear why." He added
that it was "wrong to leap to conclusions." The victim’s brother, Pietro Orlandi, who has spent decades searching for the truth of her disappearance, said that if his sister made it to London, it was inconceivable that she would not have reached out.
Whether genuine, or a forgery intended to "threaten, blackmail or create confusion," the document "comes from inside the Vatican," Mr. Fittipaldi, one of two reporters tried
and acquitted for leaking documents in the so-called "Vatileaks 2" trial, said at a news conference on Monday.
He urged the Vatican to disclose whether investigators had ever examined the document — "a poisoned meatball," he called it — and its provenance.
The fate of the teenager, Emanuela Orlandi, has been the subject of much speculation, and the document — purportedly written by a cardinal — suggests
that the Vatican may have been directly involved in her disappearance.
19, 2017
ROME — The disclosure this week of a five-page, typewritten document
that was stolen from an armored cabinet inside the Vatican has revived the mystery surrounding a 15-year-old who vanished in 1983.
The newly disclosed document is titled, "A summary of expenses sustained by Vatican City State for
the activities related to citizen Emanuela Orlandi (Rome January 14 1968)," her birth date.