Cardinal Foley entertains Knight’s dinner, asks for lifting of excommunication
Aug 06, 2008
The “States Dinner” that the Knights of Columbus hold at their annual convention is always a colorful affair as representatives from the different states and provinces express their state pride, but this year’s dinner was graced with the quick-witted humor and insights of Cardinal John Foley.
Quebec City, Aug 5, 2008 / 09:53 pm (CNA).- Aware that the city of Québec is celebrating its 400th anniversary this year, Cardinal Foley lauded the recently held International Eucharistic Congress and used it as an opportunity to request a favor of Québec’s Cardinal Marc Ouellet.
“Your Eminence, when Father John Carroll, who was to become the first American bishop …accompanied Benjamin Franklin to Québec to ask that the Canadians join in the American Revolution, the then Bishop Briand of Québec forbade his priests to have anything to do with the visitors and he actually excommunicated John Carroll.”
“Bishop Briand had his reasons, in that the British had guaranteed the Catholics of Québec freedom of religion, a freedom which was not guaranteed at that time in the original thirteen rebellious colonies, where Catholics were often discriminated against,” explained the cardinal.
“Bishop Briand saw no reason for Canadians to join the American colonies against the British, and he was very annoyed that a Catholics priest should be among those seeking to encourage Canadians to risk their religious liberty in what he considered to be a dubious cause. So he excommunicated Father Carroll—and there is no record of which I know that such an excommunication has ever been lifted.”
“Your Eminence, Cardinal Ouellet,” said Cardinal Foley, “in the interest of better Canadian-American relations and in recognition of the fact that Americans now enjoy religious liberty… I would deeply appreciate it if you might lift the excommunication against John Carroll.”
“A government official down here said he said yes,” Cardinal Foley quipped.
Since recently being assigned to work in the Holy Land as the Grand Master of the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher, the cardinal also brought in the plight of Christians in the region.
He reminded the crowd that “we cannot permit the Holy Land to become merely a Christian museum; we must keep alive a vibrant Christian community in the land made sacred by the life, death and resurrection of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.”
The American cardinal closed by saying that the Church in the Holy Land is working for the “love and respect for which Jesus called –‘Love one another as I have loved you’.”
Cardinale Foley: l'aiuto ai cristiani in Terra Santa, un aiuto alla pace
Jul 10, 2008
Dichiarazioni del Gran Maestro dell'Ordine Equestre del Santo Sepolcro.
CITTA' DEL VATICANO, mercoledì, 9 luglio 2008 (ZENIT.org).- Il Gran Maestro dell'Ordine Equestre del Santo Sepolcro, il Cardinale John P. Foley, ha lanciato un nuovo appello ad aiutare i cristiani di Terra Santa per promuovere in questo modo la pace nella regione.
Dopo essere tornato da Gerusalemme, dove ha partecipato all'insediamento del nuovo Patriarca latino, Sua Beatitudine Fouad Twal, il Cardinale ha voluto condividere con ZENIT la sua preoccupazione per le condizioni dei cristiani nei luoghi in cui Gesù ha vissuto.
“Soffrono una doppia minoranza: in Israele sono una minoranza all'interno della popolazione ebraica e di quella palestinese, che per la stragrande maggioranza è costituita da musulmani”, ha spiegato.
Oltre a dover affrontare tutti i problemi collegati al fatto di essere una minoranza, i cristiani che vivono in Terra Santa condividono quelli dei loro vicini palestinesi ed ebrei, aggiunge.
“Chiaramente ci sono anche le difficoltà legate al muro di separazione costruito attorno a Betlemme; le difficoltà nello spostarsi tra West Bank, Israele e Gerusalemme; le difficoltà nel guadagnarsi da vivere o nell'accedere all'educazione. Tutto ciò incide duramente sulla comunità cristiana”, osserva.
“Aiutateli, aiutate le loro scuole, le loro parrocchie, l'Università di Betlemme, che è un'università cattolica sorta in una società a forte maggioranza musulmana – chiede il porporato statunitense –. Tra l'altro le scuole cattoliche accettano anche musulmani contribuendo così alla comprensione interreligiosa e, speriamo, a una possibile pace tra musulmani, ebrei e cristiani”.
Cardinal Foley calls friend Russert 'one of the greatest journalists'
Jun 17, 2008
U.S. Cardinal John P. Foley had lunch in Rome with Tim Russert and his family June 11, renewing ties of friendship that went back 24 years.
VATICAN CITY (CNS, Jun-16-2008) -- Two days later, the 58-year-old Russert collapsed and died of a heart attack back in his NBC office in Washington. Cardinal Foley, shocked and saddened like many others, said journalism had lost one of its best.
"It's the loss of one of the greatest journalists in the United States, if not the greatest. He was always kind and gracious, but he always got revealing material from people," Cardinal Foley told Catholic News Service.
The cardinal thought so highly of Russert that he tried to help him get a papal interview -- first with Pope John Paul II and then Pope Benedict XVI. He thought Russert's persistent questioning style would have highlighted the message of both pontiffs.
"He was always respectful of the individuals he was interviewing, but he didn't let them off the hook. He always went for the truth and went for an illuminating answer," Cardinal Foley said.
"And I thought, the pope had a lot of truth to share. It would have been wonderful if that opportunity had occurred, but it didn't," he said.
Russert, the NBC News Washington bureau chief and "Meet the Press" moderator, was in Rome on vacation with his wife, Maureen Orth, and their son, Luke, whom Cardinal Foley baptized in New York some 22 years ago. After their lunch together, the cardinal took them to an internal entrance to the Sistine Chapel and sent them on their way.
Cardinal Foley, grand master of the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher, said he first met Russert in 1984. Then-Archbishop Foley was head of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Social Communications, and Russert had come with a proposal to bring NBC's "Today" show to Rome for Easter 1985.
"We worked to make that happen," Cardinal Foley recalled. "NBC has been back for a number of things since then, and we worked with him."
Over the years, Cardinal Foley said he came to consider Russert the best interviewer in television, someone who drew information out of people without badgering or demeaning them.
Russert was also "never ashamed to be identified as a Catholic, which I think is very important," Cardinal Foley said.
"There are a number of people who want to keep sort of hidden, but not Tim. He was always proud of the fact that he was Catholic," the cardinal said.
"That was one of the reasons he wanted to interview the popes, to help make what they were saying more public. It was an act of loyalty on his part, not an act of exploitation," he said.
«La pedofilia è colpa della Chiesa e non dei media»
Apr 11, 2008
La Chiesa deve offrire il massimo e quando questo non accade non può essere colpa dei mezzi di comunicazione che danno ampio risalto all'evento negativo.
CITTÀ DEL VATICANO (10 aprile, Il Messagggero) - A fare autocritica è il cardinale John Patrick Foley, gran Maestro dell'Ordine equestre del Santo Sepolcro di Gerusalemme e per molti anni presidente del Pontificio Consiglio delle Comunicazioni Sociali, in una lunga intervista all'Osservatore Romanocommentando il peso dato dai mezzi di comunicazione agli scandali, riguardanti vicende di pedofilia, di una parte del clero americano.
«Noi siamo chiamati ai massimi livelli di perfezione e quando tradiamo questa fiducia non possiamo certo cavarcela criticando i mezzi di comunicazione sociale. Può darsi anche che alcuni media provino gusto nell'offrire un'immagine della Chiesa come un idolo dai piedi d'argilla. Ma comunque il fallimento è stato nostro, non loro». «È certamente un peccato - continua il porporato nell'intervista rilasciata a pochi giorni dal viaggio di Benedetto XVI negli Stati Uniti - il fatto che gran parte del bene che la Chiesa ha fatto venga trascurato a causa di questi scandali. Alcune persone sono pregiudizialmente ostili alla Chiesa, ma è anche vero che da noi ci si aspetta il bene».
Per questo il cardinale è convinto che anche se le «esigenze dei media possano sembrare eccessive o irragionevoli agli occhi della Chiesa» è «convinto che non bisogna lasciarsi sfuggire le opportunità offerte. Approfittare delle occasioni che ci vengono date per fare del bene e non avere un atteggiamento di timore, come invece accade talvolta nella stessa Chiesa».
Secondo il porporato, la Chiesa dovrebbe essere «aperta, onesta e anche prudente», in quanto «gli strumenti della comunicazione sociale non riflettono soltanto la cultura di una società ma contribuiscono direttamente a determinarla». L'ex capodicastero vaticano, inoltre, è consapevole che «la cultura statunitense esercita una grande influenza su tutto il mondo a motivo della notevole diffusione di programmi televisivi, film e musica».
