Cardinal John Patrick Foley (born November 11, 1935) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church.He is the current Pro-Grand Master of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, having previously served as President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications from 1984 to 2007.
On October 17, 2007, Pope Benedict XVI announced that he will make Foley a Cardinal.
Foley has now been elevated to the College of Cardinals in the consistory at St. Peter's Basilica on today,November 24, 2007.
Born in Darby, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia, John Foley studied at Saint Joseph's Preparatory School; Saint Joseph's College, from where he obtained a bachelor's degree in history; St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood, earning a doctorate in philosophy; and Columbia University's School of Journalism, earning his master's degree in journalism.
He was ordained to the priesthood by the late John Cardinal Krol on May 19, 1962, for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, and celebrated his first Mass the next day at Holy Spirit Church in Sharon Hill, PA.
He then served as assistant editor and Rome correspondent for the archdiocesan newspaper, The Catholic Standard & Times. From 1970 to 1984 he was the newspaper's editor, and in 1976 he became a Monsignor.
On April 5, 1984, Foley was appointed President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications and Titular Archbishop of Neapolis in Proconsulari by the late Pope John Paul II.
He received his episcopal consecration on the following May 8 from Cardinal Krol, with Bishops Martin Lohmuller and Thomas Welsh serving as co-consecrators.
During his tenure, the Archbishop once sparked outrage in the homosexual community by describing the AIDS pandemic as a "natural sanction for certain types of activities".
He also defended the Church's exclusively male priesthood, once saying, "Jesus clearly did not ordain women to the priesthood, nor did he authorize the Church to do so".
Upon the death of John Paul II on April 2, 2005, Foley and all major Vatican officials, in accord with custom, automatically lost their positions during the sede vacante. He was later confirmed as the Council's president by Pope Benedict XVI on April 21 of that same year.
Pope Benedict XVI named him as Grand Master of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre on June 27, 2007, replacing the retiring Carlo Cardinal Furno.
The Order is, along with the Knights of Malta a virtual Sovereign State with membership of many international bodies and observer status at others (such as the United Nations).
The Grand Masters of the two Orders are thus Papal Viceroys who provide Vatican diplomacy with procedural support for making motions, proposing Amendments and requiring votes in the sphere of international diplomacy.
Foley, as the Council's president, was the longest-serving head of a Curial dicastery until receiving this appointment; Archbishop Claudio Celli, former Secretary of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See, was appointed as his successor.
The Archbishop has sat on various organizations, including the National Conference of Christians and Jews, Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada, Pennsylvania State Ethics Commission, and National Conference of Catholic Bishops.
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