Concert at St. Mary’s Park honors Bishop Foys 80th birthday

Laura Keener

Editor

On a hot and humid evening, over 200 people gathered, July 25, at St. Mary’s Park, Covington, to celebrate the 80th birthday of Bishop Emeritus Roger Foys. The concert celebration was hosted by Bishop John Iffert and included live music by the Pete Wagner Band with Nancy James.

“It is my pleasure to be able to welcome you,” said Bishop Iffert as the concert began. Quoting from Psalm 90, Bishop Iffert said, “Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures.” (10)

“There is no surprise to us that Bishop Roger Foys is strong,” Bishop Iffert said. “He led us here in the Diocese of Covington for 20 years, a quarter of his life. Before those 20 years, he spent another 20 years as vicar general at the Diocese of Steubenville. For half of his life Bishop Foys has been carrying the weight of leadership at a diocesan level in the life of the Church. We pray that we will have many more birthdays to celebrate with you, Bishop Foys.”

A highlight of the evening was the presentation of the birthday cake accompanied by six Margaret Mary Foys Ciesla scholarship recipients. The Margaret Mary Foys Ciesla ACUE Scholarship Fund was established by Bishop Foys and is named in honor of his sister, who died from pancreatic cancer not long after his installation as Bishop of Covington. Another highlight was a musical tribute by the Bishop’s Choir, a parody on the Andy Griffith Show’s “Welcome Sweet Springtime,” led by Greg Schaffer.

Speakers included Dale Henson, the diocese’s former Chief Financial Officer who worked with Bishop Foys for over a decade and Father Joey Shelton, former secretary to Bishop Foys.

Mr. Henson praised Bishop Foys for his commitment to Catholic education, especially in formalizing and centralizing the Alliance for Catholic Urban Education Consortium.

“This new model introduced elements of consistency and operational efficiency that allowed for the realization of significant cost savings,” Mr. Henson said. “His forethought in the formation and support of ACUE absolutely saved our inner-city schools and has allowed them to continue serving our community and transmitting the faith to hundreds of students over the years.”

Mr. Henson also commended Bishop Foys for his commitment to vocations by, early on, making the vocations promoter a full-time position.

“Bishop Foys himself was active in the diocese’s pursuit of good men for the priesthood. That increased focus had a profound impact on the number of men discerning for the priesthood in our diocese,” he said mentioning that at one time during his tenure, 28 men were studying for the priesthood and Bishop Foys ordained 42 men to the priesthood. “Today over 60 percent of our active diocesan priests were ordained by Bishop Foys. That’s a true testament to his love of the Church, the priesthood and our diocese.”

Father Shelton also affirmed Bishop Foys commitment to his priests. “Bishop Foys is a priest’s bishop,” Father Shelton said. “If a priest needed something – anything at all – Bishop Foys would do everything in his power to get that priest what he needed … He was always there to provide support and encouragement to those priests whose vocations he fostered … Bishop Foys loves the priesthood and during his time as our chief shepherd we knew and felt his love for us.”

In his remarks, Bishop Iffert recalled his first conversation with Bishop Foys just minutes after speaking with the nuncio calling him to Covington.

“From the very first moments he was supportive, encouraging, reassuring … from the very first moments he expressed his happiness to welcome me and to support me in this transition. That’s the graciousness of this man. That is who Bishop Foys is and has been to so many. It is why we are all so eager to be here tonight to wish him a happy birthday and to celebrate these 80 years of life,” Bishop Iffert said.

Bishop Foys ended the presentation in deep gratitude.

“To all of you who came I am very, very grateful,” said Bishop Foys. “I am grateful for all the outpouring of support, and encouragement and love that came from you these past 23 years. Know that I love you and pray for you every day and will continue to do so. I ask, please, that you pray for me. My sincere gratitude to Bishop Iffert who spearheaded this gathering — this is the kind and wonderful person that he is.”

For a related article go to https://covdio.org/foysbirthdaythankyou/.