Per questo ha lavorato con produttori televisivi per convincerli «a dare più spazio ad argomenti che richiamino i sani valori morali» e ha anche avuto esperienza diretta tenendo incontri biennali a Hollywood. Infine un'ultima riflessione viene fatta sul ruolo di internet definita dal cardinale «un'opportunità meravigliosa», tanto che lui è riuscito a ottenere International Committee for assignment of names il dominio «.va», che garantisce «l'autenticità dei contenuti che hanno questo dominio».
I cattolici nei media: aperti, onesti, prudenti
Apr 11, 2008
Gli strumenti della comunicazione non riflettono soltanto la cultura di una società ma contribuiscono direttamente a determinarla. Partendo da questa constatazione il cardinale John Patrick Foley - gran maestro dell'Ordine equestre del Santo Sepolcro di Gerusalemme e per lunghi anni presidente del Pontificio Consiglio delle Comunicazioni Sociali - offre un'analisi della realtà dei media statunitensi e indica l'esigenza di una nuova attenzione da parte della Chiesa al mondo dell'informazione nella società globalizzata.
(L'Osservatore Romano - 11 aprile 2008) Quanta parte della cultura statunitense è influenzata dalla televisione e, più in generale, dai mezzi di comunicazione?
"Ritengo che i mezzi di comunicazione sociale contribuiscano a determinare la cultura. Non solo la rispecchiano, ma la determinano. La cultura statunitense esercita una grande influenza su tutto il mondo a motivo della notevole diffusione che hanno programmi televisivi, film, musica statunitensi. Per questo, ho sempre pensato che se il nostro messaggio viene recepito dai produttori, dagli autori di film e di programmi televisivi, allora è possibile introdurre valori e temi più profondi nella società, non solo in quella americana. In questo senso, ho lavorato con i produttori di serie televisive per convincerli a dare più spazio ad argomenti che richiamino i sani valori morali. Alcuni programmi sono stati realizzati secondo questo criterio. Ho pensato che fosse un contributo molto importante. Non si tratta di programmi specificamente religiosi, ma in essi vengono affrontati temi morali".
Quindi lei ritiene possibile, attraverso la televisione e i film, orientare in senso positivo la cultura?
"Sono convinto che questi mezzi possano contribuire a cambiare le cose. Attualmente negli Stati Uniti esistono progetti validi in questo senso: a Hollywood, per esempio, c'è l'Act one, un programma che aiuta le persone a entrare nel mondo del cinema e a portarvi sani valori morali. Alcune di queste iniziative stanno dando buoni risultati. Vedono impegnate persone sensibili a questi valori. Non è certo un compito facile per loro, ma si tratta di uomini e donne altamente motivati. Ho avuto esperienza diretta di questa realtà tenendo incontri biennali a Hollywood con gli Screen writers guild e con altri gruppi. A ogni incontro partecipavano diverse centinaia di persone. Ponevano domande molto acute, manifestando un reale desiderio di produrre programmi di qualità - non di tipo predicatorio ma con contenuti moralmente validi - perché volevano veramente contribuire a cambiare le cose nella società".
Lei non è dell'idea che certe volte bisognerebbe spegnere la televisione?
"Assolutamente no. Non si può eliminare ciò che influenza la società. Una cosa che molti europei non comprendono è che, purtroppo, la religione non ha un proprio posto nei mezzi di comunicazione sociale americani. In altri tempi funzionava così: per ottenere una licenza dalla Federal communications commission, per la radio o per la televisione, bisognava garantire la produzione di un certo numero di trasmissioni di servizio pubblico, incluse quelle di tipo religioso. Le stazioni e le reti principali non vendevano spazi per la religione, ma li fornivano e ne pagavano anche i costi di produzione. Si è andati avanti così fino alla deregolamentazione della programmazione radiofonica e televisiva alla fine degli anni Settanta, quando è caduto l'obbligo di riservare una parte della programmazione al servizio pubblico e alla religione.
Oggi sulle principali reti televisive statunitensi l'unico programma religioso regolarmente previsto è la messa di Natale del Papa sulla Nbc. Prima invece c'erano programmi religiosi ogni domenica su tutte e tre le reti. Esisteva un consorzio formato dalla Chiesa cattolica, dal Consiglio nazionale delle Chiese e dal Comitato dei rabbini, che cooperava con le varie reti televisive per una programmazione prodotta dalle reti stesse e offerta alle affiliate locali. Era un vantaggio perché i programmi andavano in onda contemporaneamente in tutta la nazione, la domenica (o il sabato per gli ebrei). Le persone sapevano quando e dove trovare quelle trasmissioni.
Con la deregolamentazione della radio e della televisione, l'unico modo per poter essere presenti su queste stazioni è divenuto quello di acquistare spazi di programmazione. I gruppi protestanti fondamentalisti, che non appartenevano al Consiglio nazionale delle Chiese e che non avevano mai partecipato ai programmi prodotti su scala nazionale, hanno cominciato ad acquistare spazi di programmazione e addirittura a comprare stazioni locali. Quindi, con la deregolamentazione, l'unica presenza religiosa è rimasta quella dei predicatori fondamentalisti".
Il cardinale Foley
Che cosa ha fatto allora la Chiesa cattolica?
"La Chiesa cattolica non si è adeguata alla nuova situazione, ritenendo - insieme con le Chiese protestanti e con gli ebrei - che le stazioni avessero una sorta di obbligo verso di lei e che il governo dovesse in qualche modo esigere una programmazione religiosa di servizio pubblico. Ma sarebbe stato meglio essere più disponibili ad adattarsi alle nuove realtà.
E oggi qual è la situazione?
"Esistono ancora fondamentalisti protestanti che possiedono delle reti televisive. Producono programmi di qualità tecnica elevata, ma con accentuati contenuti fondamentalisti. Per quanto riguarda la Chiesa cattolica, bisogna ricordare che la Conferenza episcopale ha investito energie e risorse in un progetto - a mio giudizio non del tutto condivisibile - che non ha avuto esito positivo: l'acquisto di un canale nazionale, il Ctna, concepito come satellitare o via cavo, ma che sarebbe stato visibile solo negli uffici episcopali, affinché i vescovi potessero determinare quali programmi destinare alle stazioni televisive locali. Ho vissuto quella vicenda come membro del comitato per le comunicazioni sociali e in tale veste ho espresso le mie riserve sull'iniziativa, che poi di fatto è fallita. C'era dunque un vuoto, che è stato in qualche modo riempito da madre Angelica con il suo Eternal world television network.
Che cosa ha fatto madre Angelica per la televisione cattolica negli Stati Uniti?
"La rete satellitare di madre Angelica ha incontrato il favore di una piccola parte del pubblico. Un pubblico più vasto, per esempio, ha seguito le reti in cui era una volta presente il vescovo Fulton Sheen, le cui trasmissioni erano rivolte in generale a un uditorio più ampio per favorire la conoscenza del credo cattolico. Nel contesto della società americana potevano risultare utili anche ai protestanti e agli ebrei. In questo senso, esse costituivano una significativa opportunità di evangelizzazione. Madre Angelica, invece, ha esercitato un'influenza assai più limitata su quanti erano già convinti o su quanti desideravano vedere confermata la loro fede o, a volte, i loro pregiudizi. Ha avuto molto successo e ha fatto molte cose buone, ma la sua visione ecclesiale non è del tutto accettabile. L'ho incontrata quando voleva avviare una rete radiofonica internazionale a Roma e soprattutto direi che le sfumature non fanno parte del suo carattere. Ma senza dubbio ha fatto anche molte cose buone".
Come considera l'onnipresente rete?
"Internet è un'opportunità meravigliosa. Mi sono reso conto del suo valore alcuni anni fa e ho cercato di promuoverla soprattutto favorendo la creazione di un dominio per il Vaticano, il ".va" - che è di altissimo livello. Ricordo che l'International committee for the assignment of names ha opposto molte difficoltà a concedercelo. Sosteneva che avremmo dovuto usare i domini ".it" o ".org", ma alla fine la nostra battaglia per avere un dominio specifico che rispecchiasse proprio la particolarità della realtà vaticana ha avuto successo. È stato un risultato importante, perché allora c'erano siti che si definivano cattolici o persino vaticani, ma che in realtà non avevano nulla a che fare con la Chiesa: alcuni addirittura avevano contenuti immorali o anticlericali. Ora qualunque cosa abbia come dominio ".va" è di certo autentica e nessun sito può usufruirne senza esplicita autorizzazione".
