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It seems everyone has a good \u201cCardinal Foley\u201d story to tell.<\/strong>\u00a0 The man was just so nice, so gracious, so friendly, we all thought he belonged especially to us.<\/p>\nDuring my years as conference director for Legatus,<\/strong> I called upon him often.\u00a0 He concelebrated Mass at our annual conference in Florida, and later he welcomed us to his offices at the Pontifical Council for Social Communications<\/strong> in Rome.\u00a0 There, he spoke with great energy about the role of the Church in the world, and about how goals of the new evangelization could be realized through the media.<\/p>\n One of the special treats<\/strong> then-Archbishop John P. Foley served up for our group each year was a special showing of historic Vatican films, including the Pontifical Council\u2019s oldest and most famous:\u00a0 A short clip on Lumiere film dating from 1896, featuring Pope Leo XIII<\/strong>.\u00a0 In the film, first the pontiff is seated, surrounded by bishops in an ornate chair; in the next scene, he arrives in a horse-drawn carriage.\u00a0 An aide reminds him that this is to be a moving picture; and slowly, deliberately, Pope Leo waves to the camera.\u00a0<\/p>\n Next Archbishop Foley shared a clip of Pope Pius XI<\/strong> inaugurating the Vatican Radio station, followed by Pope Pius XII<\/strong> visiting with the Italian royal family.\u00a0 Finally, we were treated to amazing footage from October 1962:\u00a0 the great Second Vatican Council, Pope John XXIII<\/strong> seated near the great baldacchino in St. Peter\u2019s Basilica, the bishops in their tall mitres.<\/p>\n Archbishop Foley was\u00a0the consummate\u00a0storyteller,<\/strong> and he loved to share this rich history of the Church and the papacy with our admiring crowd.\u00a0 He spoke of the role of media, of Bishop Fulton Sheen as the first televangelist; then he told jokes and chatted amiably with his guests.\u00a0 I recounted an early childhood memory of Pope Pius XII having contracted hiccups that would not stop, even after many weeks; and Archbishop Foley told us all that this was, in fact, the way he had died\u2014the recurrent hiccups signaling his impending death.\u00a0<\/p>\n For several years, I saw\u00a0Archbishop Foley\u00a0only on television<\/strong>\u2014narrating the pope\u2019s Midnight Mass at St. Peter\u2019s Basilica, explaining the Faith to the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n But then, some years later, our paths crossed again.<\/strong>\u00a0 Visiting Rome with executives of Guest House, I again arranged for a visit to Archbishop Foley\u2019s office.\u00a0 In February 2006, he had had a cancerous kidney removed; but by September of that year, he was back at his desk and he received us enthusiastically.\u00a0 A trip to Rome is always such a flurry,<\/strong> and some details of the week remain sketchy; but over the next few days, he met with us again.\u00a0 Very supportive of Guest House\u2019s mission of hope and healing for addicted Catholic clergy and religious, Archbishop Foley led us to a favorite caf\u00e9 to continue our conversation over breakfast\u2014and he then insisted on picking up the tab.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n In 2007, Archbishop Foley was named Grand Master of the Equestrian Order<\/strong> of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem<\/strong> and elevated to the rank of Cardinal-Deacon.\u00a0<\/p>\n In November 2011<\/strong> the U.S. bishops, gathered in Baltimore for the USCCB Fall General Assembly, heard a report from Archbishop Edwin O\u2019Brien regarding his failing health yet buoyant spirits, and they joined in prayer for this great man of God as he neared the end of his life\u2019s journey.\u00a0<\/p>\n And this week Cardinal Foley, the great communicator, left us to labor without him<\/strong> as he went to the place prepared for him by the Father.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0With Catholics the world over, I mourn for Cardinal Foley this week.\u00a0<\/p>\n May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.\u00a0 Amen.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It seems everyone has a good \u201cCardinal Foley\u201d story to tell.\u00a0 The man was just so nice, so gracious, so friendly, we all thought he belonged especially to us. During my years as conference director for Legatus, I called upon him often.\u00a0 He concelebrated Mass at our annual conference in Florida, and later he welcomed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":556,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,49,75,95,270],"tags":[359,2746,423,2779,611,2928],"class_list":["post-5216","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bishops","category-catholic","category-death","category-faith","category-vatican","tag-cardinal-john-foley","tag-catholic","tag-equestrian-order","tag-faith","tag-pontifical-council-for-social-communications","tag-vatican"],"yoast_head":"\n