James Foley (born 19 July 1948) is an Australian prelate of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

who was the Bishop of Cairns in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

from 1992 to 2022.

Biography

James Foley was born in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

on 19 July 1948. He was educated at the St Ignatius Parish School at Toowong and at Marist College at Ashgrove. He was ordained a priest on 7 August 1973. From 1976 to 1982 he studied at the

University of Louvain A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

, earning a licentiate and a doctorate in philosophy. During those years he also served as a chaplain on British and American military bases in West Germany. Returning to Australia, he began teaching at Banyo Seminary in 1982. He also taught occasionally at Brisbane College of Theology, the

Australian Catholic University Australian Catholic University (ACU) is a public university in Australia. It has seven Australian campuses and also maintains a campus in Rome. History Australian Catholic University was opened on 1 January 1991 following the amalgamatio ...

, and the University of Queensland. He served as spiritual director for students at the University of Queensland from 1985 to 1992. From 1982 to 1987 he also assisted at the country parish in Beaudesert. He was also a member the International Catechetical Commission and the International Committee for English in the Liturgy.

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

appointed him bishop of Cairns on 16 July 1992. He received his episcopal consecration on 21 August 1992 in St. Monica's Cathedral in Cairns from Archbishop

John Bathersby John Alexius Bathersby (26 July 1936 – 9 March 2020) was an Australian bishop of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the sixth archbishop of the Archdiocese of Brisbane, serving from 1991 until his retirement in 2011. Bathersby was conferred ...

of Brisbane. In 2004 he joined four other Queensland bishops in a pastoral letter "Let the Many Coastlands Be Glad" that called for the protection of the

Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over over an area of approximately . The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, ...

. He renewed that call in 2016. In 2008, he supported plans to construct a mosque in Cairns, replacing a worker's cottage the Islamic community was using. He said it would be "highly desirable neighbour". In 2015 he endorsed the work of the national commission investigating child sexual abuse. He called it a "healthy" process and said he was learning "disturbing" things about people he thought highly of decades earlier. On 29 April 2019, Foley organized an interfaith prayer service in his cathedral called Interfaith, Multicultural Celebration for Peace and Harmony. Buddhist and Islamic representatives participated. He said Catholics who protested the event were promoting "ignorance and bigotry". He said: "I'm concerned about what is influencing these people.... There has never been a greater need for people with different faiths to come together." He was a lifelong supporter of the Labor Party–his grandfather Edward Pender had been an activist on behalf of social legislation. Foley said he believed the party "best represented Catholic social teaching" but in 2020 he objected to the party's support for "voluntary assisted dying" legislation. In November 2021, Foley denounced Catholics who objected to vaccination against

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. He said: "In almost 30 years in this position, I've never encountered such divisiveness and, dare I say, ignorance.... What worries me too, in these conversations, is that they seem to entail all sorts of other major conspiracy theories."

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

accepted his resignation on 21 August 2022. Foley had submitted his resignation in 2019 after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. That year he was relieved of his positions with the Australian Bishops Conference, where he served on the Commissions for Catholic Education, for Evangelisation, Laity and Ministry; and for Life, Family and Public Engagement.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foley, James 1948 births Living people People from Brisbane Roman Catholic bishops of Cairns Catholic University of Leuven alumni