Archdiocese Bids Farewell to Monsignor John J.M. Foster, J.C.D.

BY TAYLOR HENRY

MONSIGNOR FOSTER (RIGHT) WITH FATHER CURTISS DWYER, CHC, LT, USN, ABOARD THE USS CARL VINSON (CVN 70) IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN ON 12 MAY 2014.

This past summer, the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA (AMS) bade a fond farewell to the Reverend Monsignor John J.M. Foster, J.C.D. As Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia from 2013 to 2021, Monsignor Foster ran day-to-day operations of the AMS, reporting directly to Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio. In July, Monsignor Foster was called back to his home diocese of Stockton, CA, to become pastor of the Cathedral of the Annunciation. He is succeeded at the AMS by the Reverend Monsignor Jeffrey G. Laible.

Ordained a priest in 1991, Monsignor Foster is a canon lawyer,

a former assistant professor of canon law at The Catholic University of America, and a past president of the Canon Law Society of America. By his own admission, he was an unlikely candidate for the role of Vicar General (VG) at the AMS. “While I had briefly considered military chaplaincy very early in my priesthood,” he says, “I never dreamed of one day serving as Archbishop Broglio’s Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia. I am grateful to Archbishop Broglio for appointing me his VG. I count it a privilege to have ministered to those who serve.”

The AMS counts his eight years of ministry as a blessing. Among his many contributions, Monsignor Foster provided steady guidance to priests on matters of liturgy, process, and protocols. He compiled the Archdiocese’s lengthy quinquennial report in preparation for the Archbishop’s December 2019 ad limina visit with Pope Francis and the Roman Curia. He led AMS staff and clergy on a wide range of collaborative initiatives: They ranged from record growth in the Co-Sponsored Seminarian Program, the ordination of dozens of prospective new chaplains and two auxiliary bishops, the launching of a new religious instruction curriculum for Catholic U.S. Military families, four sets of biennial convocations for chaplains and other AMS priests, six Warriors-to-Lourdes pilgrimages, the startup of an award-winning electronic newsletter and podcast, three special national collections including the launch of the very first in 2013, seven annual benefits yielding millions of dollars in desperatelyneeded revenue, not to mention management and coordination of various staff changes and upgrades in information technology (IT).

“The majority of my days,” Monsignor Foster recalls, “were spent working with the staff of consummate professionals at the Edwin Cardinal O’Brien Pastoral Center as they sought to support the ministry provided by AMS priests to the Catholic faithful in the Archdiocese. Their dedication to the mission of the AMS is a joy to behold. I am so grateful for having had the opportunity to work with and learn from them.”

Never desk-bound, Monsignor Foster was frequently seen on his regular rounds of AMS offices,

continued on page 32

Foster Farewell to Monsignor CONTINUED FROM PAGE 31

always supporting the staff and their work. In May 2014, he even rode in a Grumman C-2 Greyhound aircraft from San Diego to the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) in the Pacific, paying an overnight pastoral visit to the ship’s Catholic chaplain and sailors as they carried out exercises and naval maneuvers.

His new assignment in Stockton is an obvious adjustment. “As Pastor of the Cathedral of the Annunciation, my ministry is now focused more on direct pastoral care of the Catholic faithful in the parish. While administration certainly consumes a good bit of time, especially in the beginning as I learn how things are done (or not), my days are filled with visiting the school, meeting with couples preparing for marriage, or with families burying a loved one. While the territory of the Cathedral parish is but a minuscule fraction of that of the AMS, I find it easy to fill every waking hour of the day.”

While no less busy, Monsignor Foster says he will miss “serving those who serve,” and those who serve those who serve. “I will miss working with Archbishop Broglio. I learned so much from him about administration and pastoral care at the diocesan level. I will also miss the day-to-day interactions with the Archdiocesan staff and AMS priests.” The AMS, meanwhile, remains in Monsignor Foster’s prayers. “I ask God’s continued blessing upon the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA. I pray that more priests hear God’s call to serve U.S. military personnel and their families and patients in the VA Medical Centers.” V

The Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA

Pathway of Honor

Show your support for service members, veterans, chaplains, military families, and all who have served or continue to serve by reserving a commemorative brick today. Your brick will join hundreds of others lining the pathways of the Edwin Cardinal O’Brien Pastoral Center in Washington, D.C.

