Broadcast Pioneers Honor Cardinal Foley

Broadcast Pioneers Honor Cardinal Foley — Cardinal John Patrick Foley, who  headed the Pontifical Commission (now Pontifical Council) for Social Communications at the Vatican, has been named Person of the Year by the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia, and will be honored at the organization’s Hall of Fame Banquet on Nov. 18.

Foley led the Commission from 1984 until 2007 when he was made a Cardinal. He was responsible for all the Vatican’s print
and electronic communications and ministries and was responsible for the historic NBC Today Show week-long broadcast from the Vatican. He also served as a special commentator for the NBC broadcasts of Christmas Midnight Mass from the Vatican for a quarter of a century.

Foley, who is 75, retired from his ecclesiastical duties for health reasons in 2009 and left the Vatican. He now lives at Villa Saint Joseph in Darby.

Foley grew up in Sharon Hill and began his broadcasting career as a teenager as a WJMJ Radio announcer. He was co-producer and co-host of the Philadelphia Catholic Hour on WFIL Radio in the 1960s. He co-produced 20 television episodes of “The Making of a Priest,” for Group W.

Foley, who has a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University’s School of Journalism, was editor of the Catholic Standard and Times from  1970 to 1984.

The dinner is open to the public and tickets can be acquired here.


Broadcast Pioneers Honor Cardinal Foley

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.