{{Short description|Italian prelate}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2019}} {{Infobox Christian leader |type = Cardinal |honorific_prefix = [[His Eminence]] |name = Guido del Mestri |image = Guido-del-mestri.jpg |title = [[Sant'Eustachio|Cardinal-Deacon of Sant'Eustachio]] |church = [[Roman Catholic Church]] |appointed = 28 June 1991 |term_end = 2 August 1993 |predecessor = [[Giacomo Violardo]] |successor = [[Sergio Sebastiani]] |ordination = 11 April 1936 |ordained_by = [[Francesco Marchetti Selvaggiani]] |consecration = 31 December 1961 |consecrated_by = [[Laurean Rugambwa]] |cardinal = 28 June 1991 |created_cardinal_by = [[Pope John Paul II]] |rank = [[Cardinal-Deacon]] |birth_name = Guido del Mestri |birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1911|01|13}} |birth_place = [[Banja Luka]], [[Austro-Hungarian Empire]] |death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1993|08|02|1911|01|13}} |death_place = Theresienklinik Hospital, [[Nürnberg]], [[Germany]] |previous_post = {{unbulleted list|Apostolic Delegate to British Eastern and Western Africa (1959-67)|[[Tuscania|Titular Archbishop of Tuscarnia]] (1961-91)|Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Kenya (1965-67)|[[Apostolic Nuncio to Mexico|Apostolic Delegate to Mexico]] (1967-70)|[[Apostolic Nunciature to Canada|Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Canada]] (1970-75)|[[Apostolic Nuncio to Germany]] (1975-84)}} |alma_mater = {{unbulleted list|[[Almo Collegio Capranica]]|[[Pontifical Gregorian University]]|[[Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy]]}} |coat_of_arms = COA Cardinal Guido Del Mestri.svg }}
'''Guido del Mestri''' also '''Guido Del Mestri'''<ref>{{cite book | title = Acta Apostolicae Sedis| access-date = 25 April 2020 | date=1961| language = la | quote= Vidone Dei Mestri, Apostolico in Africa Orientali et Occidentali Britannica Delegato | url = https://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS-53-1961-ocr.pdf | volume = LIII | pages= 97, 540}}</ref> (13 January 1911– 2 August 1993) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who worked in the diplomatic service of the [[Holy See]] from 1940 to 1984. He was made a [[Cardinal (Catholicism)|cardinal]] in 1991.
==Biography == Guido del Mestri was born in [[Banja Luka]] in Bosnia and Herzegovina, then under [[Austro-Hungarian rule in Bosnia and Herzegovina|Austro-Hungarian rule]], on 13 January 1911 to an Italian father, Count Gian Vito Del Mestri, and an Austrian mother, Baroness Marianna de Grazia.<ref name=kard/><ref name=spobit>{{cite news | language = de | work = Der Spiegel | access-date = 25 April 2020 |url = https://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-9285125.html | title = Guido Del Mestri | date= 9 August 1993 }}</ref> He grew up speaking Croatian, Italian, and German. He studied at the [[Kalksburg College|Jesuit Lyceum of Kalksburg]], Vienna, and then at the [[Almo Collegio Capranica]].<ref name=kard/> He also earned degrees in theology and canon law at the [[Pontifical Gregorian University]].<ref name=lentz>{{cite book | access-date = 25 April 2020 | title= Popes and Cardinals of the 20th Century: A Biographical Dictionary | first = Harris M. | last = Lentz III | publisher = McFarland | date = 2015 |pages= 59–60 | isbn= 9781476621555 | quote= Guido del Mestri |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ongwCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA59 }}</ref> He was ordained a priest on 11 April 1936 and joined the clergy of the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Gorizia|Diocese of Gorizia]], under Italian control since 1918.<ref name=kard>{{cite news | access-date = 25 April 2020 | url = https://ika.hkm.hr/novosti/jos-trojica-kardinala-iz-hrvatske-povijesti/ | language = bs | title= Još trojica kardinala iz hrvatske povijesti | trans-title= Three more cardinals from Croatian history | publisher = Informativna Katolička Agencija | date= 20 November 2003 | quote= To je papinski diplomat, nezaboravni Guido Del Mestri.}}</ref>
To prepare for a diplomat's career he entered the [[Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy]] in 1937.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_academies/acdeccles/documents/1900-1949.htm | access-date = 22 August 2019 |language= it| title = Pontificia Accademia Ecclesiastica | publisher = Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy}}</ref> His early assignments took him to Yugoslavia, Lebanon, Indonesia, and Germany, and included a stint in Rome.<ref name=kard/> He was expelled from Romania with the rest of the nunciature personnel in July 1950 when the country came under Communist rule.<ref name=nytobit/> He opened the new nunciature in Syria in 1951.<ref name=lentz/>
On 21 September 1959, [[Pope John XXIII]] named him Apostolic Delegate to British Eastern and Western Africa.<ref>{{cite book | title = Acta Apostolicae Sedis| access-date = 22 August 2019 |page= 117| date=1960| url =https://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS-52-1960-ocr.pdf | volume = LII}}</ref> <!-- responsibility reduced to Eastern Africa --> Pope John named him titular archbishop of [[Tuscamia]] on 28 October 1961<ref>{{cite book | title = Acta Apostolicae Sedis| access-date = 25 April 2020 | date=1961 | quote= Delegatum Apostolicum Africae Orientalis | url = https://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS-53-1961-ocr.pdf | volume = LIII | pages= 204 }}</ref> and he received his episcopal consecration in Nairobi on 31 December<ref name=kard/> from Cardinal [[Laurean Rugambwa]].