Esigenze della comunicazione ed esigenze della Chiesa sono sempre conciliabili?
"Penso che a volte le esigenze dei mezzi di comunicazione sociale possano sembrare eccessive o irragionevoli agli occhi della Chiesa. Eppure sono convinto che non bisogna lasciarsi sfuggire le opportunità offerte. Occorre approfittare delle occasioni che ci vengono date per fare del bene e non avere un atteggiamento di timore, come invece accade talvolta nella stessa Chiesa. Dobbiamo essere aperti, onesti, anche se prudenti".
Pensa che i mezzi di comunicazione americani abbiano dato troppo rilievo agli scandali che hanno coinvolto una parte del clero statunitense, trascurando altri aspetti positivi del loro operato?
"È certamente un peccato il fatto che gran parte del bene che la Chiesa ha fatto venga trascurato a causa di questi scandali. Alcune persone sono pregiudizialmente ostili alla Chiesa, ma è anche vero che da noi ci si aspetta il bene. Un cardinale americano mi ha chiesto: "Che cosa possiamo fare per affrontare questa crisi?". Io gli ho risposto: "Virtù, e in assenza di virtù, candore, che è di per sé una virtù". Noi siamo chiamati ai massimi livelli di perfezione e quando tradiamo questa fiducia non possiamo certo cavarcela criticando i mezzi di comunicazione sociale. Può anche darsi che alcuni media provino gusto nell'offrire un'immagine della Chiesa come un idolo dai piedi d'argilla. Ma comunque il fallimento è stato nostro, non loro".
L'immagine che alcuni media propongono di Benedetto XVI continua a essere influenzata dal suo antico ruolo di Prefetto della Congregazione per la Dottrina della Fede?
"Uno dei compiti della Congregazione per la Dottrina della Fede è di indicare confini e limiti a una società che va estendendo in modo incontrollato e assoluto la sua libertà. E questa non è certo un'attività molto popolare. Joseph Ratzinger ha svolto questo compito per molti anni e ha cercato di valorizzarne soprattutto l'aspetto positivo, anche se poi sui media ha avuto eco soprattutto l'aspetto che potremmo definire negativo. Penso comunque che la sua azione sia stata molto efficace. Io ammiro il suo modo di parlare, di argomentare. È evidente che non solo crede in ciò che dice, ma sa spiegarlo molto efficacemente. Mi ha fatto sempre pensare all'immagine evangelica degli apostoli sulla via per Emmaus. Non ci ardeva forse il cuore nel petto - si dicevano - mentre ci spiegava le Scritture lungo il cammino? Ecco, credo che, ascoltando Benedetto XVI, avvenga una cosa analoga".
Un'altra tentazione ricorrente nei media è quella di paragonare la capacità comunicativa dell'attuale Pontefice con quella del suo predecessore.
"Benedetto XVI ha certamente un carattere più riservato. È un uomo di studio, una persona che non ama attirare l'attenzione su di sé. Desidera che al centro della comunicazione ci sia il messaggio e non il messaggero. E Cristo è, allo stesso tempo, il messaggio e il messaggero. Si può dire che Giovanni Paolo II abbia evidenziato l'aspetto più comunicativo del ministero petrino, mentre Benedetto XVI quello più meditativo, riflessivo".
Cardinal offers insight on church, media
Feb 04, 2008
The Vatican’s former head of communications preached the “good news” of media relations Friday night.
(Missourian, February 2, 2008) COLUMBIA — Cardinal John Foley spoke on the relationship between media and religion to a crowd of about 400 at the St. Thomas More Newman Center. Foley emphasized the importance of public relations in the Catholic church in communicating the news of the church to the media. He particularly stressed the need for an open and honest dialogue between the church and the media.
Cardinal John Foley built a good rapport with his mostly young audience at a master ...
“I would ask you in your communication efforts, share the good news of what is happening here and abroad,” Foley said.
Foley was the head of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications at the Vatican until 2007. He coordinated media relations for Pope John Paul II’s funeral and the election and installment of Pope Benedict XVI. He also holds a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University in New York.
During the 1960s, he covered Vatican II and later became editor of the Catholic Standard and Times, where he instituted a page that highlighted members of the Church who exemplify the doctrinal beliefs in their lives.
“I think people are always interested in people,” he said.
Foley said this type of coverage was vital to showing the positive side of the church and improving the church’s perception in today’s media coverage.
“I thought people needed good role models,” he said.
When asked by a member of the audience whether he felt the U.S. media was intentionally critical of the church, he said that in his experience that has not been the case. He said the church must always act with candor when dealing with the media, particularly when the news could paint the church in an unfavorable light.
The cardinal’s stance surprised some of those in attendance.
Elizabeth Freese, an employee at the State Historical Preservation Office, heard Foley’s distinct voice for the first time this past Christmas during his annual commentary on the pope’s Midnight Mass and wanted to see him in person.
“He made a really good point that the good that we do is never really talked about in the media,” Freese said.
Dick Hronick, a retired Jefferson City postal worker, said Foley’s remarks were more optimistic about the current media situation than he expected.
“I think that because of his position that the media might treat him with deference,” Hronick said. “I think that generally the media, at least more and more in the last few years, is being more antagonistic to traditional Christianity than his experience seems to indicate.”
Even so, he sees hope in Foley’s good experience with the media.
“I would like to think his experience is closer to the truth, and maybe people are looking for something a little more,” Hronick said.
Foley also spoke to the importance of teaching students and the public about the processes involved in news gathering and production in order to foster a more media-literate society.
“We should become intelligent consumers of the media and not just couch potatoes,” Foley said.
Tom Bander, a development officer at William Woods University, said he was grateful for the cardinal’s candor with the audience.
“I appreciated that he didn’t talk down to us or above us,” he said.
As part of his visit to MU, Foley also visited a public relations class at the MU School of Journalism on Thursday afternoon. He offered insight into managing large events from a strategic communication perspective and many anecdotes from his past experience with popes, presidents and senators.
Friday’s forum was the fourth installment of the St. Thomas More Newman Center Speaker Series.
Cardinal Foley Returns to Hawk Hill
Jan 30, 2008
Foley, '57, celebrates "Thanksgiving Mass" on campus.
(sjuhawknews.com, 1/30/08) One of Saint Joseph's University's most famous graduates returned to campus Sunday to celebrate mass with students, faculty, and fellow alumni.
His eminence, Cardinal John P. Foley, '57, led a special "Mass of Thanksgiving," just days after returning from a trip to the Middle East.
Flanked by 11 other St. Joe's priests, including Father Lannon, Cardinal Foley spoke fondly about his alma mater, and reflected on his experiences on campus as an undergraduate.
"I am very grateful for my vocation, which was preserved at Saint Joseph's University," he said.
The Chapel of Saint Joseph was filled to capacity for the 11 a.m. mass, where members of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre and graduates from the St. Joe's Class of '57 joined current students for the special event.
The Saint Joseph's University alma mater was selected as the opening hymn, and throughout the morning, the well-established Catholic traditions of St. Joe's shone through.
"It is very important that one of ours is now a Cardinal and coming back to say mass. There is symbolism in an alumnus like that returning to Saint Joseph's," said Fr. Lannon
Fr. Lannon stressed that Cardinal Foley's visit serves as yet another indication of the great tradition that has been established at St. Joe's.
"It started with the leadership of Father Rashford, and continued with the leadership we've had from trustees and alumni. The students love this place, and the alumni love this place," he said.
Cardinal Foley was, in fact, the catalyst for Sunday's mass, and recently began the entire process by contacting Fr. Lannon to offer assistance to his alma mater.
"Just after he was named a Cardinal, he called me and said that he wanted to help Saint Joseph's University in any way he could. I told him it would be wonderful for him to come say Mass here."
During the Mass, Fr. Lannon said that both he and the St. Joe's community were, "proud and privileged to call [Cardinal Foley] a son of Saint Joseph's University."
Many current students attended the mass as well, including Paul Crisafulli, '09.
"I've been going to mass here every week for three years, but this is the most special one I've been to," he said.
"It's real cool to know that someone so high in the church is a St. Joe's grad."