A suggested donation of $150 will ensure that the brick you order, in memory of your loved one, will be placed in the “Pathway of Honor”.

To dedicate a brick, visit https://www.milarch.org/bricks/

You can donate online or print a donation form.

If you have any questions, please contact the Advancement Office at: (202) 719-3622 or support@milarch.org

(continued on page 36)

Archbishop Broglio Welcomes Decision to Advance Cause of Father Joseph Verbis Lafleur

BY TAYLOR HENRY

The U.S. Catholic bishops in June voted in favor of opening the Cause for the Canonization of the late World War II hero Father Joseph Verbis Lafleur. Once again he will serve others this time, not as a chaplain of the U.S. Army Air Corps, but as an example to be imitated. Father Lafleur died in September 1944 off the coast of the Philippines, sacrificing his life on a torpedoed Japanese “hell ship” to push fellow American Prisoners of War through an open hatch in the hold to safety. He is credited with saving at least 83 men by helping them get out of the burning, sinking ship, which had been mistakenly targeted by a U.S. Navy submarine.

It was not Father Lafleur’s first act of heroism. Years earlier, on 8 December 1941, when the Japanese attacked Clark Field in the Philippines the day after Pearl Harbor, Father Lafleur distinguished himself dodging bullets and shrapnel to aid the wounded and anoint the dying. His valor earned the priest from south central Louisiana, whom Archbishop Timothy Broglio calls a “model shepherd,” two Distinguished Service Crosses and two Purple Hearts, among other military honors.

Father Lafleur’s home Diocese of Lafayette, LA, formally opened his Cause for Canonization in September 2020. At their virtual spring Plenary Assembly on 17 June, the U.S. bishops agreed it is “opportune” to advance the Cause. The action is an ecclesial prerequisite to the first of three stages in the canonization process: the bishops’ approval is essential to commence formal investigations into whether a person meets all of the criteria established for inscribing his or her name in the “canon” or official list of saints of the Church. Obviously, there are many more saints than those listed in the “canon”. That is one reason why we celebrate All Saints Day.

The procedure determines if the candidate, or “Servant of God,” meets those criteria. The first question to be asked is does the life of the candidate serve as an example for others to follow? In this case, does Father Lafleur exhibit virtues that others can imitate? Evidence is gathered to determine if the candidate is a martyr or exhibited a life filled with heroic virtue or surrendered his life for others. The evidence gathered forms the “Positio”. If the Theological Commission of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints recognizes the validity of the information collected, the candidate is “Venerable”. The second step, once a miracle has been proven, is the beatification. The final step or canonization requires that, through his intercession, a second miracle has been granted. Father Lafleur now stands on the threshold of that process, decades after it appears that he lived out the meaning of Christ’s teaching in John 15:13: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

Archbishop Broglio welcomed his brother bishops’ decision to advance Father Lafleur’s Cause. “I am delighted that the Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana has begun the Cause for the Canonization of Father J. Verbis Lafleur,” Archbishop Broglio said. “In addition to being a chaplain who led and cared for his fellow prisoners of war, he was a priest who exemplified priestly virtue from the moment of his ordination.”

Born in 1912 in Ville Platte, LA, Father Lafleur was ordained in 1938, barely three years before the U.S. entered the Second World War. “Being ordained in the depression,” Archbishop Broglio said, “he willingly pawned his watch to buy baseball equipment for the youth to play. He is a model of a shepherd with ‘the smell of his sheep,’” alluding to Pope Francis’ exhortation for pastoral caregivers to stay close to their flock. “Even though he died more than 75 years ago,” Archbishop Broglio said, “he is an excellent example for priests today. I hope that the process will go quickly and we will see him raised to the dignity of the altars soon.”

Once the diocesan process has been completed by the Diocese of Lafayette, the Positio mentioned above will be presented to the Holy See’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints for examination and eventual evaluation by the cardinals and bishops who are members of the same. To report favors granted or miracles manifested through the intercession of Father Lafleur, visit:

https://www.stlandrycatholicchurch.com/contact-us-about-fr-lafleur.html

or call (337) 948-7700. V