Walter Andrew Foery (July 6, 1890 – May 10, 1978) was an American

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pref ...

of the

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. He served as

Bishop of Syracuse The Archdiocese of Siracusa, also known as Syracuse, ( la, Archidioecesis Syracusana) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Sicily. It became an archdiocese in 1844.Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, to William and Agnes (née O'Brien) Foery. After attending St. Bridget's Grade School and St. Andrew's Preparatory Seminary, he studied at St. Bernard's Seminary. He was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

to the priesthood on June 10, 1916. He then served as a

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

(1916–1922) and afterwards

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

(1922–1932) o
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church
in Rochester. He became diocesan director of

Catholic Charities The Catholic Church operates numerous charitable organizations. Catholic spiritual teaching includes spreading the Gospel, while Catholic social teaching emphasises support for the sick, the poor and the afflicted through the corporal and spir ...

in 1930 and pastor o
Holy Rosary Church
in 1932. He also served as vice-

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of the Rochester Council of Social Agencies, and represented the

National Catholic Welfare Council The National Catholic Welfare Council (NCWC) was the annual meeting of the American Catholic hierarchy and its standing secretariat; it was established in 1919 as the successor to the emergency organization, the National Catholic War Council. It co ...

at the International Conference on Social Welfare in 1936. On May 26, 1937, Foery was appointed the fifth

Bishop of Syracuse The Archdiocese of Siracusa, also known as Syracuse, ( la, Archidioecesis Syracusana) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Sicily. It became an archdiocese in 1844.Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI ( it, Pio XI), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939), was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 to his death in February 1939. He was the first sovereign of Vatican City fro ...

. He received his

episcopal Episcopal may refer to: *Of or relating to a bishop, an overseer in the Christian church *Episcopate, the see of a bishop – a diocese *Episcopal Church (disambiguation), any church with "Episcopal" in its name ** Episcopal Church (United State ...

consecration Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

on the following August 18 from Archbishop Edward Mooney, with Bishops

Emmet M. Walsh Emmet Michael Walsh (March 6, 1892 – March 16, 1968) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Charleston in South Carolina (1927–1949) and as bishop of the Diocese of Youngstown in Ohio (1 ...

and

Francis Patrick Keough Francis Patrick Keough (December 30, 1890 – December 8, 1961) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Providence in Rhode Island from 1934 to 1947 and as archbishop of the Archdiocese of B ...

serving as

co-consecrators A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churches, ...

. At age 46, he was the youngest priest appointed to head the

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, 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 Roman province, pro ...

, and would become its longest-serving

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to date. In 1945, Foery criticized as "unthinkable" the plan to leave out opening prayers at the

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

conference of the

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. In 1959, he expressed "shock and deep regret" that the Syracuse Metropolitan Health Council had admitted

Planned Parenthood The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health care in the United States and globally. It is a tax-exempt corporation under Internal Reve ...

. He was named an

Assistant at the Pontifical Throne The Bishops-Assistant at the Pontifical Throne were ecclesiastical titles in the Roman Catholic Church. It designated prelates belonging to the Papal Chapel, who stood near the throne of the Pope at solemn functions. They ranked immediately below ...

on December 11, 1961. He attended all four sessions of the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions) ...

in Rome between 1962 and 1965. In 1967, he joined the other Catholic bishops in New York to call Catholics to fight with "all their power" against efforts to liberalize state

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

law. Foery retired as Bishop on August 4, 1970, after nearly thirty-three years of service. On that same date, he was named

Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of ''Misenum'', a post which he later resigned on the following December 31. He died at the age of 87, and is buried at St. Mary's Cemetery in DeWitt.

Le Moyne College Le Moyne College is a private Jesuit college in DeWitt, New York.http://www.ongov.net/planning/haz/documents/Section9.7-TownofDeWitt.pdf It was founded by the Society of Jesus in 1946 and named after Jesuit missionary Simon Le Moyne. At its fo ...

, a

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

college in Syracuse, houses an

upperclassman A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution. In the United Kingdom and most commonwealth countries, a "student" attends a secondary school or higher (e.g., college or university); those in primary or elementary ...

dormitory A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm) is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people such as boarding school, high school, college or university s ...

-- ''Foery Hall''—named after the former Bishop.

References

External links

Diocese of Syracuse
{{DEFAULTSORT:Foery, Walter Andrew 1890 births 1978 deaths Religious leaders from Rochester, New York Participants in the Second Vatican Council Roman Catholic bishops of Syracuse 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States