1. Giovanni Cheli was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church, who had a career in the diplomatic service of the Holy See and then in the senior ranks of the Roman Curia.
10 Facts About Giovanni Cheli
1. 2.
Giovanni Cheli was educated at the seminary of Asti and soon developed his skills in canon law.
3.
Giovanni Cheli prepared for a career in the diplomatic corps at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy.
4.
At first, Giovanni Cheli had the minor role of attache of the nunciature in Guatemala and then in more important roles in Spain and Italy.
5.
Giovanni Cheli did pastoral work in Madrid and worked for the Pontifical Council for Public Affairs from 1967 to 1973.
6.
Giovanni Cheli became Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations in 1973.
7.
Giovanni Cheli was named Pro-Prefect of the Pontifical Commission for Migration and Tourism on 18 September 1986, and his title changed to president when it was reorganized as the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People in 1988.
8.
Giovanni Cheli criticized the rule excluding cardinals over the age of 80 from participating in a papal conclave.
9.
Giovanni Cheli was decorated with the Order of Isabel the Catholic and named commendatore of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, and of the Verdienstkreuz of the Federal Republic of Germany.
10.
Giovanni Cheli died on 8 February 2013 of natural causes, at the age of 94.