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Angelo Felici

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Angelo Felici
President Emeritus of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei
Felici in 1973.
ChurchRoman Catholic Church
Appointed16 December 1995
Term ended13 April 2000
PredecessorAntonio Innocenti
SuccessorDarío Castrillón Hoyos
Other post(s)Cardinal-Priest of Santi Biagio e Carlo ai Catinari "pro hac vice" (1999–2007)
Previous post(s)
Orders
Ordination4 April 1942
Consecration24 September 1967
by Amleto Giovanni Cicognani
Created cardinal28 June 1988
by Pope John Paul II
RankCardinal-Deacon (1988–99)
Cardinal-Priest (1999–2007)
Personal details
Born
Angelo Felici

(1919-07-26)26 July 1919
Died17 June 2007(2007-06-17) (aged 87)
Rome, Italy
Alma mater
MottoIn lumine Tuo
Coat of armsAngelo Felici's coat of arms
Styles of
Angelo Felici
Reference styleHis Eminence
Spoken styleYour Eminence
Informal styleCardinal
SeeCaesariana

Angelo Felici J.C.D. (26 July 1919, Segni – 17 June 2007, Rome) was an Italian Cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church and President of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei. Before this role he served as the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints from 1988 to 1995.

Early life

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He was ordained on 4 April 1942 and spent the next three years studying for his doctorate in canon law.[1] In 1945 he joined the Vatican Secretariat of State where he worked until 1949. He was a faculty member at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, until he was appointed under-secretary of the Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs in 1964.

Episcopate

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Pope Paul sent him on a mission to Jerusalem after the Six-Day War between Arabs and Israelis.[2] Pope Paul VI appointed him as titular archbishop of Caesariana and appointed pro-nuncio to the Netherlands on 22 July 1967. He was consecrated as a bishop in September of the same year. His nine years in the Netherlands were known for their sharp conflicts within the Catholic Church, among other things about the celibacy issue and about two bishop's nominations that were supposed to be extremely conservative (Adrianus Johannes Simonis and Joannes Gijsen). He was transferred to Portugal in 1976 and finally to France in 1979.

Cardinalate

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He was made Cardinal-Deacon of Santi Biagio e Carlo ai Catinari in the consistory of 28 June 1988 by Pope John Paul II. In 1988, he was appointed Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, where he served until 1995. Then he was appointed President of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei. As Cardinal Deacons are permitted to do after ten years, he opted for the order of cardinal priests and his titular church was elevated pro hac vice to the rank of title on 9 January 1999. He lost the right to participate in a conclave when he turned 80 years of age in 1999.

Death

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On 17 June 2007, Cardinal Felici died; Pope Benedict XVI sent his condolences and, on 19 June 2007, presided at Cardinal Felici's funeral Mass at the Altar of the Cathedra in Saint Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.

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References

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  1. ^ "Cardinal Angelo Felici (1919-2007) - Find A Grave..." www.findagrave.com. Retrieved 2020-10-08.
  2. ^ Autographs, Weekes (2020). "Felici, Angelo Cardinal (1919-2007)". Weekes Autographs. Retrieved 2020-10-08.
Catholic Church titles
Preceded by — TITULAR —
Bishop of Caesariana
1967–1988
Succeeded by
Preceded by Prefect of the Congregation
for the Causes of Saints

1 July 1988 – 13 June 1995
Succeeded by
Preceded by President of the Pontifical
Commission Ecclesia Dei

16 December 1995 – 13 April 2000
Succeeded by
Records
Preceded by Oldest living Member of the Sacred College
2 August 2006 – 11 June 2007
Succeeded by