Bishop: Foley opened our eyes

Associated Press

ROCHESTER, N.H.

Slain U.S. journalist James Foley was living his faith by bringing images to the world of people suffering from war and oppressive regimes, a Roman Catholic bishop said Sunday at a Mass in his honor.

Bishop Peter Libasci said even after Foley was captured for the first time in Libya in 2011, he “went back again that we might open our eyes.”

The Mass was attended by Foley’s parents, John and Diane Foley, and hundreds of others in their hometown of Rochester, N.H. Afterward, Libasci read aloud a letter from the Vatican extending the condolences of Pope Francis.

“Thank you for loving Jim,” Diane Foley told the crowd after the Mass.

The crowd filled every pew, and people stood three deep at the back of the church and along both sides of it. Gov. Maggie Hassan, along with U.S. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Kelly Ayotte, attended the Mass.

Foley was kidnapped on Thanksgiving Day 2012 while covering the Syrian uprising. The Islamic State group posted a Web video Tuesday showing his killing and said it was in retaliation for U.S. airstrikes in northern Iraq.

Libasci invoked the prayer of St. Francis, which begins, “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,” to implore the gathered not to hate but to heal.

A funeral for Foley will be Oct. 18, which would have been his 41st birthday.