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March 16, 2008

Chicago priest says: ‘It’s my turn to go’

By Clemente Nicado

CONTRIBUTOR

Defying danger, Father Matt Foley, pastor of St. Agnes of Bohemia in Chicago’s Little Village, has decided to go to Iraq to “bring the Word of God” at a time when “prayer and faith are indispensable.”

An inconsolable mother who still cries over the death of her son in Afghanistan was what compelled Foley to make the decision to volunteer as an Army chaplain.

Almost every Sunday Foley has seen the pain in the eyes of Julia Zizumbo, a parishioner at St. Agnes, because of the memory of her son, 27-year-old Daniel Zizumbo, who was killed as a result of wounds suffered by a roadside bomb in February 2007.

While providing some comfort to Julia and her family, Foley thought that he could do more for the young men and women who go off to fight.

“Maybe my time has come?” he said he thought. Exactly one year after the death of Daniel, also a resident of Little Village, Foley was sworn in as an Army captain, one step away from serving as a chaplain in Iraq.

Too few chaplains

For Foley, his decision to enlist was a decision to rise to the occasion: “I feel an obligation to serve with the women and men who find themselves confronting danger. I hope to bring the Word of God at a time and under circumstances where prayer and faith are indispensable,” he said.

There is a need for 300 Catholic priests serving in the Army, but there are less than 90, he said.

The swearing-in ceremony, which took place at St. Agnes, 2651 S. Central Park Ave., was tinged by symbolism.

The soldier who stood in front of Foley and asked him to raise his hand and swore him in was his brother, Col. Michael Foley, who has served in the current Iraq war and previously participated in Desert Storm.

Next to Foley was parishioner Yadira Balderas and her two sons. Eduardo Balderas, her husband, is serving his second tour in Iraq and his picture was placed next to four dozen other photographs of military men and women who are serving in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Sitting among the almost 500 students from St. Agnes’ school who formed part of the ceremony was Julia Zizumba, who cried at the idea of watching the person who helped her with her grief leave.

“They gave me the bad news, on a day like today, almost a year ago. Father Foley has spent all this time praying for me, mentioning the name of my son at Mass. I don’t want for any other mother to go through what I’ve been through. I have felt relief when he puts his hand on my shoulder at the end of each Mass,” said the woman, who is originally from Michoacan, Mexico. “He leaves us here, but they need someone like Father Foley,” she said while trying to control her tears.

Foley will continue serving as pastor at St. Agnes until the end of May, when he will be replaced by Father Don Nevins who currently serves as pastor at St. Francis of Assisi Parish on Roosevelt Road.

Foley will then begin a 12-week training period before going to Baghdad.

‘He will be missed’

Zizumbo and other parishioners said Foley will be sorely missed in this community, where he arrived as their pastor in 2000 after having completed six years as a missionary in the state of Guerrero, Mexico.

Foley leaves behind the image of an enthusiastic person who ran many miles in the cold from El Cerrito del Tepeyac, the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, in Des Plaines, to Little Village to bring his parish the fire of the Antorcha Guadalupana (the Guadalupe Torch Run).

He will also be remembered as the pastor who visibly expressed his anger towards the street gangs who “poisoned the neighborhood with drugs, crime and death,” and as a priest who, armed with the Word of God, was determined to rid the area of weapons with a gun-return initiative.

They said he’s also the sensitive person who’s been so beaten down by the loss of the “innocent saints” that he constructed a monument on the parish campus in honor of the children who, for various reasons, have lost their lives in the last few years, many of them because of violence.

Parishioners will also remember him as the priest who confronted two robbers who tried to steal a collection box. Although he knew that one of the thieves had a knife, Foley followed them down a neighborhood alley, where he successfully stopped one of them. The two criminals were eventually arrested by police. From that incident, Foley received an award in recognition for his “Outstanding Public Service.”

Foley acknowledged that his mission in Iraq is a great challenge in his life. “I’m not a man of violence. I ask my parishioners to always pray for peace and to fight for justice,” he said.

Nicado is news editor of Chicago Catolico