The moon was visible over St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican, on the morning of Oct. 12. 2022. / Daniel Ibáñez / CNA
Rome Newsroom, Nov 29, 2024 / 10:00 am (CNA).
The Vatican’s chief prosecutor confirmed at a public event on Wednesday that despite prior denials, the Vatican does possess a confidential file on the disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi — the so-called “Vatican girl” who went missing over 40 years ago.
The Vatican “found” the file, it does “exist,” the Vatican’s promoter of justice, Alessandro Diddi, said at a book presentation in Rome on Nov. 27, according to Italian media.
Orlandi’s brother, Pietro Orlandi, has maintained for years that the Vatican had information on his missing sister that it was withholding from the Italian authorities.
Diddi said Wednesday the content of the dossier is confidential, but the Vatican continues to collaborate with Italy in its new investigation into how the 15-year-old Emanuela disappeared in 1983.
Orlandi was the daughter of an envoy of the prefecture of the pontifical house and a citizen of Vatican City State. Her disappearance at age 15 in June 1983 has been one of Italy’s biggest unsolved mysteries and, since it occurred, the subject of international intrigue, including speculation about the Vatican’s role.
Public interest in the case was also rekindled in 2022 after the release of the true-crime documentary “Vatican Girl: The Disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi” on Netflix.
At the request of Orlandi’s family, the Vatican conducted a new investigation into the case at the beginning of 2023, sharing its findings with Rome prosecutors that summer.
In November 2023, the Italian Senate voted to begin a new parliamentary inquiry into Orlandi and another girl who went missing in Rome around the same time.
The four-year parliamentary commission has “full investigative powers” and a budget of 50,000 euros per year to shed light on the 1983 disappearance of the two girls.
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The crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square to hear Pope Francis deliver his Angelus address on Jan. 15, 2023. / Vatican Media
Rome Newsroom, Oct 15, 2023 / 11:21 am (CNA).
Pope Francis on Sunday used his Angelus address to underscore the importance of answering God’s call, reminding attendees that God “does not give up” and continuously “extends the invitation” until the faithful respond to it.
Reflecting on the Sunday Gospel reading from Matthew — in which Jesus relays the parable of a “king who gave a wedding feast for his son” — the Holy Father spoke about the importance of listening to God, reminding listeners that God does not “compel anyone” but rather “invites everyone” to be part of “a banquet, to be in communion with him and among ourselves.”
“Brothers and sisters, how many times do we fail to heed God’s invitation, because we are intent on our own affairs!” the pope lamented.
But God “does not give up,” the pope said. Instead “he extends the invitation, until he finds those who accept.”
“God proposes: he does not impose, never,” the pope said.
Many of us, the pope said, are “intent on our own affairs.” The antidote to this indifference, Francis said, is Jesus, who “frees” us by inviting us to find “time to dedicate to God.”
That liberation “lightens and heals our hearts” and “saves us from evil, loneliness and loss of meaning.”
The pope reminded listeners that it is “good to be with the Lord, to make space for him,” including “in the Mass, in listening to the Word, in prayer and also in charity, because by helping those who are weak or poor, by keeping company with those who are lonely, by listening to those who ask for attention, by consoling those who suffer, one is with the Lord, who is present in those in need.”
“Many, however, think that these things are a ‘waste of time’, and so they lock themselves away in their private world; and it is sad,” he said.
After the Angelus, the pope touched on the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.
“I continue to follow with great sorrow what is happening in Israel and Palestine,” the pope said. ”I think again of the many … in particular of the children and the elderly. I renew my appeal for the freeing of the hostages and I strongly ask that children, the sick, the elderly, women, and all civilians not be made victims of the conflict.
The Holy Father stressed the imperative of respecting international humanitarian law in Gaza “where it is urgent and necessary to ensure humanitarian corridors and to come to the aid of the entire population.”
“Brothers and sisters, already many have died,” mourned the pope. “Please, let no more innocent blood be shed, neither in the Holy Land nor in Ukraine, nor in any other place!”
The pope urged the faithful to participate in a day of prayer and fasting on Tuesday, October 17.
“In addition to the humanitarian situation of the displaced people — which is serious — I would also like to make a special appeal for the protection of the monasteries and places of worship in the region,” he said.
Rome Newsroom, Sep 23, 2022 / 05:29 am (CNA).
In a new letter, Benedict XVI praised the story of a woman who lived “the inner drama of being a Christian” and dedicated her life to the spiritual encount… […]
Pope Francis greets pilgrims at his general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
Vatican City, Sep 18, 2024 / 08:54 am (CNA).
