The Lower House on Wednesday voted to
set up a joint parliamentary commission of inquiry into the
disappearance of Vatican teenagers Emanuela Orlandi and Mirella
Gregori in 1983.
The bill passed unanimously with 245 votes in favour, and now
goes to the Senate for final approval.
"There is the will to provide clarity," said Pietro Orlandi,
older brother of the then 15-year-old who disappeared while
returning home from a flute lesson in Rome on 22 June 1983.
"Today I felt the closeness of the institutions, and I must say
also their affection," added Pietro, saying he was "moved".
Sightings of Orlandi in various places have been reported over
the years, including inside Vatican City, but all have been
unreliable. The girl's disappearance sparked an intense media
frenzy in Italy that has resulted in the case being called
"Italy's most famous unsolved mystery".
Emanuela was the fourth of five children of Ercole and Maria
Orlandi. Her father was a worker at the Institute for the Works
of Religion (IOR), the Vatican Bank), according to some reports,
or an employee of the papal household, according
to others. The family lived inside Vatican City, and the
children had the free run of the Vatican gardens, according to
Pietro.
Gregori was also 15 when she went missing in the same year, a
month before Orlandi.
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