DARBY, Pa., Dec. 11 (UPI) -- Cardinal John Foley, a longtime ranking official at the Vatican, died in Pennsylvania Sunday at the age of 76, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia said.
Foley spent 24 years as president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communication and had retired last winter due to declining health.
An archdiocese spokesman told the Philadelphia Inquirer Foley had said goodbye to the auxiliary bishops by telephone Saturday and was "at peace with death."
The newspaper said Foley joined the priesthood in the 1960s and was the editor of the archdiocese newspaper before being selected by Pope John Paul II to lead the newly created council in 1984. The council serves as a conduit for the Vatican's communications on social-justice issues to the electronic media.
