Vatican City, 14 April 2012 (VIS) - Holy See Press Office Director Fr.
Federico Lombardi S.J. today issued a note concerning news which has appeared
recently in Italian media outlets about the Vatican and the Emanuela Orlandi
case. Emanuela Orlandi,
the daughter of an employee of Vatican City State and herself a Vatican
citizen, disappeared on 22 June 1983 at the age of 15. Her disappearance has
given rise to much speculation over the last thirty years. Among other
theories, it has been conjectured
that the case was related to the assassination attempt against John Paul II in
1981, and that it involved secret services or groups active in
Subject: VISnews120416
From: Vatican Information Service - Eng - txt
the Roman underworld of the time. In 2008 an Italian television programme
transmitted information suggesting
that Emanuela Orlandi's remains may be buried in the same grave as the leader
of one of those criminal gangs.
Extracts from Fr. Lombardi's note are given below.
"It should be recalled that Pope John Paul II demonstrated particular
personal interest in this tragic abduction, intervening publicly on various
occasions (no fewer than eight in less than a year) with appeals for the
liberation of Emanuela. He also
went in person to visit the family. ... This personal commitment of the Pope
was naturally backed up by the commitment of his collaborators. Cardinal
Agostino Casaroli, secretary of State and therefore the Pope's main
collaborator, followed events
personally, and made a special telephone available line for contact with the
kidnappers.
"As has been stated in the past, and is still maintained by Cardinal
Giovanni Battista Re - then assessor of the Secretariat of State and today the
main and most authoritative witness from that time - both the Secretariat of
State and the Governorate
did everything possible to deal with the painful situation by collaborating
with the Italian authorities, who obviously had responsibility for the
investigations as the abduction took place in Italy. The complete readiness to
collaborate on the part of
people holding positions of responsibility within the Vatican at the time is
proven by the facts and the circumstances. ... All the letters and information
which reached the Vatican were immediately passed on to Inspector Sica at the
General
Inspectorate for Public Security in the Vatican, and are presumably still held
in the competent Italian judicial offices.
"Likewise in the second phase of the investigation, years later, the three
rogatory letters send to the Vatican authorities by Italian investigators ...
all received a response". At the request of the Italian judges numerous people
were interrogated
in the Vatican and their declarations sent to the authorities concerned. "The
relevant files still exist and remain at the disposal of investigators. It
should also be pointed out that at the time of Emanuela's abduction, the
Vatican authorities granted
Italian investigators of SISDE (the Italian secret service) authorisation to
place the telephone line of the Orlandi family under surveillance, and gave
them free access to the Vatican allowing them to go to the Orlandi home
without mediation by Vatican
functionaries. It is not, then, correct to accuse the Vatican of having
refused to collaborate with the Italian investigative authorities".
"The main issue is that, unfortunately, no information useful for the
solution of the case ... was found in the Vatican. At that time the Vatican
authorities, on the basis of messages they received referring to Ali Agca - a
period which effectively
coincided with the investigation on the attack against the Pope - shared the
prevailing opinion that the kidnapping was used by an obscure criminal
organisation to send a message or to apply pressure in relation to the
incarceration and interrogation of
the Pope's attacker.
"There was no reason to imagine other possible motives for the kidnapping.
Attributing knowledge of secrets related to the abduction, allegedly possessed
by people belonging to Vatican institutions, but without giving any names, is
neither a reliable
nor well-founded way to proceed. At times it almost seems to be a pretext
against the anguish and frustration of not being able to discover the
truth.
"In conclusion, ... it has not emerged that there is anything hidden, nor
that there are 'secrets' to be revealed in the Vatican. Continuing to affirm
the contrary is completely unjustified".
"Finally, since the location of the grave of Enrico De Pedis in the
basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Rome has given, and continues to give rise to
questions and discussion, over and above any links he may have had with the
Orlandi case, we reiterate
that the Church has no objection to the opening of the tomb and the burial of
the body elsewhere, in order to restore the serenity that is right and just
for a holy place.
"To conclude, we would like to draw inspiration from John Paul II's own
intense personal participation in this tragic event, and in the suffering of
the family, ... a suffering unfortunately rekindled every time a new
explanation of the case emerges.
... Alas, many people disappear in Italy every year, and are never heard from
again despite searches and enquiries; yet the affair of this young and
innocent Vatican citizen continues to come under the spotlight. This should
not be a reason to attribute
the Vatican with a guilt it does not have, but rather an occasion to gain
greater awareness of terrible and often forgotten disappearances (especially
of young people), and to make every effort to oppose all criminal activity
from whatever source".
___________________________________________________________
FIVE CARDINALS TO TAKE POSSESSION OF TITLES, DIACONATES
Vatican City, 16 April 2012 (VIS) - A note released today by the Office of
Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff provides details concerning the
taking of possession of the following titles and diaconates:
Cardinal Prosper Grech O.S.A., will take possession of the diaconate of
Santa Maria Goretti in Via di Santa Maria Goretti 29, Rome, at 6 p.m. on
Saturday 21 April.
Cardinal Karl Josef Becker S.J., will take possession of the diaconate of
San Giuliano Martire in Via Cassia 1036, Rome, at 11 a.m. on Sunday 22
April.
Cardinal Manuel Monteiro de Castro, penitentiary major, will take
possession of the diaconate of San Domenico di Guzman in Via Vincenzo
Marmorale 25, Rome, at 11.15 a.m. on Sunday 22 April.
Cardinal John Tong Hon, bishop of Hong Kong, China, will take possession of
the title of title of Regina Apostolorum in Via Antonino Pio 75, Rome, at
11.30 a.m. on Sunday 22 April.
Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio, president of the Pontifical Council for
Legislative Texts, will take possession of the diaconate of San Giuseppe dei
Falegnami in Clivo Argentario 1, Rome, at 5 p.m. on Thursday 26 April.
___________________________________________________________
AUDIENCES
Vatican City, 16 April 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in
audience Horst Seehofer, minister-president of Bavaria, Germany.
___________________________________________________________
OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
Vatican City, 14 April 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed:
- Archbishop Marek Solczynski, apostolic nuncio to Georgia and Armenia,
also as apostolic nuncio to Azerbaijan.
- As consultors of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints: Msgr. Luis
Manuel Cuna Ramos, Fr. Filippo Urso, Fr. Wojciech Giertych O.P., Fr. Antonio
Escudero Cabello S.D.B., Fr. Marek Rostkowsi O.M.I., Fr. Alfonso Amarante
C.SS.R., Sr. Albarosa Ines
Bassani S.V.D.I., and Sr. Grazia Loparco F.M.A.
___________________________________________________________
Per ulteriori informazioni e per la ricerca di documenti consultare il
sito: www.wisnews.org e www.vatican.va
Il servizio
del VIS viene inviato soltanto agli indirizzi di posta
elettronica che
ne hanno
fatto richiesta. Se per qualunque motivo
non si desidera continuare a
riceverlo, si prega di visitare nostra pagina
dinizio:
http://212.77.1.245/news_services/press/v
s/italinde.php
Copyright (VIS): Le notizie contenute nei servizi del Vatican
Information Service possono essere riprodotte parzialmente o totalmente
citando la fonte: V.I.S. - Vatican Information Service.
