Maria Laurino's exposé on the Vatican adoption scandal has made its way to the head of the Catholic church.
- Photo Credit: Vatican Media
In October 2024, investigative journalist Maria Laurino published a book she had been working on for seven years: The Price of Children. Her groundbreaking work told the shocking-but-true story of an adoption scandal that was directed by the highest levels of the Vatican from the 1950s to the 1970s.
Laurino's astonishing research landed her on 60 Minutes, where she discussed her discoveries in depth.
"There were women who were trapped into this situation and tremendous pressure to relinquish their children," Laurino said. "There were women who were tricked, who signed forms they didn't understand. And, in the worst cases, there were women who were told their child had died."
Now, her story is quite literally in Pope Francis's hands.
- Photo Credit: Vatican Media
Along with an Italian copy of the book (titled Il Prezzo degli Innocenti), the Pope received a letter from 60 Minutes, and also a letter on behalf of American adoptees from John Campitelli, whose own adoption story was featured in the book.
According to Italian newspaper Ansa, the letter from 60 Minutes included the following quote:
"We wanted to bring this to your attention," the letter delivered to the Pope reads, "because many of these American adoptees are still struggling in their search for their Italian birth mothers. In your recent trip to Belgium, you acknowledged and apologized for forced adoptions similar to those we described in our story. In light of your words, we wondered whether the Vatican is also considering apologizing to American adoptees and their Italian mothers?"
Upon learning the Pope had received her book, Maria Laurino stated the following:
“I wrote The Price of Children to give voice to thousands of Italian women silenced by history, and to their children adopted in America. I also wrote this book to address how the shaming of women and loss of our rights continue around the world. I’m hopeful that Pope Francis will recognize the suffering of these women and children as we need his leadership more than ever to give some light to an increasingly dark world.”
To hear more from Maria Laurino, listen to her discuss The Price of Children on the “Open Book” podcast here.
Want to learn more? Buy The Price of Children now.
The Price of Children
“I could not put this book down. An amazing read…I was spellbound by the variety of stories revealed here of heartache, of children longing for their mothers and mothers forced to give up their children. Lives were changed irrevocably, and she warns us that they can be changed again in a similar, though more-up-to date manner. One of the best books I’ve recently read.” —Elizabeth Strout, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Olive Kittredge
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