Tomorrow there will be a Solemn Mass “in thanksgiving to God and in honour of the Very Reverend Monsignor Vincent Foy” to mark the 75th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood. Cardinal Thomas Collins will celebrate Mass at St. Lawrence the Martyr Catholic Church at 2210 Lawrence East, Scarborough. 75 years in the priesthood is a rare celebration. A man needs to both to be ordained young and live long. Monsignor Foy is 98. He was ordained June 3, 1939, a time when there were 200 men in the seminary.
Terry McDermott has a nice piece in Catholic Insight on Monsignor’s priestly service. The Catholic Register notes he was “pro-life before there was pro-life” as he is best known for his criticism of the Winnipeg Statement and repeated calls for Canada’s Catholic bishops to rescind the dissident statement. (He also does card tricks, authoring two books on the topic.) Monsignor Foy’s biography and writings are available at his website, including his pro-life commentary. I highly recommend “An Historical Note on the Winnipeg Statement.” As Fr. Raymond de Souza says in the latest Catholic Register, “Msgr. Foy was obsessed with contraception in the way that a fireman is obsessed with rescuing people from a burning house.”
I hope there are many there to pay tribute to this extraordinary priest on Saturday morning.
