Luigi Conti (2 March 1929 – 5 December 2015) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who spent his career in the diplomatic service of the Holy See.[1] He held the title of archbishop and the rank of nuncio from 1975.
Conti was born on 2 March 1929 in Ceprano, Province of Frosinone, Italy. He was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Veroli-Frosinone on 29 September 1954. He prepared for a diplomatic career at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy.[2]
He early assignments working in the diplomatic service took him to Indonesia, Venezuela, Belgium, and France. In 1971 he became Permanent Observer of the Holy See to UNESCO in Paris. [3]
On 1 August 1975, Pope Paul VI named him Apostolic Nuncio to Haiti, Apostolic Delegate to the Antilles, and titular archbishop of Gratiana.[4] He received his episcopal consecration from Cardinal Jean-Marie Villot on 5 October.[5] He defended his newly constructed residence when criticized for its extravagance by Cardinal Aloisio Lorscheider and other prelates who saw it when attending a conference of Latin American bishops in Port-au-Prince.[6] (The structure survived the earthquake and tsunami of 2010.) He continued as Nuncio to Haiti when Paul Fouad Tabet replaced him as Delegate to the Antilles on 9 February 1980.[7]
On 19 November 1983, he was named Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Iraq and Kuwait.
On 17 January 1987, he was named Apostolic Nuncio to Ecuador.[8]
On 12 April 1991, he was named Apostolic Nuncio to Honduras.[9]
On 15 May 1999, he was named Apostolic Nuncio to Turkey and Turkmenistan.[10] While he was in that position, Pope John Paul II made the first papal reference to the "Armenian genocide".
On 8 August 2001, he was named Apostolic Nuncio to Malta and Libya.[11]
He retired on 5 June 2003.[12] [13] He died on 5 December 2015.[14] [15]