Funeral for Cardinal Foley to be streamed online

Funeral services for a beloved Roman Catholic Cardinal will be streamed live online by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia beginning at 9:45 a.m. Friday morning.

Cardinal John Patrick Foley, 76, died Sunday, December 18, following a battle with leukemia.

A longtime priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Foley served locally as a parochial vicar, seminary professor, and editor of the archdiocesan newspaper before leaving for Rome in 1984. There he spent nearly 24 years as first president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, and more than three years as Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.

Once described as "the nicest guy in the Vatican" by the National Catholic Reporter, Cardinal Foley died at Villa St. Joseph, the archdiocesan home for retired priests in Darby, the town where he was born.

Streaming video of the funeral, which will be available at www.archphila.org, will begin when a motorcade bearing Foley's body arrives at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul at 18th Street and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, said an Archdiocese spokeswoman.

Cardinal Foley will be transferred to the Cathedral vestibule for a brief Rite of Reception of the Body. Following Midmorning Prayer for the Dead, Cardinal Foley's body will lie in state for a public viewing until 1:30 p.m.

A procession of 300 Cardinals, Bishops, Priests and other church officials begins at 1:40 p.m. from the Archdiocesan Pastoral Center parking lot.

The Funeral Mass, which is expected to draw church leaders from across the nation, will begin at 2 p.m.

The Archdiocese announced that the principal celebrant of the mass will be the Most Reverend Edwin F. O'Brien, Pro-Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.

Following the Solemn Funeral Mass, Foley's casket will be entombed in the crypt of the Cathedral underneath the main altar.