Rome, Italy, Apr 27, 2009 / 16:00 pm
The Grand Master of the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem, Cardinal John Foley, said last week, “The Vatican City State is the smallest country in the world, but it is also one of the most important because of the moral authority of the Pope and the Church, of which he is the visible head.”
The cardinal made his comments upon receiving the Angelicum Alumni Award instituted by the Pontifical University of St. Thomas, where he studied as a young man during the Second Vatican Council.
The L’Osservatore Romano reported that Cardinal Foley thanked those present in Latin, in order to emphasize the importance the language has for him personally. “I came to Rome without knowing a single word of Italian and Latin was the privileged means of my formation,” he said.
Cardinal Foley received his doctorate in philosophy from the University in one year—which was a record. His thesis on “Natural Law, Natural Right and the Warren Court,” was an analysis of the jurisprudence of the U.S. Supreme Court.
“The courses with the Dominican fathers gave me valid instruments for my 17 years of teaching philosophy at the St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia and also for my work as a journalist and commentator for the Catholic Standard and The Times of Philadelphia,” he said.