In your charity, please remember to pray for the repose of the soul of His Eminence John Patrick Card. Foley, who died on 11 December at the age of 76.
Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him.
May he rest in peace.
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I only had the chance to meet His Eminence once. It was on my 1997 trip to Rome. He was a very good and holy priest. One could tell that he was very comfortable with his priesthood and that he looked at his vocation as a way to promote the Catholic Church. He did so, very well and with great honor and sincerity.
I remember visiting with him for about 10 minutes at St. Peter’s. Once we got past the pleasantries, which included an indulgence for yours truly, I couldn’t get over how much he knew about Rome, the Mass and how it related to Rome. I also got the sense that he would be a cardinal some day. I can remember debriefing Monsignor Schuler when I got back from Italy and I made mention of that and the Monsignor smiled and simply said, yes.
Card. Foley was a good and holy priest. It was a pleasure to meet him and it will always be a memory I will keep close.
He served in Philadelphia for many years before taking over communications ministry in Rome. May he rest in peace.
Living only one diocese away from Philadelphia gave me the opportunity to meet and chat with His late Eminence many times.
He had relatives not far from where I live in Lancaster PA, and whenever he saw me, which wasn’t often, he actually remembered where I was from, and would ask about people of our common acquaintance. I daresay he was the only member of the College who would’ve recognized me on sight. (It could have had something to do with crashing into him once while walking around a trade show in Philadelphia many years ago, but that’s another story).
I have one charming anecdote though I’d like to share. One Sunday, about eight years ago, Archbishop Foley said Mass at my parish. Afterward, in the vestibule, one of my sons, who was around five at the time, looked up at the archbishop towering in his mitre. Archbishop Foley bent down to shake his hand, and my son said, “Are you the pope?”
The bishop stood up and laughed, “No, son, not the pope, I just work for him!”
Requiescat in pace.
NBC’s annual telecast of Christmas Eve Midnight Mass from St Peter’s just won’t be the same without Cardinal Foley’s narration. For many, he was “the voice of Christmas”.
That “voice of Christmas” exuded such faith, seemed so genuinely influenced by those mysteries he gave an English voice to. God bless him.
He will be sorely missed at St. Charles Seminary (where he taught philosophy for 18 years and later visited frequently).
I am reminded of one day a year or two ago when he suddenly asked some collegians to go out to breakfast. One grabbed his car and they all went to Ihop (international house of pancakes). While there, there were some students of St. Joseph University. One of them asked, “Father what parish are you from?” The Cardinal answered, “I’m actually a Cardinal; I head the communications commission in the Vatican.” Obviously it took some time for the students to believe that a cardinal was in their midst.
He had such a distinctive voice, perfect for radio and TV.
On another blog, I saw a video of him giving an acceptance speech for a ‘Broadcasting Pioneers Hall of Fame’ in Philly recently. He couldn’t attend in person to receive his award due to his illness. He was talking about his life, and particularly about the early days of ‘live’ television.
He did one program where he was going to interview a priest who weighed over 300 pounds. When the good Father sat down on a dinky metal chair, it crashed under his weight, and the then-Father Foley had to cut away to a commercial to get the screaming Padre off the floor. The way he related the story was hilarious!
I watched the Midnight Mass from St. Peter’s on NBC for several years; he was definitely ‘The Voice of Christmas’. And I have his narration for the funeral Mass of Blessed John Paul II on the DVD from EWTN.
May he rest in peace–I’m sure that he and JP II are having a great reunion!
From
Cardinal John P. Foley, 76, Vatican Spokesman, Dies, by Douglas Martin:
At first he turned down the appointment, saying he had to care for his ailing widowed mother. Cardinal Krol told him to bring her with him to Rome, a move that did not make her happy. An outspoken woman, she said to her son after meeting John Paul, “Being pope can really go to some people’s heads.”
Not that Cardinal Foley escaped her critical eye, he said. Commenting on his appreciation of Italian cuisine, she told him, “John, there are 20 pounds of you that have not been ordained.”