Where are Emanuela and Mirella?

Will we ever know?

If you are following these cases, you will be aware of the tragic situation that is never-ending. You may have seen the Netflix series Vatican Girl, which focused primarily on the disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi.

Much has been discussed in Italy about this case but it relates to us all. For several years, the media and the public have witnessed the revelations of the Catholic Church’s role in the sexual abuse of children. Recently, more information has been released about the male clergy’s abuse of nuns.

It’s all a sad story and one doesn’t know where to start with it. In Australia, Cardinal George Pell occupied the media for some time until his trial and recent death. But it seems that institutional sexual abuse of children and teenagers is put into a separate category to the disappearance of these girls.

I would have thought the Netflix series capable of arousing global ire. Is the public desensitised, I wonder.

How do Catholics accept the concept that individual conscience falls into second place behind loyalty to the Canon?

Pietro Orlandi, Emanuela’s brother, has waged a forty year campaign to find out the truth of her disappearance in 1983. Pope John Paul II spoke to him and said, Your sister is in heaven. A puzzling message. How would he know that?

Rumours have persisted for years about the goings on in the Vatican. If you read Frederic Martel’s compelling book, In the Closet…