WHEREAS, Cardinal John P. Foley was born on November 11, 1935 in Fitzgerald-Mercy Hospital in Darby, Pennsylvania and grew up in Holy Spirit Parish in Sharon Hill, the only child of John and Regina (Vogt) Foley; and
WHEREAS, Cardinal John P. Foley graduated from Holy Spirit School, St. Joseph's Preparatory School and graduated summa cum laude from St. Joseph's College (now St. Joseph’s University) in 1957, where he was president of the student body; and
WHEREAS, Cardinal John P. Foley entered the priesthood in 1957, studied at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary on City Avenue and was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia on May 19, 1962. Later that same year, the late Cardinal John Krol, then Philadelphia's archbishop, sent the young priest to Rome to report on the Second Vatican Council for the Philadelphia Catholic Standard & Times, the archdiocesan newspaper; and
WHEREAS, Cardinal Krol saw great promise in Cardinal John P. Foley and sent him to Columbia University's School of Journalism, where he earned a master's degree in 1966; and
WHEREAS, In 1966, Cardinal John P. Foley was appointed assistant pastor of Philadelphia’s St. John the Evangelist Church, and served on the faculty of Cardinal Dougherty High School, with residence in St. Bernard Church, also in Philadelphia. From 1966 until 1974, Cardinal John P. Foley also was co-producer and co-host of the Philadelphia Catholic Hour on local radio station WFIL; and
WHEREAS, Cardinal John P. Foley served as editor of the Philadelphia Catholic Standard & Times for 14 years (1970-1984), taught at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary and, in 1976, he was named an honorary prelate of His Holiness with the title of Monsignor. He was also Vice Chairman of the Pennsylvania State Ethics Commission (1979-1984); and
WHEREAS, Cardinal Krol recommended Cardinal John P. Foley to the late Pope John Paul II in 1984 to become the first president of the new Pontifical Council for Social Communications at the Vatican, whose role is to explain church teachings through the worldwide media; and
WHEREAS, Cardinal John P. Foley went to Rome to serve the world, but never forgot his friends, his family and his Philadelphia. He was consecrated an archbishop in 1984 at Philadelphia’s Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul. He was 48 at the time and was the youngest head of a papal office at the Vatican; and
WHEREAS, Cardinal John P. Foley had served for 23 years (1984-2007) as head of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications when Pope Benedict XVI named him on June 17, 2007 as Pro Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem; and
WHEREAS, The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem lends financial support to the Catholic Church in the Holy Land and helps maintain Christian shrines in that region; and
WHEREAS, Philadelphia and the entire Delaware Valley rejoiced when Pope Benedict XVI publicly announced on October 17, 2007 that he would elevate Archbishop John P. Foley to Cardinal; and
WHEREAS, Cardinal John P. Foley officially will become a cardinal during a November 24, 2007 consistory at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican; and
WHEREAS, Cardinal Justin Rigali, Archbishop of Philadelphia, hailed Cardinal John P. Foley’s appointment as one that will unite the people of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia more closely with Pope Benedict XVI; now therefore
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That we declare Thursday, December 13, 2007 as Cardinal John P. Foley Day in the City of Philadelphia.
FURTHER RESOLVED, That an Engrossed copy of this resolution be presented to his Eminence Cardinal John P. Foley.
End