On 27 October 1965, [[Pope Paul VI]] appointed him [[Apostolic Nunciature to Kenya|Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Kenya]].<ref>{{cite book | title = Acta Apostolicae Sedis| access-date = 22 August 2019 |page= 1023 | date=1965 | url = https://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS-57-1965-ocr.pdf | volume = LVII}}</ref> On 9 September 1967, Pope Paul named him [[Apostolic Nunciature to Mexico|Apostolic Delegate to Mexico]].<ref>{{cite book | title = Acta Apostolicae Sedis| access-date = 22 August 2019 |page= 126 | date=1968| url = https://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS-60-1968-ocr.pdf | volume = LX}}</ref> On 20 June 1970, Pope Paul appointed him [[Apostolic Nunciature to Canada|Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Canada]].<ref>{{cite book | title = Acta Apostolicae Sedis| access-date = 25 August 2019 |page= 474 | date=1970 | url = https://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS-62-1970-ocr.pdf | volume = LXII}}</ref> On 13 August 1975, Pope Paul named him [[Apostolic Nunciature to Germany|Apostolic Nuncio to Germany]].<ref>{{cite book | title = Acta Apostolicae Sedis| access-date = 22 August 2019 |page= 507 | date=1975| url = https://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS-67-1975-ocr.pdf | volume = LXVII}}</ref> He resigned in 1984.<ref name=spobit/>
In January 1989, Pope John Paul made him a member of the [[Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples]] and the [[Council for the Public Affairs of the Church]].<ref>{{cite book | title = Acta Apostolicae Sedis| access-date = 22 August 2019 |pages= 390–1| date=1989| url = https://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS-81-1989-ocr.pdf | volume = LXXXI | quote = Guido Del Mestri}}</ref>
He was named a cardinal by [[Pope John Paul II]] on 28 June 1991.<ref name=nyt1>{{cite news|title=Pope Names 22 Cardinals; Chinese Prelate Is Identified |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/30/world/pope-names-22-cardinals-chinese-prelate-is-identified.html |first=Clyde |last=Haberman |access-date=2 September 2017|work=New York Times|date=30 May 1991 | quote = Guido Del Mestri}}</ref> The ''[[New York Times]]'' identified him as an Italian.<ref name=nyt2>{{cite news|title=Cardinals Named by Pope|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/30/world/cardinals-named-by-pope.html|access-date=2 September 2017|work=New York Times|date=30 May 1991 | quote = Guido Del Mestri, 80, Italian papal diplomat }}</ref>
He died at the Theresienklinik in [[Nuremberg]], Germany, where in retirement he served as chaplain, on 2 August 1993.<ref name=lentz/><ref name=nytobit>{{cite news|title= Guido del Mestri, Cardinal, 82 |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1993/08/09/obituaries/guido-del-mestri-cardinal-82.html |access-date=25 April 2020|work=New York Times|date=9 August 1993 | quote= Guido Cardinal del Mestri}}</ref>
==References == {{Reflist|30em}}
==External links== *[http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bdelm.html Catholic Hierarchy: Guido Cardinal Del Mestri]{{Self-published source|date=March 2017}}
{{Cardinals created by John Paul II}} {{Subject bar |portal1= Biography |portal2= Catholicism |portal3= Bosnia and Herzegovina}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Del Mestri, Guido}} [[Category:1911 births]] [[Category:1993 deaths]] [[Category:Clergy from Banja Luka]] [[Category:20th-century Italian cardinals]] [[Category:Cardinals created by Pope John Paul II]] [[Category:Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany]] [[Category:Apostolic nuncios to Kenya]] [[Category:Apostolic nuncios to Mexico]] [[Category:Apostolic nuncios to Canada]] [[Category:Apostolic nuncios to Germany]] [[Category:Almo Collegio Capranica alumni]] [[Category:Pontifical Gregorian University alumni]] [[Category:Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy alumni]]