Michele Cecchini

Michele Cecchini (3 March 1920 – 26 April 1989) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who devoted his entire career to the diplomatic service of the Holy See. He became an archbishop in 1969 and served as an Apostolic Nuncio from 1969 until his death.

Biography

Michele Cecchini was born on 3 March 1920 in Lammari, Italy. He was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Lucca on 2 July 1944.

To prepare for a diplomatic career he entered the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in 1949.[1] He joined the diplomatic service in 1951.[2]

On 26 February 1969, Pope Paul VI named him titular archbishop of Aquileia and Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Madagascar.[3] On 1 March 1969, he was named Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Mauritius.[4] He received his episcopal consecration on 13 April 1969 from Cardinal Amleto Cicognani.

On 18 June 1976, Pope John Paul II named him Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Yugoslavia.[5]

On 4 December 1984, Pope John Paul appointed him Apostolic Nuncio to Austria.[6] There his role in appointing bishops of a more conservative bent, Hans Hermann Groër in Vienna and Georg Eder in Salzburg, for example, drew protests from Austrian clergy and transformed the Austrian hierarchy.[7][8]

He died of cancer on 26 April 1989.[9] He had been ill throughout his time in Austria.[2]

References
  1. "Pontificia Accademia Ecclesiastica, Ex-alunni 1900 – 1949" (in Italian). Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  2. "Papal Nuncio In Austria Dies". Associated Press. 26 April 1989. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  3. Acta Apostolicae Sedis (PDF). LI. 1969. pp. 208, 342. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  4. Acta Apostolicae Sedis (PDF). LI. 1969. p. 404. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  5. Acta Apostolicae Sedis (PDF). LXVIII. 1976. p. 427. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  6. Acta Apostolicae Sedis (PDF). LXXVII. 1985. p. 99. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  7. "Michele Cecchini, nuncio del Vaticano en Austria". El País (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 11 May 2019. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  8. Nagy, Thomas J. (2015). König – Kaiser – Kardinal: Auf den Spuren von Kardinal Franz König (in German). Styriabooks. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  9. Acta Apostolicae Sedis (PDF). XCI. 1999. p. 808. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
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