(26 Nov 09 - RV)Cardinal John Patrick Foley, Grand Master of the Equestrian Order
of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, led Thanksgiving celebrations in Rome this Thursday,
with thanksgiving mass in Santa Susanna, the National church in Rome of The United
States of America.
During his Homily he noted: “Every Eucharistic sacrifice,
of course, is a thanksgiving”, adding “this day, however, for Americans is very special
indeed. It is probably the one celebration in which Americans of all creeds and of
all political parties can join in thanking God for his goodness to each of us individually
and to us as a truly blessed people. It is the one day that unites us all”.
Cardinal
Foley went on to say that the United States “may be at war on two fronts, Iraq and
Afghanistan; we may still be in the midst of the greatest world economic crisis in
at least thirty and perhaps seventy years and we may – according to not always reliable
polls – be disliked by some people more than we have been at any time in our recent
history, but we still have much for which to be grateful”, “We have our lives, our
families, our faith and many material and spiritual gifts – not one of which is more
important than the Mass”.
The Cardinal also touched on the theme of immigration
in his homily; “in spite of our alleged unpopularity – people still wish to come in
great numbers. Indeed, with the exception of Native Americans, American Indians,
all of us are the sons and daughters of immigrants. With the exception of the descendants
of slaves, all of us are the descendants of those who came to the United States seeking
freedom and opportunity, not least of which is freedom of religion”. The Cardinal
continued that “while not all prejudice has been dispelled and while not all injustices
has been righted, our nation has truly made giant strides in carrying out the promise
“that all men would be blessed and all men could be free””.
Cardinal Foley
remarked that almost thirty years ago, the American nation overcame one of its historic
prejudices to elect the first Catholic American as President of the United States;
last year, he said “the nation took a giant step in overcoming one of its great historic
injustices and prejudices in electing the first African-American President of the
United States”.
Concluding his homily the Cardinal – one of the longest
serving US prelates at the Vatican – urged prayers for President Obama and the nation’s
leaders that they may “be given the wisdom and the strength to lead us with courage
and sound moral conviction so that the rights of all – even and especially the weakest
and most vulnerable members of society – might be protected”.
This year marks
Cardinal Foley’s Silver Jubilee as Archbishop. Twenty-five years ago, the Philadelphia
native arrived in Rome as archbishop-president of the then Pontifical Commission,
later Council, for Social Communications. As the Council's president, he was the
longest-serving head of a Curial dicastery.
He sat down with Emer McCarthy
to take a look back over the past 25 years here at the Vatican: