Emanuela Orlandi: Teen (15) Kidnapped for Vatican Sex Parties?

Back in 2013, I went to the Theater for the New City in the East Village to see Mario Fratti's The Vatican Knows. The play was loosely based on the 2012 New York Times (May 14, 2012) article "Crime Boss’s Tomb Is Exhumed for Clues in Missing Girl’s Case", which is about the kidnapping of 15-year-old Emanuela Orlandi. 

Emanuela Orlandi

According to Times, there are three theories about what happened to Emanuela:

1. One theory is that she was kidnapped on the orders of an American archbishop, Paul C. Marcinkus [d. 2006], a former president of the Vatican bank, who was linked to a major Italian banking scandal in the 1980s.

2. Others cite an anonymous phone call the Vatican received weeks after Emanuela’s disappearance, demanding the release of Mehmet Ali Agca, the [alleged Islamic extremist] gunman who shot Pope John Paul II in St. Peter’s Square in 1981, in exchange for her release.

3. Lastly, in 2005, an anonymous phone call to a television program implied that Emanuela had been kidnapped as a favor to Cardinal Ugo Poletti [d. 1997], who in 1983 was the vicar general of Rome. The caller also mentioned that Emanuela's kidnapping could have been related to the Italian mafia. (The BBC (14 May 2012) reported that the girlfriend of Enrico De Pedis, an Italian gangster, claimed that De Pedis kidnapped Emanuela in an effort to extort money from the Vatican.)

However, none of these theories mention why Emanuela was targeted.

 

Approximately a week after the Times' article was published, another shocking theory was published in The Telegraph (22 May 2012) and The Huffington Post. Per The Telegraph, Father Gabriele Amorth, the Vatican's 85-year-old chief exorcist, confessed that 15-year-old Emanuela was kidnapped, forced to participated in Vatican sex parties, and then killed and discarded.

Father Amorth confessed: 

"This was a crime with a sexual motive. Parties were organised, with a Vatican gendarme acting as the 'recruiter' of the girls. The network involved diplomatic personnel from a foreign embassy to the Holy See. I believe Emanuela ended up a victim of this circle."

Most recently, Netflix posted Vatican Girl: The Disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi (2022), which is a four part documentary series about Emanuela's kidnapping. The Netflix documentary referenced some of the theories that the Times piece mentioned like a possible link between Emanuela's disappearance and Agca. 

In addition, the Netflix series theorized that Emanuela's kidnapping may have been linked to the Italian mafia, the Pope, Poland, and blackmail, because, allegedly, John Paul II borrowed money from the mafia to fund the Solidarity political movement in Poland. 

Taking all the theories into question, one has to ask, "But why was Emanuela targeted?" Per Emanuela's friend, who shared with the Netflix documentarians, a high ranking member of the Vatican slash someone close to the Pope tried to sexually seduce Emanuela, which may explain why Emanuela was used as leverage in the blackmail schemes against the Vatican. 

Surprisingly, Father Amorth's assertion that Emanuela was kidnapped to participated in Vatican sex parties was not mentioned in Fratti's play, in the New York Times piece, nor the Netflix documentary. 

BABY Season 3: "Child [Teen] Prostitution in Rome's Wealthiest District"

Chiara and Ludovica

We wrote previously about seasons 1 and 2 of Netflix's Baby, which is based on the 2014 true story of teen prostitutes in Parioli, Rome:

THE TRUE STORY form Cosmopolitan's Emily Tannenbaum: Back in 2014, it was discovered [...] that two high school girls in the wealthy district of Parioli, Rome were selling their bodies [like (some) Japanese schoolgirls] for sex in order to buy luxury products like designer clothes and electronics [...] [A] dozen more girls were involved in the underage prostitution ring, but it "centers on a 14-year-old [Agnese] and a 16-year-old [Angela] who told investigating prosecutor Cristina Macchiusi that they got into the game by searching 'easy money' on Google."

Season 3 of Baby is the conclusion of the series and depicts the (seeming) end of the Roman teen prostitution ring. For this post, I decided to relate some relevant quotes from Ludovica Storti and Chiara Altieri - the two high school students by day and teen prostitutes by evening. 

Interestingly, Chiara admitted that she knew what she was doing, and like 14-year-old [Agnese] and a 16-year-old [Angela], the real-life teen prostitutes, Chiara stated that no one forced her into teen prostitution and that she was not a victim. However, unlike the real-life teen prostitutes, Ludovica lied and said that she was "seduced and manipulated" by a Roman pimp. Unsurprisingly, in the series, the authorities disbelieved Chiara and believed Ludovica. 

S03E01: Ludovica admitted that her mother knew that she as a teen prostitute. And Chiara shared that being a teen prostitute made her feel "stronger" and "good".

Ludovica Storti [teen prostitute]: "Why are you acting like this? You knew what I was doing."

Simonetta [Ludovica's mother]: "I never imagined that you'd go this far."

Chiara Altieri [teen prostitute]: "Having a secret made me feel stronger [...] I know it's wrong. That it's horrible. But it makes me feel good."

S03E02: When a middle-aged john asked Chiara why she "does what she does", she simply replied, "Tomorrow after school."

middle-aged john: "I just want to know why a girl like you does what she does."

Chiara: "Tomorrow after school."

S03E03: When Elsa, Chiara's mother, implied that Chiara didn't realize what she was doing, Chiara replied that she as a "whore" - a [teen] "prostitute". And Chiara informed a confused john's wife, "But I'm not a victim." 

Chiara: "What do you want from me? To give up like you and be a good little girl?"

Elsa [Chiara's mother]: "You've no idea what you're doing."

Chiara: "Yes I do [...] I'm a whore - a [teen] prostitute!"

elderly john's wife: "Has he ever made you do anything against your will?"

Chiara: "No. Whenever I saw him it was because I wanted to see him [...] I was free to choose [...] I'm sorry about your husband. But I'm not a victim."

S03E04: When an attorney told Chiara that she was "exploited" and taken "full advantage " of,  Chiara responded by stating that she wanted to take "responsibility" for her actions.

attorney: "[...] those men, Chiara, were adults [...] They exploited a young girl. They took full advantage of you in your moment of weakness [...]"

Chiara: "I wanted to take responsibility."

S03E05: Unsurprisingly, a police officer assumed that Chiara and Ludovica were forced into teen prostitution and thereby offered to let them escape. 

Police officer to : "[...] I won't tell anyone I found you."

S03E06: In the last episode, Ludovica lied and said that she was "seduced and manipulated" by a Roman pimp, but Chiara admitted that she had sex with middle-aged men on her "own free will."

lawyer: "So to be clear. You decided to go back to Mr. Fiorenzi [a pimp] based on the advice you got from your mother and best friend [Chiara]"

Ludovica: "No. That's not how it happened. I was seduced and manipulated by Claudio Fiorenzi."

psychologist: "Do you ever feel regret?"

Chiara: "No [...] He knew he had no power over me [...] These things didn't happen by chance. I did them on my own free will."

Lastly, just like in seasons 1 and 2, season 3 of Baby took full advantage of the allure of nymphets by showing Chiara and Ludovica in alluring situations. In addition to Chiara being with a number of middle-aged johns, in episode 3 Chiara (randomly) masturbated (in a chair), and in episode 5, Chiara and Ludovica went for a swim in the sea - in their bras and panties.