ARCHDIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA

Your Eminence, Cardinal Foley,

It is a joy for me as Archbishop of Philadelphia to welcome you today on your first visit home since those recent eventful days in Rome, when His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI created you a Cardinal of the Church.

You have come back to the city of your birth, to the Archdiocese of your Baptism and introduction into the faith. You have returned to the place where your beloved parents first taught you to love God and your neighbor. You have returned to the place that evokes your call to the sacred Priesthood of our Lord Jesus Christ, to the local Church which holds all the memories of your youth and your seminary training.

At this moment you have returned to the very Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul where you were ordained a priest, where you were ordained a Bishop and entered effectively into the College of Bishops as a Successor of the Apostles—here in this sacred church.

It was from this local Church of Philadelphia, which had nourished you in grace and challenged you to holiness of life, that you were sent to Rome to heed the call of Pope John Paul II to collaborate with him in the Roman Curia, and specifically in his mission of communicating the good news of salvation to the whole world. And so for those many years in Rome, and in those other places where your work directed you, you sought to collaborate faithfully with the Holy Father in his evangelizing mission. All of this brought you into contact with the world, and the world into contact with you. But what really mattered during all those twenty-three years is that through your ministry as priest and Bishop in a close partnership with Christ’s Vicar on earth—first John Paul II and more recently Benedict XVI— the world came into contact with Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ was manifested ever more to His people through the faithful communication of the word of God.

During those years, as Providence would have it, you were uniquely positioned to be of great assistance to so many of the faithful of Philadelphia, many of them being your brother priests. You assisted them to profit from their visit to Rome "to see Peter," and to use the occasion to ponder God’s word as He communicated His Son to them ever more through your person, your ministry, your kindness.

And in the fullness of time, as it related to your life, our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI chose you to be a Cardinal of the Church, a member of the presbyterate of Rome, assigning you to a new ministry but one that is always at the service of God’s word and, in particular, His Incarnate Word, Jesus Christ. Your new assignment and challenge is to be the worthy Grand Prior of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. As such your ministry and solicitude are oriented to the Church in the Holy Land, with its sacred shrines and institutions and, above all, the immense needs of the Christian people of these places.

From now on your ministry, your very person is meant to be synonymous with the great pastoral solicitude of the Church for Jerusalem and all that is known as the Holy Land. And through you the exquisite sensitivity of the Chief Shepherd of the Church for the peace of Jerusalem will constantly be revealed.

It is obvious that just as until now, as a faithful disciple, you have borne your share of hardship for the Church, so in the future you will be called upon to bear an even greater share of burden in Christ’s saving work.

The context in which we express to you our solidarity and support in your new activities is, of course, the celebration of the Eucharist. How fortunate for you to be surrounded here this evening by so many of your brother Bishops and priests, so many of your faithful friends, who have made such a great effort to be with you. We extend a particular welcome to Cardinal Bevilacqua, Cardinal Keeler and Cardinal McCarrick. Their presence is indicative of your warm acceptance into the College of Cardinals. But all of us are gratified to be close to you in the greatest act of our holy Catholic faith—so meaningful for all God’s people—our greatest form of celebration: the Mass.

Some years ago—you may well recall the incident—Pope John Paul II was asked by a journalist what the greatest joy is in the life of the Pope. He unhesitatingly replied: to enjoy the same privilege shared by every Catholic priest in the world—the privilege of being able to celebrate Mass every day. After many years of service as a priest and Bishop, and now as a Cardinal, your greatest privilege and joy remains to offer up the Eucharist, for the living and the dead. And this evening so many people join you joyfully in this Eucharistic celebration, which, as Vatican II explained so well, is the source and summit of the Christian life of all of us.

Back on November 24th when the Holy Father made you a Cardinal, he reminded you that the honor you were receiving was all about the glory of God and the service of the Apostolic See. He mentioned explicitly before all the people present that the red biretta was meant to be a sign that you and your brother Cardinals would be ready to conduct yourselves with courage, even to the shedding of blood, for the increase of the Christian faith, for the peace and tranquility of the People of God, and for the freedom and progress of the holy Church of Rome. How beautiful a coincidence that our Eucharistic celebration today, on the feast of Saint Lucy, recalls the memory of one of the Church’s faithful witnesses of the third century—a virgin martyr who testified by her life to her faith and love for our Lord Jesus Christ!

After more than seventeen centuries, the Church still speaks about Saint Lucy, with honor and admiration. While none of us can aspire to such a destiny—to be remembered after so many centuries—still we know that God has given us a special role to play, a special service to fulfill in the unity of the Church and for the benefit of all our brothers and sisters. Your role and service, dear Cardinal Foley, is more than ever before one of great importance for the glory of God and the well-being of His Church. In the weeks and months and years to come may Mary, the Mother of the Incarnate Word, sustain you in fidelity and joy as you consume yourself for the glory of the Most Blessed Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.