Did you know?
Thousands of bones were found under the Vatican during the reign of Pope Francis in 2019, while searching for a missing 15-year-old girl named Emanuela Orlandi.

Emanuela Orlandi was a teenage girl who lived inside Vatican City. Her father worked for the Vatican. One day in the summer of 1983, she disappeared while walking home from a music lesson in Rome.

Her disappearance became a huge mystery in Italy. For more than 30 years, people have come up with many theories, involving people inside the Vatican.

In the summer of last year, the Orlandi family got an anonymous message. It suggested that Emanuela’s remains might be buried in a cemetery near St. Peter’s Basilica. The message also included a photo of a statue and a clue: “look where the angel is pointing.”

This clue led the family to two old tombs of princesses in the Teutonic Cemetery. The Vatican gave permission to open the tombs in July. But when investigators looked inside, they didn’t find any human remains or coffins.

The Vatican explained that the bones may have been moved during building renovations in the 1960s and 70s. However, during the investigation, two hidden bone chambers (called ossuaries) were found nearby.

Inside the chambers, they found thousands of bones. A scientist working for the family said the bones likely belong to dozens of different people. DNA testing will now be done to find out more.

A Vatican spokesperson said many of the bones are broken into small pieces, which makes it hard to tell how many people are actually buried there.

Emanuela’s brother, Pietro Orlandi, said the discovery was important. He believes the Vatican should not have any recent bones in that area, so finding them could be suspicious—even if they aren’t Emanuela’s.

He also said it would be very upsetting if Emanuela was buried so close to their home all these years without anyone knowing. He wants an independent expert to examine the bones to make sure the investigation is fair.

Pietro believes the Vatican is usually secretive but finally agreed to cooperate. The Vatican said it allowed the search to support the Orlandi family, even though the tip was anonymous.