Oriano Quilici

Oriano Quilici (29 November 1929 – 2 November 1998) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who spent his career in the diplomatic service of the Holy See.

Biography

Oriano Quilici was born on 29 November 1929 in the San Pietro a Vico quarter of Lucca, Italy. He was ordained a priest on 8 December 1954.[1]

His academic credentials included a diploma in theology and philosophy from the Pontifical Gregorian University and a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical Lateran University.[1]

He completed the course of study at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in preparation for a diplomatic career in 1957[2] and entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See on 1 August 1959.[1] His early postings included Costa Rica, Chili, the Philippines, Yugoslavia, New Zealand and Oceania, and South Korea, as well as a stint in Vienna from 1970 to 1975, where beginning in 1971 he was the Holy See's Permanent Observer to two international bodies: the International Atomic Energy Agency and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization.[1]

On 15 November 1975, Pope Paul VI appointed him Titular Archbishop of Tabla and Apostolic Pro-nuncio to the Central African Republic and Apostolic Delegate to Chad and the Republic of the Congo.[3] He was consecrated a bishop on 7 December.[1] In the Central African Republic, he diplomatically refused Jean-Bédel Bokassa's request that the pope crown him emperor in December 1977.[4][5]

On 26 June 1981, Pope John Paul II appointed him Apostolic Nuncio to Guatemala, on 11 July 1990 to Venezuela, and on 8 July 1997 to Switzerland and Liechtenstein.[1][6] In Guatemala in 1983, he appealed without success to halt several executions just days before Pope John Paul's arrival there.[7]

He died in university hospital in Bern, Switzerland, on 2 November 1998.[1][8]

References
  1. "Mgr Oriano Quilici, archevêque titulaire de Tabla..." L'Echo Magazine (in French). Agence de presse internationale catholique. 2 November 1998. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
  2. "Pontificia Accademia Ecclesiastica, Ex-alunni 1950 – 1999" (in Italian). Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
  3. Acta Apostolicae Sedis (PDF). LXVII. 1975. p. 684. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  4. Fairchild, Albert E. (17 January 2012). "Albert E. Fairchild Interview" (PDF). The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project (Interview). Interviewed by Charles Stuart Kennedy. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
  5. Titley, Brian (2002). Dark Age: The Political Odyssey of Emperor Bokassa. McGill-Queen's Press. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
  6. "Svizzera: Mons. Oriano Quilici Nuovo Nunzio Apostolico" (in Italian). ADN Agenzia. 8 July 1997. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
  7. Cody, Edward (4 March 1983). "Guatemalan Executions Shock Pope". Washington Post. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
  8. "E morto il nunzio in Svizzera Oriano Quilici". Il Terreno (in Italian). 3 November 1998. Retrieved 10 July 2019.


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