In a horrifying new twist to the long-running mystery, it has been claimed that a teenage girl whose disappearance from the streets of Rome ranks among Italy’s biggest unsolved mysteries was sexually abused by a top Holy See authority. Emanuela Orlandi, the daughter of a Vatican office clerk whose family lived within the tiny city state, was 15 when she went missing while returning from a flute lesson in the capital in 1983. Since then, she has not been seen. Theories concerning her disappearance have focused around dubious claims of Cold War skulduggery, sex trafficking, financial scandals, mafia vendettas, and talks to free a Turkish gunman who shot and injured Pope John Paul II.
Now, a Netflix series called Vatican Girl, which will premiere on October 20, has proposed a stunning new explanation about what happened to the schoolgirl. The series is the most recent investigation into a case that began on June 22, 1983, when Emanuela Orlandi, a 15-year-old girl residing in Vatican City, went missing under strange circumstances that are thought to have included the Vatican. The case garnered international attention. On her way home from a piano lesson, Orlandi vanished. Her family and investigators have worked tirelessly to unravel the mystery ever then. Various ideas have linked the girl’s supposed kidnapping to international intrigue including secret services, the Italian mafia, and the Vatican, which has denied charges of a coverup.
According to a Netflix announcement, the four-part “Vatican Girl” investigates the case through fresh interviews with the Orlandi family and previously unheard witnesses. The statement reads, “These new voices portray a picture of a dark web of secrets kept hidden at all costs.” Pietro Orlandi, Emanuela’s brother, and Italian investigative journalist Andrea Purgatori, who has covered the case from the beginning, serve as the series’ main characters. Lewis wrote and directed the documentary series. Tom Barry and Dimitri Dogani are the executive producers of Raw, with Chiara Messineo serving as the show’s producer. On Thursday, Lewis and Messineo will discuss “Vatican Girl” in greater detail during a session at Rome’s MIA Content Fair.
The streaming service has also released a trailer for the docuseries, which was created by the British TV production company Raw. On October 20, the show will be available globally on Netflix.