While on campus as an undergraduate, Cardinal Foley was deeply immersed in the St. Joe's community. He was active in a number of student organizations, and served as Student Body President before graduating summa cum laude, with a degree in history.
His Eminence was active within the church while at St. Joe's, attending Mass every day and serving the community on a weekly basis. Apparently, many of his classmates foresaw his future in the church, often referring to him as, "Your Foleyness."
Cardinal Foley's visit to St. Joe's came in the wake of a recent trip to the Middle East. He visited representing the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre, a group dedicated to protecting the Christian minority in the Holy Land. Pope Benedict XVI named Cardinal Foley the Grand Master of the order in June 2007, only five months before he was elevated to Cardinal.
Cardinal Foley calls trip to Holy Land inspiring, informative
Jan 22, 2008
U.S. Cardinal John P. Foley said his first trip to the Holy Land as grand master of the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher was "both inspiring and informative."
VATICAN CITY (CNS, Jan-21-2008) -- While he was struck by the "very distressing" living conditions of Bethlehem's residents and the restrictions on some seminarians' freedom to travel, he was also touched by the enthusiasm and faith of the area's Christians, the cardinal told Catholic News Service Jan. 18.
His Jan. 7-13 trip to Jerusalem, the West Bank, Jordan and "all the major shrines" was "a great joy" and "very necessary for me in my new job."
Pope Benedict XVI named Cardinal Foley pro-grand master of the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher in June. The chivalric organization is dedicated to supporting the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and to responding to the needs of Catholics in the Holy Land.
The 72-year-old Philadelphia native had not been to the Holy Land since 1977, he said, "and what a way to go as cardinal, I must say."
He met with numerous bishops, dignitaries, and local Christians and helped celebrate Mass at a number of venues, including at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher which, the cardinal said, was a very moving experience "especially given my new job."
In meetings with local pastors, the priests "were very clear and forthright" in outlining what aid they had received from the chivalric order and what now were their most urgent needs, the cardinal said.
Their No. 1 priority, he said, was additional funding for Catholic schools.
"The cost of living is going up and they can't afford to give raises to the teachers," he said.
He said Catholic school officials "don't want to lose their teachers" -- some of whom are leaving to work in better-paid public schools.
The schools are crucial for helping the minority Christians "maintain a Christian identity," Cardinal Foley said. Since Latin-rite Catholics, Melkite Catholics, Greek Orthodox and even Muslims attend the schools, these institutions also foster understanding and peace in multifaith communities, he said.
Seeing how people in Bethlehem, West Bank, were affected by the Israeli security barrier "was very, very distressing," he said. Some people cannot access their land on the other side of the barrier, a series of concrete slabs and barbed-wire fences, and while Israeli settlements have sprung up on contested lands.
"They're very unhappy, Christians and Muslims alike," he said.
The cardinal said he was struck by how enthusiastic and strong in their faith the Christians of Zerka, Jordan, were. Meeting with and celebrating Mass for "the descendents of the first Christians" was very inspiriting, he said.
He said he also was impressed by "the quality of the students and enthusiasm" of the seminarians in Beit Jalla near Bethlehem, despite "the frustration of not being able to return home for Christmas." Visa restrictions had prevented nearly half the students from leaving the West Bank for the holidays, he said.
Terre Sainte : Entrée solennelle du cardinal Foley au Saint-Sépulcre
Jan 15, 2008
Une cérémonie sous le signe de l’œcuménisme.
ROME, Lundi 14 janvier 2008 (ZENIT.org) - Le cardinal John Foley, nommé par Benoît XVI Grand Maître de l'Ordre Équestre des Chevaliers du Saint-Sépulcre, a fait son entrée solennelle, lundi 7 janvier 2008, au Saint-Sépulcre, justement appelé par les Orientaux « basilique de la Résurrection ».
Comme l'indique le site Internet des Franciscains de la Custodie de Terre Sainte, les frères franciscains, gardiens des Lieux Saints, sont allés chercher le cardinal Foley en procession au Patriarcat latin.
Signe de fraternité œcuménique, le Grand Maître était entouré des pasteurs catholiques de Terre Sainte mais aussi de représentants des Églises orthodoxes en ce jour de leur Noël, et des Chevaliers de l'Ordre.
Le cardinal a été accueilli par le Custode de Terre Sainte, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, devant la fameuse « pierre de l'Onction ».
L'usage, précise la même source, veut que tout cardinal puisse demander à faire une entrée solennelle au Saint-Sépulcre, et a fortiori le Grand Maître de l'Ordre des Chevaliers.
Le Custode de Terre Sainte a été le seul, pendant des siècles, rappelle le site, à être en droit d'adouber les Chevaliers : la faculté en fut donnée au Custode par une bulle du pape de 1496 à 1847. Mais depuis 1847 ce rôle revient au patriarche de Jérusalem, le plus souvent au patriarcat, et, depuis 1932, il peut déléguer cette fonction à un autre cardinal dans le monde.
Le cardinal Foley a été ensuite accueilli par le patriarche de Terre Sainte, Mgr Michel Sabbah, devant le tombeau du Christ (dont l'authenticité est attestée par les meilleurs archéologues).
Le cardinal Foley l'a remercié, ainsi que les représentants des Églises orientales présentes, en leur souhaitant en grec un joyeux Noël.
Le lendemain matin, le cardinal Foley est revenu au Saint-Sépulcre, pour la messe chantée de 6 h 30, célébrée à l'intention des Chevaliers et Dames du monde entier.
Dans son homélie, toujours selon la même source, le cardinal Foley leur a souhaité de « grandir dans la foi et la sainteté mais aussi en nombre », de façon à « être plus nombreux à diffuser le message de la Terre Sainte et à tenir au courant le monde de la situation des chrétiens du pays ».
Le cardinal Foley a également remercié les Franciscains pour leur apostolat notamment dans les Lieux Saints et spécialement au Saint Sépulcre, les invitant à repousser « la tentation de la routine » : « Vous avez une vocation !», a-t-il dit d'une voix forte.
A l'occasion du pèlerinage du Grand Maître de l'Ordre Equestre du Saint Sépulcre, et grâce au travail du frère Michele Piccirillo, la Custodie de Terre Sainte vient d'éditer le registre de tous les adoubements de 1561 à 1847, avec les fac-similés de chaque page des archives franciscaines et leur transcription en caractère d'imprimerie.
Cardinal comes home to roost
Dec 13, 2007
The word gospel comes from the old English for "good news," and when it's the story of a Delaware County boy who goes to Rome, becomes a cardinal and gets a victory lap on the Main Line, you can book it.
(Philadelphia Daily News, Dec. 12, 2007) "It's sometimes nice to have good news to report," said newly minted Cardinal John Patrick Foley, a longtime priest in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, chatting with reporters yesterday at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary.
Last month, Pope Benedict XVI elevated Foley from archbishop to cardinal in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. This week, Foley is bringing the celebration back to Philly.
"I love Philadelphia and I still consider Philadelphia to be home," said Foley, 72, who has lived in Rome since 1984. He said he's impressed by how places like Fishtown, his father's former stomping grounds, are "now very trendy and fashionable."
Tomorrow night, he will celebrate Mass at Cathedral Basilica of Ss. Peter and Paul. Live video will be available on the archdiocese Web site, www.archphila. org.
Foley is a humble man, but the former editor of the Catholic Standard & Times admitted yesterday to getting a kick out of the recent articles chronicling his rise from Sharon Hill, Delaware County, to the Vatican.
"It's like being canonized without the inconvenience of dying," he said from his armchair at the seminary in Wynnewood, where he once taught metaphysics and ethics to aspiring priests.
"Thank you very much for your interest, for your support, for your kindness. It's more than I deserve, but I appreciate it," said Foley, former press liaison for Pope John Paul II. "Now, do you have any questions to which I can reply immediately, 'No comment?' "
For nearly 45 minutes, the cardinal fielded mostly softball questions, mixed in with a few hardballs, such as whether he would ever support women in the priesthood. He said he wouldn't, because it is "clearly not the will of Christ."
On the chances of his being named pope someday, he said it is "not even within the realm of possibility - if the cardinals know what they're doing."
And, for the record, it was on Christmas Day in 1952, Foley's senior year at St. Joe's Prep, when he decided to become a priest.
