Dolci was born in
Civitella d'Agliano on 12 July 1867 and was ordained a priest on 5 June 1890. In preparation for a career in the diplomatic service he entered the
Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in 1892.
Pope Leo XIII appointed him
bishop of Gubbio on 19 April 1900. He was named
apostolic delegate in
Ecuador,
Bolivia, and
Peru on 7 December 1906. He was promoted to titular archbishop of
Nazianzo on 9 December 1906. He was recalled to
Rome in 1910. He was appointed
Archbishop of Amalfi on 27 January 1911. He was appointed Apostolic Delegate and
vicar apostolic of
Constantinople on 10 June 1914. His assignment to the titular archdiocese of
Gerapoli followed on 16 November 1914. On 14 December 1922 he was appointed as Apostolic Nuncio to
Belgium, however, he could not take possession of the nunciature and was named
Nuncio to Romania on 30 May 1923. He was created
Cardinal-Priest of
Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome by
Pope Pius XI in the
consistory of 13 March 1933. He was appointed
Archpriest of the
Basilica of Saint Mary Major on 22 May 1933. He was elected to the order of cardinal bishops, taking the suburbicarian see of
Palestrina 15 June 1936. He participated in the
conclave of 1939 that elected
Pope Pius XII. He died in September of that year.
Armenian genocide In 1915, as Apostolic Delegate to Constantinople (1914–1922), Archbishop Dolci wrote to
Mehmed V and
Talaat Pasha to ask for mercy on behalf of the Armenians, who were then being deported and massacred. Dolci reported back to the Vatican to
Pope Benedict XV and his secretary of foreign affairs
Eugenio Pacelli, the future Pope
Pius XII. He admitted he had been deceived by the Turks, because despite giving contrary assurances to the Holy See delegate, they continued to massacre the Armenians. He died at his home in Civitella d'Agliano on 13 September 1939. ==References==