Oriano Quilici

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, Chile, 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]

• Catholic Hierarchy: Archbishop Oriano Quilici ^{[self-published]}