Pope Francis on Wednesday said the Catholic Church is “more alive” outside of Europe as he reflected back on his recent apostolic journey to Southeast Asia.
“A first reflection that comes spontaneously after this trip is that in thinking about the Church we are still too Eurocentric, or, as they say, ‘Western,’” the pope said in St. Peter’s Square on Sept. 18.
“But in reality, the Church is much bigger, much bigger than Rome and Europe … and may I say much more alive in these countries,” he added.
Pope Francis greets pilgrims at his general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
In his first general audience since returning from the longest international trip of his pontificate, the pope expressed gratitude to God for his experiences in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Singapore Sept. 2–13.
“I thank the Lord who allowed me to do as an elderly pope what I would have liked to do as a young Jesuit,” Francis said.
The pope, who turns 88 in December, expressed his enthusiasm for the “missionary, outgoing Church” he encountered on his visit to the four island nations in Asia and Oceania.
The pope recalled his visit to the grounds of the Istiqlal Mosque, the largest mosque in Southeast Asia, where he signed a joint declaration with Grand Imam Nasaruddin Umar condemning religious-based violence and promoting religious harmony.
“There, I saw that fraternity is the future, it is the answer to anti-civilization, to the diabolical plots of hatred, war, and also sectarianism,” he said.
Pope Francis arrives at his general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
Pope Francis commented that the missionaries and catechists were the “protagonists” of his visit to Papua New Guinea, where the pope was welcomed by the beating drums of some of the country’s Indigenous tribes who have accepted the Catholic faith.
“I rejoiced to be able to stay a while with the missionaries and catechists of today; and I was moved to listen to the young people’s songs and music: In them, I saw a new future, without tribal violence, without dependency, without economic or ideological colonialism; a future of fraternity and care for the wondrous natural environment,” Francis said.
The pope added that he has “a beautiful memory” from traveling to the remote coastal town of Vanimo, a jungle outpost where he said Argentine missionaries “go into the jungle in search of the most hidden tribes.”
Pope Francis said that he experienced the “air of springtime” in East Timor, a small Catholic country that gained its independence from Indonesia in 2002.
He praised the Catholic country for its many large families and many religious vocations.
“I will never forget the smiles of the children,” he said. “In East Timor, I saw the youthfulness of the Church: families, children, young people, many seminarians and aspirants to consecrated life.”
Frequently throughout his trip, Pope Francis commended the high birth rates found not only in East Timor but also in Indonesia, saying that such high fertility rates should be an example for other countries around the world.
On his return flight to Rome, the pope praised East Timor’s “culture of life,” adding that wealthier countries, including Singapore, could learn from the small country that “children are the future.”
Looking back on his final stop in Singapore, the pope remarked that the modern city-state was very different from other countries he visited during his apostolic journey.
“Even in wealthy Singapore there are the ‘little ones,’ who follow the Gospel and become salt and light, witnesses to a hope greater than what economic gains can guarantee,” he added.
Pope Francis reflected on his journey to the four tropical islands on a cloudy fall morning in Rome. The pope was quite animated as he spoke about his travels, frequently making extra comments off the cuff to the crowd.
He underlined to the crowd that an “apostolic journey” is much different than tourism because “it is a journey to bring the Word of God, to make the Lord known, and also to know the soul of the people.”
At the end of the audience, the pope offered a prayer for the victims of the recent severe flooding in Europe and encouraged the local Catholic communities who are working to provide relief to the flooding caused by Storm Boris.
“In these days, heavy torrential rains have hit Central and Eastern Europe causing victims, missing persons, and extensive damage in Austria, Romania, Czech Republic, and Poland, who have to cope with tragic inconveniences caused by the floods. I assure everyone of my closeness, praying for those who have lost their lives and their families,” he said.
Pope Francis commented that there were many newly married couples who came to the general audience to receive his blessing for their marriages, with the Holy Father giving a shoutout to two Vatican employees who will be married in Vatican City this weekend.
The pope asked the Virgin Mary’s intercession for the newlyweds to have the grace “to accept work and daily crosses as opportunities for growth and purification of your love.”
Francis also prayed for the sick, elderly, and disabled present at the general audience.
“May Our Lady of Sorrows, whom we recalled a few days ago in the liturgy, help you, dear sick and elderly people, to grasp in suffering and difficulties the call to make of your existence a mission for the salvation of your brothers and sisters,” he said.
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