Archbishop John P. Foley papers

Cardinal John Patrick Foley was born on November 11, 1935, in Darby, PA, the only child of John Edward and Regina (Vogt) Foley of Sharon Hill, PA, a suburb of Philadelphia.

He graduated from Holy Spirit School, Sharon Hill; St. Joseph's Preparatory School and St. Joseph's University, Philadelphia, where he obtained a bachelor's degree summa cum laude in history in 1957. He entered St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, Overbrook, Philadelphia and received a bachelor's degree in philosophy there in 1958.

He was ordained a priest on May 19, 1962, by Archbishop (later Cardinal) John J. Krol in the Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul, Philadelphia. His first priestly assignment was as assistant pastor at Sacred Heart Church, Manoa, Havertown, Philadelphia. In 1963, he was named assistant editor of The Catholic Standard and Times and was assigned to graduate study in Rome, where he also served as Rome correspondent of the newspaper from 1963 until 1965 during the second and third sessions of the Second Vatican Council.

He received his licentiate degree in Philosophy in 1964 and his doctorate cum laude in 1965 from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) with a dissertation on "Natural Law, Natural Right and the Warren Court". In 1966, he received the degree of Master of Science in Journalism magna cum laude from Columbia University in New York, where he was president of the student body of the Journalism School and representative on the University Council.

In 1967, he was once again named assistant editor of The Catholic Standard and Times and named editor in 1970. In 1976, he was named an honorary prelate of His Holiness with the title of Monsignor.

On April 9, 1984, he was named by Pope John Paul II as president of the Pontifical Commission (now Pontifical Council) for Social Communications at the Vatican, with the title of Titular Archbishop of Neapolis in Proconsulari. He was ordained an Archbishop by Cardinal Krol in the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul in Philadelphia on May 8 1984; he is the only person to be ordained both to the priesthood and the episcopate by Cardinal Krol. He began his work in Rome in June 1984, and was given the additional responsibility of president of the council of administration of the Vatican Television Center from August 1984 until December 1989. His responsibilities also include the Vatican Film Library.

He was also a member of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America from 1984 until 1989, which is evident from his role as Observer of the Presidential Election of 1984 in El Salvador.

On June 27, 2007, Archbishop Foley was elevated to the rank of Cardinal and named by Pope Benedict XVI Pro-Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. he passed away on November 21, 2011.