Luigi Bellotti
Titular Archbishop of Voncariana
Apostolic Nuncio
Orders
Ordination11 July 1937
Consecration4 October 1964
by Giuseppe Carraro
Personal details
Born17 March 1914
DiedSeptember 23, 1995(1995-09-23) (aged 81)
NationalityItalian
OccupationCatholic prelate and diplomat
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Luigi Bellotti (17 March 1914 – 23 September 1995) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who spent his career in the diplomatic service of the Holy See. He was made an archbishop in 1964 and led diplomatic missions first in Africa and later in Uruguay and then in several Scandinavian countries.

Biography

Luigi Bellotti was born in Verona on 17 March 1914.[1] He was ordained a priest on 11 July 1937.[2]

To prepare for a diplomatic career he entered the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in 1942.[3] He then entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See. His study of the excommunication of Communists and fascists was published in 1949.[4] His early assignments included a stint in the late 1950s as councilor in the Apostolic Internunciature to Turkey.[5]

On 18 July 1964 Pope Paul VI named him titular archbishop of Voncariana and Apostolic Delegate to Central Western Africa.[6][lower-alpha 1] He received his episcopal consecration on 4 October 1964 from Giuseppe Carraro, bishop of Verona.[2] In that post he convinced Francis Arinze, later a cardinal, that he had been chosen to be an auxiliary bishop.[7] He participated as a council father in the third and fourth sessions of the Second Vatican Council.[8]

On 27 November 1969 he was named Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Uganda.[9] During his time there, in October 1973, Ugandan President Idi Amin accused him of being a spy for the United States Central Intelligence Agency, that he was traveling throughout the country without authorization and spreading rumors to discredit the government.[10]

He was named Apostolic Nuncio to Uruguay on 3 September 1975.[11]

On 27 October 1981, Pope John Paul II appointed Bellotti Pro-Nuncio to Iceland and to Finland, as well as Apostolic Delegate to Scandinavia.[12] On 2 October 1982, in anticipation of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Holy See and the three nations involved, his appointment as delegate ended and he became Pro-Nuncio to Denmark, to Norway, and to Sweden.[13]

He was replaced in these diplomatic posts on 31 October 1985 by Archbishop Henri Lemaître[14] and died on 23 September 1995.[1][15]

His personal papers are held by the historical archives of the Church of Verona.[16]

A street in Verona is named for him: Via Mons. Luigi Bellotti.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ The Delegation to Central-Western Africa was responsible for Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Oubangui-Chari, and Chad.

References

  1. 1 2 "Diocesi di Voncariana" (in Italian). Retrieved 19 July 2021 – via Free Journal.
  2. 1 2 "Archbishop Luigi Bellotti [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2022-05-24.
  3. ↑ "Pontificia Accademia Ecclesiastica, Ex-alunni 1900 – 1949" (in Italian). Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  4. ↑ "E' giusta la scomunica contro i comunisti? e i nazifascisti?". Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore: Sistema bibliotecario e documentale (in Italian). Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  5. ↑ "Indicazioni bibliografiche". Pontifical Lateran University (in Italian). Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  6. ↑ Acta Apostolicae Sedis (PDF). Vol. LVI. 1964. pp. 863, 955. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  7. ↑ Arinze, Francis (2011). God's Invisible Hand: The Life and Work of Francis Cardinal Arinze. Ignatius Press. ISBN 9781681492131. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  8. ↑ Dvorchak, Paul (Fall 2016). "The Five Farina Brothers: Priests of the Diocese of Pittsburgh – Part II". Gathered Fragments. Catholic Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania. XXVI: 85n35. Retrieved 20 July 2021 – via Duquesne Scholarship Collection.
  9. ↑ Acta Apostolicae Sedis (PDF). Vol. LXI. 1969. p. 820. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  10. ↑ "State Dept cable 1973-141038". 1 October 1973. Retrieved 30 May 2019 – via archive.org.
  11. ↑ Acta Apostolicae Sedis (PDF). Vol. LXVII. 1975. p. 560. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  12. ↑ Acta Apostolicae Sedis (PDF). Vol. LXXIII. 1981. p. 685. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  13. ↑ Acta Apostolicae Sedis (PDF). Vol. LXXIV. 1982. p. 1197. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  14. ↑ Acta Apostolicae Sedis (PDF). Vol. LXXVII. 1985. p. 1110. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  15. ↑ Acta Apostolicae Sedis (PDF). Vol. LXXXVII. 1995. p. 920. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  16. ↑ "Archivi personali dei vescovi diocesani e dei vicari generali di Verona". Ecclesiae Venetae (in Italian). Retrieved 19 July 2021.
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