Seventy-Six Years a Priest!

The year 1939 saw many milestones. Most critics say it was the best year for movies (Gone With the Wind, The Wizard of Oz, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Ninotchka, Ginga Din, Stagecoach, for starters). For the Polish people, however, all the attention was on the terrifying sight of Hitler's tanks and shock troops rolling into their homeland. In Spain, the civil war ended and the rule of Franco began. I could go on.

In Toronto, Canada, on Saturday, June 3, 1939, young Vincent Foy was ordained to the Catholic priesthood, the beginning of a high and lasting adventure: the longest life of priestly service in Canadian history and one of the longest in the world.

From the start, Foy had a passion for helping ordinary Catholics with their family struggles. Although he dearly loved theology, out of obedience Foy took a doctoral course in canon law at Laval University in Quebec City. In 1942, he was appointed vice chancellor of the Archdicoese of Toronto and secretary of the Toronto Archdiocesan Matrimonial Tribunal; by 1957, he was named both presiding judge of the regional and archdiocesan tribunals and a domestic prelate by Ven. Pope Pius XII.

Born in 1915 during the so-called War to End All Wars, Foy has lived a life spanning the reigns of nine popes, with the Second Vatican Council bisecting his nearly eight decades of service to God's people. At a hale and hearty 100 years old, Msgr. Foy still celebrates daily Mass and keeps up an impressive roster of correspondence and other writing.  (more...)

Seventy-Six Years a Priest!