Richmond, Va. – The following is a statement from The Most Reverend Barry C. Knestout, Bishop of Richmond, where Bishop Emeritus David E. Foley served as Auxiliary Bishop from 1986-1994 before his appointment as Bishop of the Diocese of Birmingham.

“I met Bishop Foley a number of years ago when he served as a priest in the Archdiocese of Washington. I was a teenager during the same years that my father was Director of the Office of the Permanent Diaconate in the Archdiocese of Washington. Since that time, I had met or encountered him on numerous occasions in my capacity as Vicar General and later Auxiliary Bishop in Washington. I remember Bishop Foley as a man of great kindness and gentle disposition. Yet, I know he also provided pastoral care as Auxiliary Bishop here in the Diocese of Richmond and later as the Bishop of Birmingham with a firm and competent hand. It is with sorrow that I heard of his passing and join with all the clergy, religious, and people of the Diocese of Richmond, in our common hope in the Resurrection, offering the assurance of prayers, to Bishop Foley’s family, friends and to the people of the Church of Birmingham.”

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