WATERTOWN, MA (December 14, 2011) Funeral Mass for Cardinal John Patrick Foley To Be Aired on the CatholicTV® Network

Cardinal John P. Foley, who died Sunday at 76, will be entombed Friday afternoon at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul following a 2 p.m. Funeral Mass. The CatholicTV Network will televise the event.

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.

Fatigued by leukemia and anemia, he retired as grand master in February and returned to live at Villa St. Joseph in Darby, the archdiocesan retirement home for priests, where he died.

The Funeral Mass will begin with a procession into the cathedral at 2 p.m. on Friday, December 16, 2011. Knights of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, wearing capes bearing the order's large crimson cross, will serve as honor guard.

Following Mass, the coffin will be carried into the crypt beneath the main altar, where it will be immured after a brief Rite of Committal.

The crypt contains the bodies of three priests and 14 former bishops, archbishops and cardinal-archbishops, including Michael Francis Egan, Philadelphia's first bishop. The last person entombed there was Cardinal John Krol, in March 1996.

Viewers may watch the Funeral Mass on their mobile devices and on the CatholicTV Network cable outlets: Sky Angel channel 142, Chattanooga fiTV 153, in Detroit on CTND channels

Comcast 398, Brighthouse 16, and Wyandotte channel 73; in New England on  Charter 101, Full Channel  117, Comcast 268, RCN 85, Verizon FiOS 296  and on CatholicTV.com. (Rebroadcast at 8 p.m.)

About the CatholicTV® Network: 

Founded in 1955, CatholicTV Network is a national broadcast television network streaming a live feed 24 hours a day at CatholicTV.com. Heeding Pope Benedict XVI's call to greater utilize the power of television and new media, the CatholicTV Network features its cable TV station, Catholic web site, mobile apps and widget. Celebrate Mass online; pray The Rosary; enjoy programs on prayer, the saints, the Scriptures and the Catholic Church on America's Catholic Television Network.