Print

Email story

Comment

Letter to the editor

Monsignor leaves life of service

Monsignor Aiden Foynes of St. Cecelia Catholic Church retires after Sunday's Mass.

By EILEEN SCHULTE
Published June 4, 2005

CLEARWATER - Years ago, when the temperature had dipped below 40 degrees one night, a homeless man slept in a doorway of St. Cecelia Catholic Church.

Worried, Monsignor Aiden Foynes walked up to the man. He bent over him and softly asked him if he could take him to a cold-weather shelter at the church's Colreavy Hall. The man nodded, and Foynes gently guided him over to the building, where warm blankets awaited him.

The kindness made an impression on Peter Schweitzer, then a young priest who was out walking with Foynes that frigid night.

"He goes out of his way to help people," said Schweitzer, a free-lance correspondent for the St. Petersburg Times .

After serving for 12 years at St. Cecelia and 4 4 years in the clergy, the beloved Foynes is retiring Sunday with a special Mass officiated by Bishop Emeritus the Rev. W. Thomas Larkin at 12:30 p.m. followed by a reception at Colreavy Hall.

Born the seventh of eight children in the picturesque village of Butlers Bridge - population about 100 - in County Cavan, Ireland, Foynes, 68, spent his youth at St. Aidan's Catholic Church. At 19, he entered the seminary and made the priesthood his life.

In 1961, when Masses were still celebrated in Latin, the newly ordained Foynes came to the United States and was assigned to St. Cecelia, where he served under Monsignor Thomas Colreavy for two years.

From there he was assigned to Cardinal Mooney High School in Sarasota, where he taught English, Latin and religion for five years. He then moved to Clearwater Central Catholic High School, where he taught for six years. The diocese then sent him to Espiritu Santo Catholic Church in Safety Harbor and to then Our Lady Queen of Peace in New Port Richey where he served as pastor.

Finally, in 1993, he returned to St. Cecelia.

"I was happily surprised," said Foynes, who was packing up his office Friday.

At that time, the Hispanic population in Clearwater was starting to grow. Schweitzer recognized that the immigrants had no church to call their own and asked Foynes to start a Hispanic ministry. Foynes gave his blessing.

St. Cecelia started offering Spanish Masses and outreach services.

With just $50, Schweitzer and parishioner Peggy Gray founded La Clinica Guadalupana on Missouri Avenue, which treats thousands of poor Latinos every year.

The monsignor quietly arranged for clinic funding and got his physician friends to donate samples of medicine.

"He does not like anyone to know he helps people," said Gray, the director of La Clinica Guadalupana for nine years. "He has a certain humility to him. He does not want any glory."

A few months before Foynes was reassigned to St. Cecelia, Yolanda Moreno started volunteering at the church.

She was young and couldn't speak English fluently. To make money, she worked at a motel.

Foynes hired her as an administrative assistant and a liaison to the Hispanic community.

"He is like an angel behind me and my family," Moreno said. "When I started working here, my life changed."

Now Moreno helps other newcomers who arrive in Clearwater terrified of navigating a new life.

She said Foynes has been a blessing to the community.

"He is open to every need," she said. "We thank him very much for his support. He has given us the opportunity to continue with the religious traditions, especially in our celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe. We are going to miss him."

Of the eight siblings, Foynes and his sister Lizzie, 84, are the only ones still living.

A year ago, Lizzie, who still lives in Ireland, suffered a stroke and is now partially disabled.

"That's one of the reasons for my retiring at this time," Foynes said. "My hope is to have extended time with her."

For his retirement Foynes bought a condo a few miles from the church. Used to living with three other priests in the rectory, he said it will be his first time living alone.

But he plans to continue to be a constant presence at St. Cecelia.

"It's a little sad to leave them," he said. "But I'm not really leaving. I will help out."

The Rev. Patrick Irwin, pastor of St. Stephen Catholic Church in Valrico, will replace Foynes on July 1.

When Irwin is unavailable to say Mass, Foynes will fill in from time to time, which may come as a relief to those who count on him for his kindness.

"Another characteristic of the man was his loyalty and ability to keep a secret," said Schweitzer, the young priest walking with Foynes that cold night years ago. "So many people would come up to him after a Sunday morning Mass to thank him for something, and he'd smile and never make a big deal about how he had helped out. He just never turned away anyone. (He is) a true Christian gentleman."

--Eileen Schulte can be reached at 727 445-4153 or schulte@sptimes.com

[Last modified June 4, 2005, 06:14:28]