John Samuel Foley

John Samuel Foley (November 5, 1833 – January 5, 1918) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Detroit from 1888 until his death in 1918.

Biography John Foley was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to Matthew and Elizabeth (née Murphy) Foley, who were both natives of Enniscorthy, County Wexford, Ireland. His older brother was Bishop Thomas Foley, who served as Coadjutor Bishop of Chicago (1870–1879). After attending local parochial schools in Baltimore, he completed his studies in the classics and philosophy at St. Mary's College in 1850.

While in Rome, Foley was ordained to the priesthood by Cardinal Costantino Patrizi on December 20, 1856, at the Lateran Basilica. Upon his return to Maryland in November 1857, he served as pastor of St. Brigid's Church in Baltimore. During his tenure, he established a seminary for Polish Americans, and later healed a long and damaging schism among them. In 1907 the priests and laity of the diocese, in honor of the golden jubilee of his priestly ordination, presented Foley with St. Francis's Home for Orphan Boys, built at a cost of $250,000. He established the first parish for African Americans, St. Peter Claver's Church, in 1911, although chapels and missions for African American Catholics had existed since the late 1870s. The development of the automobile industry in Detroit led to a massive increase in population, and the number of Catholics more than tripled during Foley's tenure. Although the number of diocesan priests nearly doubled, there still were not enough to administer to the growing population. Despite his popularity and personal charm, he was generally regarded as an ineffective bishop with an unsuccessful administration.

Foley later died at age 84. His 30-year-long tenure remains the longest in the history of the Archdiocese of Detroit.