"I went back to the parish church and I knelt in front of the Christmas crib scene there, and I said, 'Lord, you've given me everything I have - my life, my family, my faith, my wonderful education - and I want to give it all back to you,' " he said.
"And that's when I decided to enter the seminary."
One On One With John Cardinal Foley
Dec 13, 2007
Philadelphia's newest prince of the Roman Catholic Church -- John Cardinal Foley -- is home for the first time since his elevation at the Vatican Thanksgiving weekend.
PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3, Dec 11, 2007) ― Cardinal Foley met with reporters on Tuesday and he sat down for an exclusive one on one conversation with CBS 3's Pat Ciarrocchi.
This is a homecoming for John Cardinal Foley. It was a week celebrating masses, meeting friends, even offering a blessing at City Council this Thursday morning.
"I always was inspired by the ceremonies here in this room by the mass of course; I really learned how to be a priest by the example of other priests," John Cardinal Foley explained.
Now, John Cardinal Foley is the example -- celebrating his first homecoming mass at St. Charles Seminary. The place his priesthood was formed in 1957.
"It's a life, I never viewed it as a career, you live the priesthood of Jesus Christ, that's just wonderful," John Cardinal Foley said.
John Cardinal Foley, at the age of 72, has reached a pinnacle. He received the Cardinal's red hat in November.
As a Cardinal, he is among the closest advisors to Pope Benedict.
"He's a gentle, kindly man, he's a master, it's a joy to see him work," John Cardinal Foley said.
Still, it's work challenged in the United States by the sex abuse scandal.
"Priests can lose their souls, even some priests whom I had taught and whom I never would have suspected of these things," John Cardinal Foley said. "How many lives have been irreparably damaged by this, it must be terrible to be abused by somebody in whom you have the utmost trust."
At the seminary, only young men prepare to be priests, but their numbers are dwindling each year.
When asked about women as priests, John Cardinal Foley said: "No, and that seems to be by divine law. This is a theological law that God has determined that men will be priests."
Women may not be permitted to be priests, but the new Cardinal said each one of us can be saints.
Cardinal Foley will celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving at the Cathedral on Thursday at 6:00 p.m. and it is open to the public.
For Americans, becoming cardinal was 'on the edge' of happiest day
Nov 27, 2007
Kneeling before Pope Benedict XVI and becoming a cardinal was "on the edge" of being the happiest day in the lives of the two new U.S. cardinals.
VATICAN CITY (CNS, Nov-26-2007) -- Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston used the "on the edge" phrase Nov. 24, but said he had to be honest: "The happiest day of my life is the day as a bishop I ordained my first priest. No day will probably ever equal that."
Cardinal John P. Foley, grand master of the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher, also used the "on the edge" phrase, but said, "the happiest day was my ordination as a priest. That's it. I keep saying that I have never had an unhappy day as a priest and I mean it."
The two new U.S. cardinals spoke to reporters immediately after the consistory and immediately before attending a reception in their honor at the Pontifical North American College, the U.S. seminary in Rome.
The mood was light-hearted; Cardinal DiNardo explained that he had hoped to be "very composed" when kneeling before the pope, but his new red zucchetto or skullcap kept slipping off. Cardinal Foley used the opportunity to thank the Catholic Press Association for the gift of his new red robes and asked, "Do I look all right, by the way?"
Cardinal Foley also said that he had the permission of Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican secretary of state, to continue doing the English-language TV commentary for the pope's Christmas Mass at midnight.
"So, God willing, at Christmas you will hear the ghost of Christmas past," he told reporters.
Pope Benedict met Nov. 26 with the new cardinals, their family members and the pilgrims who came to Rome for the celebrations.
The pope asked the pilgrims to continue offering the new cardinals "friendship, esteem and prayers, helping them continue faithfully to serve the church and to offer an increasingly generous witness of love."
"As the new cardinals accept the burden of this office, I am confident that they will be supported by your constant prayers and your cooperation in their efforts to build up the body of Christ in unity, holiness and peace," the pope said.
At the North American College reception Nov. 24, U.S. seminarians served as ushers, bartenders and entertainers while thousands of U.S. pilgrims stood in line to congratulate the new cardinals.
Roberto and Mira Martinez of St. Mary's Parish in Texas City were part of the official Galveston-Houston pilgrimage.
When the trip was being organized, "I e-mailed my husband at work and said, 'Don't think I'm crazy, but we need to go to Rome,'" she said. "We are watching history and it's exciting to be a part of it. Someday our archbishop could be pope."
The receptions continued in the evening with the traditional "courtesy visits" to the new cardinals, stationed in various rooms of the Apostolic Palace, Vatican audience hall, governor's palace and the headquarters of the office responsible for the upkeep of St. Peter's Basilica.
Making the rounds in the Apostolic Palace, Cardinal Francis E. George of Chicago, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said the two new U.S. members of the College of Cardinals were important and deserving.
"Cardinal Foley has been a faithful servant of the Holy See for many years," he said. "And Cardinal DiNardo represents an important area of growth of the church in our country."
Cardinal George said it was "very moving" to watch the new cardinals receive their red hats from the pope and "it reminded me of what the moment was supposed to be." He said he used the word "supposed" because the moment when he received his own red hat from Pope John Paul II in 1998 was so overwhelming that "I went through it on automatic pilot."
The Knights of the Holy Sepulcher, a chivalric and philanthropic order with special ties to the Holy Land, hosted another reception for Cardinal Foley Nov. 25 in its Rome headquarters.
Among the guests were Latin-rite Patriarch Michel Sabbah of Jerusalem, who said he was pleased Pope Benedict has chosen Cardinal Foley to lead the knights and their efforts to assist Catholics in the Holy Land.
Charles J. Curry, a knight from San Antonio, said: "We are absolutely thrilled. Coming from Texas, we got doubly blessed" with both Cardinals Foley and DiNardo receiving red hats at the same ceremony.
"I know Cardinal Foley only by reputation and that is extremely positive," he said.
Several of Cardinal Foley's classmates from the Columbia University School of Journalism also were on hand, but the star among his peers was Henry Gibson, the comedian and actor currently appearing on the television series "Boston Legal."
Gibson said he and the cardinal have been "solid friends" since 1949 when they were classmates at St. Joseph's Preparatory School in Philadelphia. They and three other classmates referred to themselves as the "Rat Pack" and were involved in the debate team, drama club and other activities.
The Land of the Free... and the Home of the Red
Nov 25, 2007
With today's elevation of Cardinals John Foley and Daniel DiNardo, the all-time number of US prelates added to the Roman clergy now stands at 46 since John McCloskey of New York received the red hat in 1875.
Whispers in the Loggia, Saturday, November 24, 2007
The Land of the Free... and the Home of the Red
With today's elevation of Cardinals John Foley and Daniel DiNardo, the all-time number of US prelates added to the Roman clergy now stands at 46 since John McCloskey of New York received the red hat in 1875.
The new additions, however, set a record -- 17 American cardinals in all, thirteen of whom may vote in a hypothetical conclave.
DiNardo is the first US cardinal under 60 and the first Italian-American to be named to the college since Roger Mahony and Anthony Bevilacqua respectively brought those distinctions to the table in 1991. Foley is but the second Curial "lifer" from the States to enter the papal senate -- and, just like Cardinal Francis Brennan (the longtime dean of the Roman Rota elevated in 1967) before him, he's a Philadelphian. The River City can now boast of four native sons who've ended up in red, while DiNardo's hometown of Pittsburgh has its second.
Immediately following the consistory, as the rain teemed outside, the American honorees were quickly hustled up the Janiculum Hill to a press conference at the Pontifical North American College, where the "private" afternoon receptions were held for a combined crowd numbering about 2,000.
The National Catholic Reporter's John Allen has rushed a transcript of the meeting -- most of which, in keeping with the exuberant feeling of the day, kept things quite light.
Opening Remarks by Cardinal John Foley: I’ve been told I’m supposed to go first. I think I can speak for Cardinal DiNardo in saying that we’re very grateful to our Holy Father for this great honor, not to us personally but to the church in the United States. We’ve been very well-received by our fellow members of the College of Cardinals, and many of the American members of the College are here today. As one who has worked with the media for so many years, I’m grateful and happy to see so many of you here. It’s a pleasure to see you. Thank you for all the kind things you’ve said about both of us in these days. I said to John Allen yesterday that it’s nice to be canonized without the inconvenience of dying! We’re very grateful for all of your kindness and thoughtfulness and support. We ask you for your prayers. I know that both of us will be available to you as much as we can in these days. Forgive me for asking to be seated at this time, but some bug struck me a couple days ago and I haven’t been in the best possible shape. I’m just trying to survive through the ceremonies. Thank you for your understanding and your patience. I now give you to the man who was my boss here in Rome a number of years ago as director of Villa Stritch, where I live, the residence for American priests who work at the Vatican. Cardinal DiNardo was so kind to me when I celebrated my 25th anniversary as a priest. He had a special dinner for me, and invited other people. He was always very gracious, very thoughtful, so God has rewarded him for his goodness!
