Angelo Felici

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.

His Eminence Angelo Felici
President Emeritus of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei
Felici in 1973.
Church	Roman Catholic Church
Appointed	16 December 1995
Term ended	13 April 2000
Predecessor	Antonio Innocenti
Successor	Darío Castrillón Hoyos
Other post(s)	Cardinal-Priest of Santi Biagio e Carlo ai Catinari "pro hac vice" (1999–2007)
Previous post(s)	Undersecretary of the Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs (1964–67) Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to the Netherlands (1967–76) Titular Archbishop of Caesariana (1967–88) Apostolic Nuncio to Portugal (1976–79) Apostolic Nuncio to France (1979–88) Cardinal-Deacon of Santi Biagio e Carlo ai Catinari (1988–99) Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (1988–95)
Orders
Ordination	4 April 1942
Consecration	24 September 1967 by Amleto Giovanni Cicognani
Created cardinal	28 June 1988 by Pope John Paul II
Rank	Cardinal-Deacon (1988–99) Cardinal-Priest (1999–2007)
Personal details
Born	Angelo Felici (1919-07-26)26 July 1919 Segni, Kingdom of Italy
Died	17 June 2007(2007-06-17) (aged 87) Rome, Italy
Alma mater	Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy Pontifical Lateran University Pontifical Gregorian University
Motto	In lumine Tuo
Coat of arms

Styles of Angelo Felici
Reference style	His Eminence
Spoken style	Your Eminence
Informal style	Cardinal
See	Caesariana

Early life

He was ordained on 4 April 1942 and spent the next three years studying for his doctorate in canon law. 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

Pope Paul sent him on a mission to Jerusalem after the Six-Day War between Arabs and Israelis. 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

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

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.

External links

• GCatholic.org profile