Print friendly
The Vatican, Friday, pushed back hard, suggestions that 40 years ago John Paul II may have been involved in the disappearance of a 15-year-old girl and went out on the town with Vatican monsignors, looking for young girls to molest.
Pietro Orlandi, the brother of a missing 15 girl, Emanuela Orlandi, made the allegation.
However, the Vatican’s editorial director, Andrea Tornielli, blasted Pietro Orlandi’s insinuation, calling it slanderous.
Tornielli said Orlandi’s comments were accompanied by “no evidence, clues, testimonies or corroboration.”
“Think what would have happened if someone had gone on television to state, on the basis of a ‘hearsay’ from an anonymous source and without the shred of a match or even third-hand testimony, that your father or grandfather left the house at night and together with some ‘snack buddies’ went around harassing underage girls.
“And imagine what would have happened if your now deceased relative were universally known and esteemed by all, due to some important role held.
“Wouldn’t we have read comments and editorials indignant at the unspeakable way in which the good reputation of this great man, loved by so many, has been harmed?”…
“And we are not saying this because Karol Wojtyla is a saint or because he was Pope.
“Even if this media massacre saddens and dismays, wounding the hearts of millions of believers and non-believers, defamation must be denounced because it is unworthy of a civilised country to treat anyone in this way, alive or dead, whether cleric or layman, Pope, metalworker or young unemployed person.”
“It is right for everyone to answer for any crimes, if they have committed any, without any impunity or privileges.
“It is sacrosanct that a 360-degree investigation be undertaken to seek the truth about Emanuela’s disappearance.
“But no one deserves to be defamed in this way, without even a shred of clues, on the basis of the “rumour” of some unknown character from the criminal underworld or some sleazy anonymous comment broadcast on live TV.”
Then on Sunday in St Peter’s Square, Pope Francis doubled down on Tornielli’s rebuke, labelling the insinuations “offensive and baseless.”
Francis made the comments to tourists and pilgrims, saying he aimed to interpret the feelings of the faithful worldwide by expressing gratitude to the Polish pontiff’s memory.
“Confident of interpreting the sentiment of all the faithful of the entire world, I direct a grateful thought to the memory of St John Paul II, in these days the object of offensive and baseless insinuations,” Francis said, his voice turning stern and his words drawing applause.
Background
Over the past four decades, tombs have been opened; bones have been exhumed from forgotten grave sites, and conspiracy theories have abounded in attempts to determine just what became of Emanuela Orlandi.
The daughter of a Vatican usher whose family lived in the Vatican, Emanuela Orlandi, then 15, failed to return home on June 22, 1983, following a music lesson in Rome.
Pietro Orlandi has long believed the Vatican knows more than it’s letting on about his sister’s disappearance, then late last year, Emanuela Orlandi’s disappearance received fresh worldwide attention following the release of the Netflix series “Vatican Girl”.
During an interrogation with Vatican prosecutors Tuesday, Orlandi provided an audiotape containing a statement from an alleged mobster saying the late St Pope John Paul II used to go out at night with some monsignors in tow to harass and molest underage girls.
In January, the Italian Parliament reopened a parliamentary commission of inquest into her case.
At the same time, Vatican chief prosecutor Alessandro Diddi reopened the Vatican investigation when he inherited the files from his retired predecessor.
The Pope wants “the truth to emerge without any reservations” and has an “iron will” regarding the case, Diddi says.
John Paul’s longtime secretary, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, also criticised the insinuations as “unreal, false and laughable if they weren’t tragic and even criminal.”
He said he understands the pain of the Orlandi family and hopes for the truth to finally come out.
At the same time, he defended John Paul and denied any attempts to cover up the Orlandi case.
“We hope this can shed light on this episode …” his lawyer says.
“The Vatican’s openness and the pope’s determination is absolutely positive.”
After receiving harsh backlash from the Vatican for what they said were “defamatory” insinuations against the late Pope John Paul II made on national television, Pietro Orlandi, the brother of a missing Italian teen, appears to distance himself from his initial statements.
He now welcomes the probe and promises by Vatican prosecutors that they have been given carte blanche to investigate “without reservations” to find the truth.
Source
- USNews
- AP News
- Crux Now
- National Post
- Vatican News (Translation by Google)
Related Posts:
News category: Great reads, Top Story, World.
