David Edward Foley (February 3, 1930 – April 17, 2018) was an American
prelate
A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...
of the
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
who served as the third
bishop
A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...
of the
Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama from 1994 to 2005. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the
Diocese of Richmond in Virginia from 1986 to 1994.
Biography
Early life
David Foley was born in Worcester, Massachusetts on February 3, 1930. He was ordained a priest for the
Archdiocese of Washington
In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...
on May 26, 1956.
Foley was appointed by
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005.
In his you ...
as an
auxiliary bishop
An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions.
...
of the Diocese of Richmond on May 3, 1986. Foley was consecrated on June 27, 1986, by Bishop
Walter Sullivan.
Bishop of Birmingham
John Paul II appointed Foley as the third bishop of the Diocese of Birmingham on March 22, 1994. He was installed on May 13, 1994.
In 1999, Foley issued a decree prohibiting priests in his diocese, under most circumstances, from celebrating
Mass
Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...
in the ''
ad orientem
''Ad orientem'', meaning 'to the east' in Ecclesiastical Latin, is a phrase used to describe the eastward orientation of Christian prayer and Christian worship, comprising the preposition ''ad'' (toward) and ''oriens'' (rising, sunrise, east), p ...
'' position. Though the decree never specifically mentioned the Catholic television network
EWTN
The Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) is an American basic cable television network which presents around-the-clock Catholic programming. It is the largest Catholic television network in America, and is purported to be "the world's larges ...
, which has its studios located in the diocese, observers agreed that it was directed at
Mother Angelica
Mother Mary Angelica of the Annunciation (born Rita Antoinette Rizzo; April 20, 1923 – March 27, 2016), commonly referred to as Mother Angelica, was an American Roman Catholic nun of the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration. She was known fo ...
's network.
On May 10, 2005, Pope Benedict XVI accepted Foley's resignation as bishop of Birmingham. He was elected
diocesan administrator
A diocesan administrator (also known as archdiocesan administrator, archiepiscopal administrator and eparchial administrator for the case, respectively, of an archdiocese, archeparchy, and eparchy) is a provisional ordinary of a Catholic partic ...
on May 19, 2005.
David Foley died on April 17, 2018, in Birmingham at age 88.
See also
*
Catholic Church hierarchy
The hierarchy of the Catholic Church consists of its bishops, priests, and deacons. In the ecclesiological sense of the term, "hierarchy" strictly means the "holy ordering" of the church, the Body of Christ, so to respect the diversity of gif ...
*
Catholic Church in the United States
The Catholic Church in the United States is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in full communion, communion with the pope, who as of 2025 is Chicago, Illinois-born Pope Leo XIV, Leo XIV. With 23 percent of the United States' population , t ...
*
Historical list of the Catholic bishops of the United States
History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...
*
List of Catholic bishops of the United States
The following is a list of bishops of the Catholic Church in the United States. The list also includes bishops in the American territories of Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The Cath ...
*
Lists of patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops
This is a directory of patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops across various Christian denominations. To find an individual who was a bishop, see the most relevant article linked below or :Bishops.
Lists
Catholic
* Bishops in the Catholic Chu ...
References
External links
Roman Catholic Diocese of Birmingham official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Foley, David Edward
1930 births
2018 deaths
20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States
21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States
Roman Catholic Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama
Roman Catholic Diocese of Richmond
Roman Catholic bishops in Alabama
Religious leaders from Virginia