Cardinal John P. Foley of Philadelphia Passed Away Sunday at the Age of 76 (May he rest in peace)

By David O'Reilly

Inquirer Staff Writer

File Photograph

New Archbishop John P. Foley prostrated himself during his consecration by Cardinal John Krol in May 1984. Krol had recommended him to Pope John Paul II as head of the newly formed Pontifical Council for Social Communications.

Cardinal John P. Foley, a jovial, popular priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia who rose from working-class roots to become a "prince of the church" and the Vatican's longtime spokesman on Catholic social teachings, died Sunday. He was 76.

Once described as "the nicest guy in the Vatican" by the National Catholic Reporter, Cardinal Foley had suffered in recent years from leukemia. He died at Villa St. Joseph, the archdiocesan home for retired priests in Darby, the town where he was born.

Citing fatigue and declining health, he returned to the archdiocese in February after four years as Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, a papal knighthood based in Rome.

For the previous 23 years, he had served as first president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, with particular responsibility for explaining church teachings to electronic news media.

When he stepped down from the council in 2007, the year he was made cardinal, he was the longest-serving head of any major office in the Vatican.

"I was pleased he was able to come home during the final months of his life," Philadelphia Archbishop Charles J. Chaput said Sunday from Rome. "No matter where he lived or how he served the church over the years, he always considered Philadelphia his home."

Funeral arrangements were not announced, although a Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul was expected.

Chaput was in Rome for a regularly scheduled series of meetings between diocesan bishops and Pope Benedict XVI. The archbishop asked the people of the archdiocese to pray for Cardinal Foley, and for his priests to say Masses for him.

"His charisma and gentle spirit will be sorely missed," Chaput said. "By the sheer force of his personality, he drew people to the faith and to himself."

Cardinal Foley was perhaps best known to American audiences as host for 25 years of NBC's annual broadcast of the papal Christmas Mass at St. Peter's Basilica.

Papal biographer David Gibson, a former reporter for Vatican Radio, described Cardinal Foley as "never an insider, never a 'player' " at Vatican politics, "because he didn't want to be." Instead, he said, Cardinal Foley earned a reputation as a "man of such rectitude who did his job every day."

The council presidency "was never a career," Cardinal Foley said during a 2007 interview in Rome. "It was always a vocation, responding to what God calls you to do."

While in Rome he lived in a plain, two-room apartment at the Villa Stritch, a residence for American clergy, where he answered his own phone.

Thomas H. Massaro, a former Philadelphia housing director, recalled in 2007 that Cardinal Foley was so popular it took him an hour just to cross St. Peter's Square because so many people would stop to greet him.

Cardinal Foley's fondness for Italian cuisine expanded his waistline, however, and became a target of his self-deprecating humor. "My mother once told me," he would often say, 'John, there's 20 pounds of you that were never ordained.' "

The only child of parents who never finished high school, Cardinal Foley was born Nov. 11, 1935, grew up in Sharon Hill, graduated from St. Joseph's Preparatory School in 1953, and earned a bachelor of arts summa cum laude from St. Joseph's College (now University) in 1957 before entering St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood. He was ordained in 1962.

He soon caught the eye of Archbishop John Krol, who sent him to Rome for advanced studies. While there, he reported on the proceedings of the Second Vatican Council for the archdiocesan newspaper, and he continued to write for it upon his return.

In 1968, Krol, then a cardinal, made him editor of the Catholic Standard and Times. At Krol's encouragement, Cardinal Foley later earned a master's degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, where he was elected class president.

Though very different in temperament, the two men got along well. During a 1975 trip to Egypt, Krol asked Cardinal Foley whether he should take a camel ride.

"If I were you, Eminence, I would not," Cardinal Foley replied.

When Krol, wearing an Arabic head scarf, ignored the advice and got on the camel, Cardinal Foley snapped a picture. Krol was teased after it appeared in newspapers, and he demanded to know why Cardinal Foley had taken the photo "when you told me not to do it."

"As your priest, I gave you my best advice," Cardinal Foley replied. "As a journalist, I took your picture."

Krol understood, and in 1984 he recommended the 49-year-old monsignor to Pope John Paul II as head of the newly formed Pontifical Council for Social Communications. John Paul took the advice and made the monsignor an archbishop.

His mission was to promote moral values in TV, radio, advertising, and film, and to explain church teachings on a broad array of social issues. He came under intense criticism his first year, however, after he described AIDS as a "natural sanction for certain types of activities."

The pope later issued a statement reassuring homosexuals that the church loved them, and Cardinal Foley never provoked such controversy again. Later, he joked that he turned on CNN every morning "so I know what to pray about."

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Permalink Reply by Dawn Marie on December 12, 2011 at 9:16am

Eternal rest grant unto him O Lord and let Thy perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul and all the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace.

Amen

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Permalink Reply by Dawn Marie on December 12, 2011 at 12:55pm

Farewell to Cardinal Foley, mouthpiece for the Pope and the Vatican

John Foley

The cardinal who headed the Pontifical Council for Social Communications passed away this Sunday

vatican insider staff
Rome

John Patrick Foley died yesterday morning at the age of 76, in Philadelphia, in the United States, after a long battle with leukaemia. He was ordained priest in 1962 and in 1984 he was called to Rome by John Paul II to appoint him President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, of the Vatican Television Centre and of the Vatican Film Library. In 2007, Benedict XVI made him cardinal and nominated him Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Sepulchre. He left this post last August due to his illness.

Fr. Federico Lombardi made a moving statement to Vatican Radio, in memory of the cardinal:

“I personally feel very moved, though very serene, by the death of Cardinal Foley which was not unexpected, as he had returned to his diocese in his native Philadelphia precisely because he knew he was suffering from leukaemia and that his life was coming to an end. Everyone who had ever met Cardinal Foley admired and loved him for his kindness and for his spirituality: he truly was a deeply spiritual man. All those who came into contact with him over the past few years and during his latest illness, were left feeling great admiration for him. I am certain that he showed the Church in its best light, representing its friendly, open and prudent relationship in the world of social communications, not so much as an “impersonal” world but as a “people’s” world.”

Luis Badilla, an old collaborator of the cardinal and currently coordinator of the Italian Catholic blog “Sismografo”, had very fond memories of him: “A deep sadness filled the hearts of the many people who met him and worked with him in this city, as always happens when one loses a dear friend. I met Cardinal Foley, who was archbishop at the time, in 1984 and worked with him until 2000. Even though he was the President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, he worked with us television commentators covering papal ceremonies for the broadcaster “MondoVisione”, every year, during the Easter and Christmas liturgies. It was as if he were one of us commentators, working with humility and simplicity.”

Today, Benedict XVI sent a telegram of condolence to the the Most Reverend Charles Chaput, Archbishop of Philadelphia on the death of Cardinal John Patrick Foley. The message read:

Having learned with sadness of the death of Cardinal John Patrick Foley, Grand Master Emeritus of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, I offer you my heartfelt condolences. As I recall with gratitude the late Cardinal’s years of priestly ministry in his beloved Archdiocese of Philadephia, his distinguished service to the Holy See as President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, and most recently his labors on behalf of the Christian communities of the Holy Land, I willingly join you in commending his noble soul to God, the Father of all mercies. I also pray that his lifelong commitment to the Church’s presence in the media will inspire others to take up this apostolate so essential to the proclamation of the Gospel and the progress of the new evangelization. To all who mourn Cardinal Foley in the hope of the Resurrection, I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing as a pledge of consolation and peace in our Lord Jesus Christ.