Opening Remarks by Cardinal Daniel DiNardo: I think Cardinal Foley has spoken for us both in saying how grateful we all are, first to the Holy Father, and to God’s people. We’re both humbled too by receiving this title, this honor. I would want to add along with Cardinal Foley my gratitude to those of you here with the press. I especially want to thank the press from Houston, if you don’t mind a plug, because they’ve come here from the city of Houston. It is a distinctive honor for not just Texas, but the whole south of the United States, but certainly for Houston. I’m very proud that a cardinal from the south has been named. It’s an honor, a responsibility, and pretty humbling for this kid from Pittsburgh. I’ve been so warmly accepted by the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, and now to be selected to be a cardinal of the church. I’m delighted. It was a wonderful celebration today, beautiful words of the gospel, beautiful interpretation by the Holy Father today. Thank you.
Cardinal DiNardo, what did you think when the Holy Father put the biretta on your head?
I wanted to be very composed in terms of the sacred moment, but I have to admit at the very moment he put it on, my zucchetto was falling off. I had to push it back up. Once I stood up, he had a great smile when he said Pax Domini, “the peace of the Lord be with you.” That smile, that encouragement, were a great moment for me today.
Cardinal Foley, when you were the editor of the Catholic Standard and Times up there on the ninth floor of 222 17th Street, did you ever think you’d be wearing the red hat of a cardinal?
No, but I thank the members of the Catholic Press Association for having given me the clothes I’m wearing today! Is that your way of slipping that in? Bob Zyskowski is the President of the Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada, and he worked for me in Philadelphia lo these many years ago, so he’s made good. Thank you. Do I look alright, by the way?
Both of you have given your lives to the church. Cardinal DiNardo first and then Cardinal Foley, would you say this is the happiest day of your lives?
DiNardo: It’s a very, very happy day of my life, but I’m going to be as frank with you as I can. The happiest day of my life was the day as a bishop I ordained my first priest. No day will probably ever equal that. I say that [because] it just simply affected me more than anything. But to receive this great title from the Holy Father … it’s really quite special. To have my family present, as well as the family of the church from Houston and Pittsburgh and Sioux City, made it an extremely fine, fine moment. So it’s on the edge of the happiest day of my life.
Foley: I also was on the edge of the happiest, but the happiest day was my ordination as a priest. That’s it. I keep saying that I’ve never had an unhappy day as a priest, and I mean that. It’s been a wonderful, wonderful blessing … including today!...
Cardinal DiNardo, as somebody who came into Texas from the outside, can you talk a little bit about what you’ve learned about Catholicism in Texas and the southwest, and what this day means for Catholics there?
Houston had half the number of Catholics twenty years ago that it has right now. There has been an incredible growth of various nations and peoples, plus people from other parts of the United States who have come in to the southwest, to the south, and specifically to the area around Galveston-Houston-Austin. They bring with them experiences of the Catholic faith, of their respective nations, which has been an enrichment to us. That’s particularly [the case] when you think of those from various parts of South America, and from the Pacific … Vietnamese, Filipinos, Chinese, Koreans. I see that as a great enrichment. What it has allowed us to do, but it’s also a challenge, is to see that the unity of faith can be maintained with a wide variety of cultures around. However, it requires purposive work to do that. The challenge I see in Houston is to celebrate the richness we have, with this great diversity and expressions of Catholicism. That’s also why I’m delighted that there’s a red hat. The unity of faith with the Holy Father is also extremely crucial if we’re going to keep all this working together.
I say this with great pride, that Houston to my mind in the Catholic church there strikes me as ‘happy chaos.’ It’s not the chaos of no one knows what’s going on, but the chaos of great enrichment. Coming from outside, I’ve been delighted and very impressed, particularly with the young people of the archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. Let’s not forget, may I also add, that there’s a rich tradition already in Houston of African-American Catholic culture, from Louisiana. That should be noted.
Cardinal Foley, you’ve been known as the voice of the Vatican through your Christmas and Easter commentaries during the televised Masses. Is there any way, with your new duties as a cardinal and with the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, that you’ll be able to continue that?
Foley: The Cardinal Secretary of State told me I could continue that, so God willing, at Christmas you’ll hear the ghost of Christmas past. By the way, not only that, but I had been previously invited to go to Houston for the dedication of their new co-cathedral and do television commentary for that. I said yes, and I’m going to keep that promise … whether he [DiNardo] wants me or not!
DiNardo: We always want you, Cardinal Foley. It’ll be good to see you, and to have a professional who knows what he’s doing.
Do you know when you’ll take possession of your titular churches, and do you know anything about them?...
Foley: My church is San Sebastiano al Palatino. It’s supposed to be the site of the martyrdom of Saint Sebastian, who was first pierced with many arrows and nursed back to health. When they found he had been nursed back to health, they invited him again to worship the emperor, and when he refused to do so, he was beaten to death. His body was thrown into a drain right near where the titular church is. Then his body was taken out and buried at San Sebastiano on the Appian Way. So, San Sebastiano al Palatino is built on the site of the martyrdom, not where the saint is buried. It’s a very ancient church. It was redone in the 16th century, but it goes back much further than that.
The red hat goes to the pastor
Nov 25, 2007
Baseball manager Leo Durocher may not have meant the phrase "nice guys finish last" in quite the sense it's usually understood, but it nonetheless captures the reality that cut-throat tactics are often a more direct route to advancement than humility and kindness.
The red hat goes to the pastor
All Things Catholic by John L. Allen, Jr.
Friday, November 21, 2007
Baseball manager Leo Durocher may not have meant the phrase "nice guys finish last" in quite the sense it's usually understood, but it nonetheless captures the reality that cut-throat tactics are often a more direct route to advancement than humility and kindness. While things are supposed to be different in the church, that's not always the case, which is perhaps what makes the elevation of Archbishop John Foley to the College of Cardinals this Saturday especially satisfying.
I was quoted in the Philadelphia Inquirer Nov. 18 Nov. 18 calling Foley "the nicest guy in the Vatican," and I meant it. Formerly President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, Foley is today the Pro-Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher. While each of the 23 new cardinals who will receive the red hat on Saturday no doubt has a story to tell, I'm going to focus here on Foley because Americans who have lived in Rome can't help thinking of him in some sense as our local pastor.
Four qualities in particular, at least for me, stand out.
# A Pastor's Heart: Despite having served for a quarter-century in the Vatican, Foley has always seemed more at home in pastoral settings than in the corridors of ecclesiastical power. Foley is a regular at the Church of Santa Susanna, for example, the American parish in Rome, presiding over confirmations and celebrating Mass on special occasions. (Indeed, Foley is to be at Santa Susanna this Thursday to offer the annual Thanksgiving Mass.) Over the years, legions of people in Rome have stories to tell of times Foley helped them behind the scenes during periods of struggle.
Foley's legendary sense of humor is also part of his pastoral nature. He's a notorious punster; one example involves pointing to the pectoral cross hanging from his neck and asking someone in a mocking tone, "Are you jerking my chain?"
# Honesty: Journalists know that while Foley always takes phone calls, he doesn't always have the answers they seek. A typical Foley response to a delicate question goes like this: "I don't have any insider knowledge on that, and if I did, I wouldn't be able to tell you." That can be frustrating for reporters on deadline, but it reflects Foley's deep commitment to truth. He doesn't play the games that talking heads in other walks of life have honed to a fine art, leaving an impression of knowing more than he really does, or telling only half-truths intended to spin a story in a certain direction.
An anecdote makes the point.
In April 2001, Foley addressed a conference on social communications in Rome. Foley told the group that he had sometimes been asked to lie by church authorities, though not in his position at the Council for Social Communications. He said he has steadfastly refused.
