Luigi Conti (2 March 1929 – 5 December 2015) was an Italian prelate of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

who spent his career in the diplomatic service of the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

. He held the title of archbishop and the rank of nuncio from 1975.

Biography

Conti was born on 2 March 1929 in

Ceprano Ceprano ( Central-Northern Latian dialect: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Frosinone, in the Latin Valley, part of the Lazio region of central Italy. It is south of Rome and about north of Naples. History Ceprano was part of the P ...

Province of Frosinone The Province of Frosinone ( it, Provincia di Frosinone) is a province in the Lazio region of Italy, with 91 ''comuni'' (singular: ''comune''; see Comuni of the Province of Frosinone). Its capital is the city of Frosinone. It has an area of ...

, Italy. He was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Veroli-Frosinone on 29 September 1954. He prepared for a diplomatic career at the

Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy The Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy ( la, Pontificia Ecclesiastica Academia, it, Pontificia Accademia Ecclesiastica) is one of the Roman Colleges of the Catholic Church. The academy is dedicated to training priests to serve in the diplomatic c ...

. He early assignments working in the diplomatic service took him to Indonesia, Venezuela, Belgium, and France. In 1971 he became

Permanent Observer of the Holy See to UNESCO The Permanent Observer of Holy See to UNESCO is the representative of the Holy See to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which is based in Paris. The Church also has representatives at the headquarters of ...

in Paris. On 1 August 1975,

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...

named him

Apostolic Nuncio An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international org ...

to Haiti, Apostolic Delegate to the Antilles, and titular archbishop of Gratiana. He received his episcopal consecration from Cardinal

Jean-Marie Villot Jean-Marie Villot (11 October 1905 – 9 March 1979) was a French prelate and Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Lyon from 1965 to 1967, Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy from 1967 to 1969, Vatican Secret ...

on 5 October. He defended his newly constructed residence when criticized for its extravagance by Cardinal Aloisio Lorscheider and other prelates who saw it when attending a conference of Latin American bishops in

Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( , ; ht, Pòtoprens ) is the capital and most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 987,311 in 2015 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The metropolitan area is define ...

. (The structure survived the earthquake and tsunami of 2010.) He continued as Nuncio to Haiti when

Paul Fouad Tabet Paul Fouad Tabet (28 November 1929 – 20 July 2009) was a Lebanese-born Catholic prelate of the Maronite Church, who spent many years in the diplomatic service of the Holy See. He became an archbishop in 1980 and from 1980 to 2005 served as apo ...

replaced him as Delegate to the Antilles on 9 February 1980. On 19 November 1983, he was named Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Iraq and Kuwait. On 17 January 1987, he was named

Apostolic Nuncio to Ecuador The Apostolic Nunciature to Ecuador is an ecclesiastical office of the Catholic Church in Ecuador. It is a diplomatic post of the Holy See, whose representative is called the Apostolic Nuncio with the rank of an ambassador. List of papal represen ...

. On 12 April 1991, he was named Apostolic Nuncio to Honduras. On 15 May 1999, he was named Apostolic Nuncio to Turkey and Turkmenistan. While he was in that position, Pope John Paul II made the first papal reference to the "Armenian genocide". On 8 August 2001, he was named Apostolic Nuncio to Malta and Libya. He retired on 5 June 2003. He died on 5 December 2015.

References

External links

Catholic Hierarchy: Archbishop Luigi Conti
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conti, Luiga 1929 births 2015 deaths Italian Roman Catholic archbishops Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy alumni Apostolic Nuncios to Haiti Apostolic Nuncios to Iraq Apostolic Nuncios to Kuwait Apostolic Nuncios to Ecuador Apostolic Nuncios to Honduras Apostolic Nuncios to Turkey Apostolic Nuncios to Turkmenistan Apostolic Nuncios to Malta Apostolic Nuncios to Libya