Sainthood sought for Father Foley
Share with others:
Saying that the Rev. Theodore Foley embodied Christian love and a spirit of reconciliation that the world desperately needs, the Passionist order formally announced his cause for beatification Thursday night.
Father Foley was rector of their monastery on the South Side Slopes in 1956-58. He later served as superior of the Passionist order worldwide. When the Catholic Church developed rifts after Vatican II, he was a voice for reconciliation. Countless Catholics, from street people to Pope Paul VI, sought him to hear their confessions. He died in 1974 at the age of 61.
His body now lies in a gleaming white marble tomb just inside the door of St. Paul of the Cross Monastery Church on the South Side Slopes. Priests and retired auxiliary Bishop William Winter gathered around that tomb to declare the formalities of his cause for sainthood -- permitted by Pope Benedict XVI -- and to ask those with evidence to bring that to the Passionist order. About 300 people attended the service.
The Rev. Robert Joerger, the Passionist provincial, said he once met the elderly retired superior of another order who had served in Rome at the same time as Father Foley.
"He said that everyone in Rome, including the pope, knew that Father Theodore Foley was the holiest man in Rome, and that in a time of great turmoil, he was our anchor" Father Joerger said.
As similar turmoil grips both church and nation, "together we ask the servant of God Father Theodore Foley to pray for us. ... We trust that he will continue to be an anchor," he said.
First Published October 1, 2010 12:00 am