Early in his career, Foley said, he worked as an information officer for the U.S. bishops' conference. In those days, reporters were not allowed into bishops' meetings and relied on Foley's briefings to know what was going on. During one closed-door session, Foley said, a bishop denounced ecumenism. Afterwards, another bishop asked Foley if he planned to tell the media about the remark. When he said yes, the bishop said, "What if I asked you not to?" Foley said he replied, "You would be exceeding your authority."
"Not only was what I was asked to do morally wrong; it was also dumb," Foley said. "The truth will always come out."
"Never, never, never tell a lie," Foley said.
# Loyalty: Aside from being a faithful friend on a personal level, Foley is also extraordinarily loyal to the institution he serves. That's all the more remarkable given that, if ever a Vatican official had good reason to grouse, he's it.
After being named President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications in 1984, Foley watched eight consistories come and go, with 214 other men becoming cardinals while he never made the cut. There are, of course, plausible explanations for why he was not elevated -- a surfeit of Vatican cardinals, for one, and the lack of a precedent for a cardinal's red hat going with this particular job. (Foley's predecessor, Cardinal Andrzej Maria Deskur, also entered the college only after he stepped down.) That doesn't explain, however, why he was never promoted to a job with greater responsibility. Over the years, Foley acquired a reputation as the perpetual bridesmaid of the Catholic hierarchy.
Being passed over for advancement wasn't the only slight, intended or not. In February 2005, the talented Bishop Renato Boccardo was removed from the number two position in Foley's office and assigned to the Vatican city-state. It was clear that Pope John Paul II's declining health meant a conclave might be coming, so Foley wrote to the Secretary of State to point out that while other Vatican offices enter a "maintenance" mode when the pope dies, Social Communications goes into over-drive to deal with the avalanche of media interest. Despite that appeal, no new secretary was assigned, so Foley was left under-staffed when the time came. Even though he was technically out of office during the interregnum, Foley put in long hours, and he and his staff did a remarkable job keeping the media informed and organized.
One could go on cataloguing ways in which Foley was sometimes left out in the cold. Through it all, he never lost his sense of humor, and never betrayed resentment. One imagines that's part of the reason that Benedict XVI wanted to honor him this time around, not just by making him a cardinal, but by listing his name second, following only the former sostituto and current Prefect of the Congregation for Eastern Churches, Leonardo Sandri.
# Humility: Foley's status as the president of a pontifical council would have justified the expense of separate lodgings in Rome, but over the years he has chosen instead to stay at the Villa Stritch, the residence for Americans working in the Vatican. He also drives himself to work, often stopping along the way to offer a lift to someone he knows. These are small gestures, but they reveal much about the man, who has never exploited the privileges of office in order to exalt himself.
Each year the North American College in Rome bestows an award upon an American churchman during its annual Rector's Dinner, and in 2004 the honor went to Foley. Instead of cataloguing his accomplishments or dropping names, Foley instead spoke directly to the seminarians that night, telling them that not a day has gone by during his career that he doesn't thank God for the gift of the priesthood. That's Foley in a nutshell -- at his core, he thinks of himself as a priest first, a potentate second.
On a policy level, one can certainly raise critical questions about Foley's 23-year tenure as the Vatican's point person on social communications. For the most part, they concern not so much whether his heart was in the right place, but his capacity to do the political heavy lifting necessary to shape institutional policy.
For example, after Pope Benedict XVI's 2006 lecture at the University of Regensburg, Foley candidly admitted that the episode, in which a passing reference to a 14th century Byzantine emperor triggered a global firestorm, illustrated the need to "foresee possible reactions" to papal statements, and thus to avoid language that might spark undesired blowback. When I asked if he felt the lesson had been learned, he replied: "It should be. Whether or not it has been, I don't know."
One might have justifiably protested, "But it's your job to know." For whatever reason, Foley was always better at modeling communications strategy himself than at bringing the institution along with him. (Granted, the latter task is difficult for anyone; even the more politically-minded Joaquin Navarro-Valls, the former Vatican spokesperson, could only make so much headway against an institutional culture than can charitably be described as "ambivalent" with respect to the press.)
In the end, however, what makes Foley remarkable is less about what job he holds, or how well he does it, than who he is. Few figures have ever succeeded at putting a "human face" on the leadership of the institutional church as well as John Foley. At 72, and in basically solid health, Foley can look forward to many more years of activity, and one hopes that Benedict XVI can find ways to use him as a "goodwill ambassador" for the Vatican and for Catholicism.
In the person of John Foley, Saturday's consistory marks a long-overdue triumph for the nice guys, and that alone makes the occasion worth celebrating.
Darby’s Foley set to become cardinal
Nov 18, 2007
Around the Vatican, where cardinals and bishops and even monsignors are known to assume patrician airs, Archbishop John Foley stays down to earth.
(Philadelphia Inquirer, Nov. 17, 2007) ROME - Strolling across the foyer of the Savoy Hotel, where he is about to address a conference, the Darby native says: "Let's wait here."
He slips inside a dim storage room strewn with suitcases and tablecloths and eases his ample frame onto a sofa.
Moments later, a porter enters and does a double-take. "No, no," the man says: A distinguished prelate does not belong here.
"I'm fine," replies Foley, grand master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, a papal knighthood.
The porter departs with a baffled frown, and Foley laughs. "Maybe," he says, "he thought I was going to steal the luggage."
Affable, funny and unpretentious, Foley has worked 23 years in the Vatican, all the while standing apart from its gossipy politics and careerism.
And yet next Saturday, this former priest from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia will enter the most elite rank of the Roman Catholic Church. In ceremonies at St. Peter's Basilica, the 72-year-old archbishop will kneel before Pope Benedict XVI, bow his head, and rise wearing the red hat of a cardinal.
The only son of parents who never finished high school, the Sharon Hill altar boy known as "Jack" will become a "prince of the church," one of just 120 prelates eligible to elect its next pope.
Foley was a Philadelphia Archdiocese priest and editor of its newspaper when he took charge of the Vatican's new communications office in 1984. Over time, said John Allen, a longtime Vatican reporter for the National Catholic Reporter, he "earned a reputation as the nicest guy in the Vatican."
It would prove an unusually long tenure - even by the Vatican's standards. He was the longest-serving head of any Vatican office when he stepped down in June.
To many of his friends back home, Foley's reward for that service felt long in coming.
"We used to tease him: 'So, John, what's up with that red hat?' " recalled Thomas H. Massaro, a former Philadelphia housing director. "And he would get all red in the face and say, 'Don't talk about that. I'm very happy.' "
It got so bad Foley once confided to Massaro that he was afraid to arrange papal audiences for his Philadelphia friends. "I'm just so worried they're going to blurt out, 'When are you going to give him a red hat?' "
Over a recent lunch at his favorite Rome restaurant, a 20-minute drive from St. Peter's, Foley smiled when reminded of that teasing. Climbing the hierarchy "was the farthest thing from my mind" when he entered St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood, he said. "I never thought I'd be a cardinal."
It was a moment in the 11th grade, he recalled, that clinched his interest in the priesthood. He was teaching catechism to six children at St. Barbara's parish when one of the boys announced to the pastor, "We love Mr. Foley. He teaches us about Jesus."
"I realized that there was nothing more important than teaching people about Jesus," he said, his eyes turning misty. "I still get a little choked up about that."
Then-Archbishop John Krol launched him on a career as a journalist-priest shortly after Foley's ordination in 1962, sending him to Rome to cover the Second Vatican Council for the archdiocesan newspaper. In 1968, Krol, by then a cardinal, made him editor.
The two got on well. During a 1975 trip to Egypt, Krol asked Foley whether he should take a camel ride.
"If I were you, Eminence, I would not," Foley replied.
When Krol, wearing an Arabic head scarf, ignored the advice and got on the camel, Foley snapped his picture. Krol got teased after it appeared in newspapers, and demanded to know why Foley had taken the photo "when you told me not to do it."
"As your priest, I gave you my best advice," Foley replied. "As a journalist, I took your picture."
Krol understood, and on his recommendation Pope John Paul II in 1984 named Foley president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications at the Vatican.
The office's job was to explain church teachings to reporters and to promote moral values in TV, radio, advertising and film. Foley gave interviews and speeches, developed and circulated church documents on media ethics, and appeared on news programs speaking to the issues of the day.
He often joked that he turned on CNN every morning "so I know what to pray about."
His most controversial moment on the job came during his first year, when 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.
Foley was probably best-known to the American public as the cleric who narrated the papal Christmas Mass on NBC-TV.
