Bishop Thomas Foley of Chicago (1822-1879)

FOLEY, Thomas, fifth R. C. bishop of Chicago, was born in Baltimore, Md., March 6, 1822, of Irish parentage. He was educated at St. Mary’s College, in his native city, and upon graduation in 1840, entered St. Mary’s Theological Seminary. After a six-year course of study, on Aug. 16, 1846, he was ordained a priest in the Baltimore Cathedral, by Archbishop Eccleston. Father Foley was first appointed to a mission at Rockville, Montgomery County, Md., from which he attended four country churches. He was afterward made assistant to Father Matthews, of St. Patrick’s Church, Washington, D.C., being called home by Archbishop Eccleston to the cathedral at Baltimore.

In 1851 Archbishop Kenrick made him his secretary and chancellor of the diocese, which position he also filled under Archbishop Spalding, being at one time administrator of the archdiocese (during the archbishop’s absence. Dr. Foley was secretary and notary to the two plenary councils of Baltimore in 1852 and 1866; as prominent in organizing the Young Catholic Friends’ Society, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, and in the establishment of the House of the Good Shepherd in Baltimore. In 1869 he was called to become coadjutor bishop of Chicago. This diocese, which Bishop O’Regan had left in an unsettled state, was thrown into worse confusion by the illness and insanity of his successor, Bishop Duggan, and Dr. Foley was selected as the most suitable person to adjust the difficulties.

He was consecrated at the Baltimore Cathedral on Feb. 27, 1870, by Rt. Rev. William George McCloskey of Louisville, Ky., and at once assumed his difficult charge. In an address delivered on the occasion of his installation Bishop Foley very beautifully expressed the policy he intended to pursue:

Peace be with you. No words can express more fully my feelings towards you and the object of my mission here than these same words, Peace be with you. I am here, as I believe all of you know, not by my own choice, but by the appointment of a higher power and for considerations to which it was my duty and obedience to yield. I am here for no other purpose than that which Jesus Christ announced to His Apostles when he said to them ‘Peace be unto you.’ My mission here is to honor His peace. I am a stranger to you, and therefore it is proper that I should take prudent and cautious action, so that I may be so instructed as to do all in order for the prosperity of the diocese. I am convinced that both people and clergy will fully understand the motives which prompt me to this abstinence from proceeding to the appointment of the officials of the diocese at once. Peace be unto you.

Bishop Foley in a short time restored peace and good feeling in the diocese; his appointments were favorably received and his administration gave general satisfaction. It has been aptly said of him that his “tact was unerring.” He was a man of great business and executive ability, and was an indefatigable and successful worker in building new churches, multiplying the number of his priests, charitable, benevolent and educational institutions. In 1877, the diocese of Peoria was created from that of Chicago. The Chicago fire, which occurred in 1871 and resulted in the loss to the church of about 85,000,000, would have discouraged a less energetic nature. But Bishop Foley at once set to work to rebuild the cathedral, churches, pastoral residences, schools, hospitals and institutions that the fire had destroyed. He also introduced a number of religious orders into the diocese. His whole administration was one of enterprise and success. His biographer says of him:

The greatest monument he left to his memory in Chicago was the new cathedral of the Holy Name, which was built at a cost of $200,000. He was an advocate of temperance and of the temperance cause, and gave his official approbation to the Catholic Total Abstinence Union of America. His death, the result of an attack of pneumonia, occasioned deep regret among all denominations, especially the prelates, clergy and laity of the Catholic church in the United States. Among the numerous testimonials of respect received from all quarters of the country were a series of resolutions of condolence adopted by the legislature of Illinois. He died at Chicago, 111., Feb. 19, 1879.

Bishop Foley was a ready and effective speaker. In all his addresses he was peculiarly happy in saying exactly the right thing at the right time and place. His generosity was as proverbial as his charity was great.

The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography (Volume IX) (New York: James T. White & Company, 1899), 80.