John Patrick Foley | |
|---|---|
| Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem | |
 | |
| Appointed | December 22, 2007 |
| Term ended | February 12, 2011 |
| Predecessor | Carlo Furno |
| Successor | Edwin Frederick O'Brien |
| Other post | Cardinal-Deacon of San Sebastiano al Palatino |
| Previous post |
|
| Orders | |
| Ordination | May 19, 1962 by John Krol |
| Consecration | May 8, 1984 by John Krol |
| Created cardinal | November 24, 2007 byBenedict XVI |
| Rank | Cardinal-Deacon |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1935-11-11)November 11, 1935 Darby,Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | December 11, 2011(2011-12-11) (aged 76) Darby, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Motto | Ad majorem Dei gloriam (For the greater glory of God) |
| Coat of arms |  |
| Styles of John Foley | |
|---|---|
| |
| Reference style | His Eminence |
| Spoken style | Your Eminence |
| Religious style | Cardinal |
| Informal style | Cardinal |
| See | none |
John Patrick Foley (November 11, 1935 – December 11, 2011[1][2]) was an Americancardinal of theRoman Catholic Church. From 2007 until 2011, he wasGrand Master of theEquestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, an order of knighthood under papal protection, having previously served asPresident of thePontifical Council for Social Communications from 1984 to 2007. He was elevated to thecardinalate in 2007. He provided the commentary for the American television viewers of the Christmas Midnight Mass from St Peter's Basilica, Rome. However, in 2009, he retired from that role after 25 years. The commentary was taken over by Monsignor Thomas Powers of the Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut, an official in theCongregation for Bishops.
Pope Benedict XVI accepted Foley's resignation as grand master on February 24, 2011, due to age (on November 11, 2010, the cardinal had turned 75, the age at which all bishops must write a letter to the Pope formally offering to resign) and because of ill health (he was diagnosed in September 2009 withleukemia andanemia). He had led the Pontifical Council for Social Communications for 23 years, from 1984 to June 2007, when he was appointed grand master, and had been a consultor or member of many curial departments. At one time he was editor ofThe Catholic Standard and Times, the newspaper of theRoman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia. He had met with Pope Benedict XVI on February 10, two days after submitting his resignation letter to the Vatican Secretary of State.
An only child, Foley was born at Fitzgerald-Mercy Hospital[2] inDarby, Pennsylvania, to John and Regina (née Vogt) Foley. He was raised inSharon Hill, a suburb of Philadelphia, and was a member of Holy Spirit Parish.[3] After graduating from the localparochial school, he attendedSt. Joseph's Preparatory School from 1949 to 1953, and briefly considered aJesuit vocation.[4] He later attendedSt. Joseph's College, where he was electedstudent-body president in 1956 and obtained aBachelor's degreesumma cum laude in history in 1957. He then studied atSt. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood, earning aPh.B. in 1958. Foley wasordained apriest of theArchdiocese of Philadelphia byArchbishop John Krol on May 19, 1962. Foley received hisPh.L. in 1964 from thePontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas and hisPh.D.cum laude in Philosophy from the same institution in 1965.[5] The title of his dissertation wasNatural Law, Natural Right and the Warren Court. He set a record by receiving his doctorate in philosophy from the university in one year. After returning to Philadelphia he went on to earn amaster's degree in journalism from theColumbia University Graduate School of Journalism
Foley taught English atCardinal Dougherty High School,Philadelphia, from 1966 to 1967. He then served as assistanteditor and Romecorrespondent for the archdiocesan newspaper,The Catholic Standard & Times. From 1970 to 1984 he was the newspaper's editor, and in 1976 he received the honorific title of "monsignor."[6]
On April 5, 1984, Foley was appointedPresident of thePontifical Council for Social Communications andTitular Archbishop ofNeapolis in Proconsulari byPope John Paul II. He received hisepiscopal consecration on the following May 8 from Cardinal Krol, with BishopsMartin Nicholas Lohmuller andThomas Welsh serving asco-consecrators. As the council's president, he was the longest-serving head of aCurialdicastery until receiving this appointment; ArchbishopClaudio Maria Celli, formerSecretary of theAdministration of the Patrimony of the Holy See, was appointed as his successor. In 1989, he published a document onPornography and Violence in the Media.[7]
John Patrick Foley managed the creation of the.va top-level domain in 1995.[8][9]
Foley sat on various organizations, including theNational Conference of Christians and Jews,Pennsylvania State Ethics Commission andNational Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Pope Benedict XVI named him asPro-Grand Master of theOrder of the Holy Sepulchre on June 27, 2007.
Foley was elevated to theCollege of Cardinals in theconsistory atSt. Peter's Basilica on November 24, 2007.[10] He was named theCardinal-Deacon ofSan Sebastiano al Palatino.[11] He is the seventh priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia to be elevated to thecardinalate.[4] He became full Grand Master on December 22, 2007.
On June 12, 2008, in addition to his other duties he was appointed by Benedict as a member of theCongregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments and theCongregation for the Evangelization of Peoples[12] until he was weakened by illness.
On February 12, 2011, he returned to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, where he resided atVilla St. Joseph,Darby, Pennsylvania, a home for infirm, retired, or convalescent priests of the archdiocese, until his death on December 11, 2011, fromleukemia.[13][14]
The two days of funeral rites began on December 15 with the reception of the body at St Charles Borromeo Seminary, Overbrook, from which Foley was ordained just shy of a half-century earlier. The daylong viewing in St Martin's Chapel ended with Mass celebrated by the senior auxiliary of Philadelphia,BishopDaniel Thomas, who was a close friend. The funeral took place the next day in the Philadelphia Cathedral-Basilica where he had been ordained a priest and bishop and in whose crypt he was then buried. In keeping with preferences expressed by Cardinal Foley during his final weeks, ArchbishopEdwin O'Brien, his successor as head of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre, celebrated the liturgy. CardinalTimothy M. Dolan, Archbishop of New York andUSCCB president, was the homilist. Both presider and preacher were friends of the deceased cardinal since the times when they headed the Pontifical North American College in Rome.
During his tenure, the archbishop once sparked outrage in thehomosexual community by describing theAIDS pandemic as a "natural sanction for certain types of activities."[15]
He also defended his church's exclusively male priesthood, once saying, "Jesus clearly did notordain women to the priesthood, nor did he authorize the Church to do so."[16] Upon the death of John Paul II on April 2, 2005, Foley and all major Vatican officials, in accord with custom, automatically lost their positions during thesede vacante. He was confirmed as the council's president byPope Benedict XVI several weeks later, on April 21.
Foley reportedly would rise every day at 6:00 am to watchCNN, in order to "know what to pray about."[17] Foley was theEnglish liaison forPope John Paul II's 1979 visit to theUnited States.[18] He was ateetotaler and self-described "chocoholic".[19]
| Catholic Church titles | ||
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| Preceded by | President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications 1984–2007 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Grand Master of theOrder of the Holy Sepulchre 2007–2011 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
