Ettore Felici (4 March 1881,

Segni Segni (, ) is an Italian town and ''comune'' located in Lazio. The city is situated on a hilltop in the Lepini Mountains, and overlooks the valley of the Sacco River. History Early history According to ancient Roman sources, Lucius Tarquinius ...

– 9 May 1951) was the second

Apostolic Nuncio to Ireland The Apostolic Nunciature to Ireland the diplomatic mission of the Holy See to Ireland. It is located in Dublin. The position of Apostolic Nuncio is currently vacant. The Apostolic Nunciature to Ireland is an ecclesiastical office of the Cathol ...

Early life

Born in

on 4 March 1881, Felici was ordained priest in 1903, he began his diplomatic career as a minor official at the Apostolic Nunciature to

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

in Belgrade. Here he assumed much greater responsibility after Serbia was plunged into war in 1914. As a majority

Serbian Orthodox Church The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian denomination, Christian churches. The majori ...

at war with Catholic Austria relations were often tense. After the country was occupied by German troops Felici also occupied his time with relief works. He remained at the nunciature in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

after the war when Serbia became part of the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 unt ...

. From 1921 to 1923 he was in the Vatican. In 1927 he was consecrated titular archbishop of

Corinth Corinth ( ; el, Κόρινθος, Kórinthos, ) is the successor to an ancient city, and is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it has been part o ...

and named

Apostolic Nuncio to Chile The Apostolic Nuncio to Chile is the principal representative of the Pope to the Government of Chile. Apostolic Nuncios to Chile * Giovanni Alessandro Muzi (18 April 1823 – 19 December 1825) *Lorenzo Barili (26 May 1851 – 17 June 1856) * Vin ...

. In 1938, he returned to Yugoslavia as Nuncio. In April 1941 he was in Belgrade when the Luftwaffe bombed the city before the Axis invasion ( Operation retribution) after a coup against the government that entered a pact with the Axis. Due to the military situation, he was recalled to the Vatican and spent the remainder of the war working in the Secretariat of State. On 2 September 1949, Felici was appointed Nuncio to Ireland. After a brief illness he died on 9 May 1951, and his body was interred in the crypt of Dublin's pro-cathedral.

References

1881 births 1951 deaths People from Segni Apostolic Nuncios to Ireland Latin archbishops of Corinth {{Italy-RC-archbishop-stub