"For me, it was never a career," he said, referring to his work at Social Communications. "It was always a vocation, responding to what God calls you to do. And he never calls you to compromise your principles."
His own operating principles were succinctly summed up in 2002, when Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles asked him how to cope with the exploding clergy sex-abuse scandal.
"Above all, virtue," Foley told the cardinal. "Absent virtue, candor."
In carrying out his duties, "Foley was never an insider, never a 'player,' because he didn't want to be," said American author David Gibson, a former reporter for Vatican Radio. "And that's to his credit."
Instead, Gibson said, Foley earned a reputation as "a man of such rectitude: a really nice guy who did his job every day."
Still, "his humility and lack of [political] ambition were also his biggest criticism," said Allen, of the National Catholic Reporter. He said Foley and his office had done little "to change the Vatican's culture of suspicion of the outside world - and especially the press."
Although Foley was ultimately an "outsider" within the Vatican's halls of power, Allen said, he greatly improved that institution's image in the eyes of the world.
And his popularity in the Holy City was easy to see, said Massaro, who recalled how it sometimes took Foley an hour to pass through a crowded St. Peter's Square "because so many people would stop to greet him."
And so it was as an esteemed archbishop that Foley supposed he would retire at 75 and return to Philadelphia.
Then a funny thing happened. In June, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican secretary of state, called him to his office.
"He said, 'The Holy Father has it in mind to make you grand master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre because -,' and here I stopped him," Foley said.
" 'There's no need to explain,' I said. 'I will do whatever the pope wants.' "
Bertone held his tongue for several minutes, then told Foley that Benedict "is giving you this job because he wants you to be a cardinal."
Founded as a military knighthood during the Crusades, the order has been led by cardinals ever since its revival in the 19th century as a charitable-fraternal organization.
Its 18,000 members around the world contribute annual dues of about $1,000, much of which is spent to create housing and jobs for the rapidly diminishing Catholic populations in Israel, Jordan and Palestine.
Foley's newfound eminence does not seem to have gone to his head. He intends to keep the same two-room apartment about five miles from the Vatican at the Villa Stritch, a residence where much of the American clergy in Rome live. "What more do I need?" he asked.
His new quarters as grand master are another matter, however.
The Order of the Holy Sepulchre is housed in the Palazzo della Rovere, a palatial, 15th-century villa two blocks from St. Peter's Square. The villa includes an audience room with a throne; long, gloomy rooms with frescoes; and coffered ceilings.
At the end of it all awaits the wood-paneled office of the current grand master, who works at a cluttered desk under a frescoed ceiling, watched over by the portraits of nine popes. To his right - testimony to the fact that this is a real job - glows a flat-screen computer.
His days start around 8:15, and might include - as they did one day recently - approvals for the expenditures of Holy Sepulchre projects in the Holy Land; acknowledgment of donations from the order's regional associations, or "lieutenancies"; a meeting with a delegation from Norway to create a lieutenancy there; and a speech at the Savoy Hotel.
Eschewing a lectern, Foley sat in a chair before the ecumenical group and soon had his audience laughing and nodding.
"Our lives should reflect what we believe," he said. "Living out our faith, never having to be hidden - that's what brings the greatest joy."
On the drive back to his office, he pointed out Mussolini's balcony, Napoleon's mother's house, and other sites before remarking: "You know, I've never had an unhappy day as a priest.
"There have been tense days, of course, but it's really been wonderful. I can't think of anything else I'd rather have been."
Amid the crowd in St. Peter's Square, new cardinal hears his name
Oct 18, 2007
U.S. Cardinal-designate John P. Foley, a Philadelphia native, was standing in the middle of St. Peter's Square among a sea of 30,000 pilgrims when Pope Benedict XVI named him a cardinal.
VATICAN CITY (CNS, Oct-17-2007) -- Though he knew the previous day he was going to be one of 23 people to receive a red hat, the Oct. 17 announcement was going to fall on the same morning he had a follow-up visit with his eye doctor.
"I didn't get back in time to be there at the beginning of the audience and I didn't have my glad rags on," meaning his formal clerical dress, so he said he just snuck inconspicuously into the middle of the crowd.
He told Catholic News Service he never expected to be the second new cardinal listed after the senior Vatican prefect, Cardinal-designate Leonardo Sandri.
When the pope "started the list there I was No. 2 on the list and that was a surprise," Cardinal-designate Foley said.
He said a pilgrim standing next to him asked him if he knew any of the men the pope had just named to be cardinal.
"I said 'Yes, I know quite a few of them.' And I said 'I am one of them,' Well, I don't think he believed me," he said laughing.
"What would I be doing standing out in the middle of St. Peter's Square, you know. But I thought it would be nice to hear the announcement anyway," he said happily.
The Columbia University journalism school graduate and former editor of The Catholic Standard and Times, Philadelphia archdiocesan newspaper, headed the Pontifical Council for Social Communications for 23 years. In June, Pope Benedict XVI named him pro-grand master of the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher, a chivalric organization dedicated to supporting the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and to responding to the needs of Catholics in the Holy Land.
He turned many years of journalistic experience into a great asset for the universal church. His media-friendly style and quick sense of humor shine in person and throughout the numerous speeches and homilies he has delivered around the world.
This self-described "chocoholic" often speaks of the joys of working for the church, but tells his audiences that while the pay is not that great, "the benefits are out of this world."
Cardinal-designate Foley, one of 23 cardinals named Oct. 17 by Pope Benedict XVI, will receive his red hat in a Nov. 24 consistory at the Vatican.
His new post as pro-grand master has taken him out of the public spotlight -- he was known worldwide for his English-language commentary for major papal ceremonies. But he was still traveling the world promoting the church's mandate for using the media ethically when he delivered an Oct. 11 address to advertisers in Oslo, Norway.
Cardinal-designate Foley urged his audience to plug their products for the common good and appealed for major reform of campaign financing legislation, including in the United States. He asked that candidates be able to advertise and "present their message without financial contributions corrupting or co-opting them."
In June, when he left his communications job, Cardinal-designate Foley told Catholic News Service he hoped he had accomplished two primary goals: "First, that the church recognize the importance of the media for communicating the good news of Jesus Christ"; and second, that church leaders understand "the communications media are not threats, but opportunities."
He has said he loved being able to merge his love for God and the media.
"In my work as a priest and as an archbishop, I am able to do two things I love very much: to be active in communications and to tell people about Jesus," he said in May 6 commencement address to students at the University of Portland, Ore.
Under his leadership, the social communications council issued separate documents promoting ethical standards in advertising, communications and on the Internet. Another council document denounced pornography.
When the Vatican started to investigate the possibility of going online, Cardinal-designate Foley lobbied tirelessly for the Holy See to be given its own top-level domain.
"We were first told that we should be part of .it for Italy; I told them we were surrounded by It; that in another sense, we were It, but we were not in It."
After refusing to settle for .it and .org, he succeeded in getting the Vatican the top-level domain of .va.
"For us that is very important because you can be sure that anything coming from .va is authentic ... material from the Vatican and the Holy See," he said in a May 10 speech to former classmates from St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia.
Born in Darby, Pa., Nov. 11, 1935, he was ordained a priest in Philadelphia when he was 26 years old.
He served as assistant pastor at Sacred Heart Church in Havertown, Pa., and later at St. John the Evangelist Church in Philadelphia, starting in 1966.
Cardinal-designate Foley said his experience in journalism dated back to the seventh grade when he started writing radio plays on the lives of saints. As a teen, he was also asked to be an announcer for Sunday morning programming on then-station WJMJ, now WNWR, in Philadelphia.
His re-launched his radio career in 1966 as co-producer and co-host of the Philadelphia Catholic Hour on WFIL radio.
Cardinal-designate Foley also appeared on television during his college years in a weekly college debate program and later co-produced a 20-program televised series on "The Making of a Priest."
Between stints as assistant editor of The Catholic Standard and Times in the 1960s, he conducted his graduate studies in philosophy in Rome, where he also served as a journalist covering the news from Rome and the Second Vatican Council, 1963-1965.
In 1970, he was appointed editor of The Catholic Standard and Times until 1984, when Pope John Paul II appointed him head of the Vatican body for social communications. He was ordained an archbishop the same year.
Cardinal-designate Foley has received numerous honorary degrees and awards, including the Catholic Press Association's highest prize, the St. Francis de Sales Award.
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