ERLANGER — He is a man of enduring faith and a quick sense of humor. He is, after all, an unrepentant Cubs fan.

        Roger Foys is a 56-year-old Chicago native who, for the past 30 years, has been a leader in the Steubenville, Ohio, Catholic diocese. Today, he begins his new life as bishop of the Diocese of Covington.

Bishop Roger Foys in the chapel of the Catholic Center (Patrick Reddy photo) | ZOOM |

        Rooting for the Cubs in a Reds town is the least of his worries.

        Bishop Foys was appointed by the Vatican to fill the vacant bishop's chair in the 89,000-member diocese just one day after a $50 million class-action lawsuit was filed against it. Bishop Foys will be navigating the Roman Catholic community of Northern Kentucky through its connection to the national priest sexual abuse scandal.

        Much of the scandal nationally is about old cases and allegations of cover-up. Bishop-elect Foys said he won't be silent.

        “Each case must be taken as an individual case and examined carefully,” he said.

        Bishop Foys attended the historic Dallas bishops' conference on sexual abuse as the newest Roman Catholic bishop in the group. He called his new colleagues “very welcoming.”

        “We really can't fault (shaken parishioners), but we need to assure them that faith in the church, which is the body of Christ our Lord, is stronger than sin,” he said.

        More than 130 such lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by priests have been filed against the church in Kentucky, more than any other state. At least two are from the Lexington diocese, which was formed in 1988 from a portion of the Covington diocese. The diocese of Covington is named in those suits.

        In an interview with The Cincinnati Enquirer, Bishop Foys addressed the abuse issue as well as his lifelong love of Chicago sports teams and thin-crust pizza, his devout Catholic upbringing, priest celibacy, helping busy church secretaries stuff envelopes, his willingness to root for the Cincinnati Reds, the art of listening, and the lessons learned from his sister Margaret's current battle with cancer.

        The 10th bishop in nearly 150 years for the diocese, Bishop Foysrequested questions be submitted in writing. Then, he answersed each without ambiguity.

ABOUT BISHOP FOYS

Who: Bishop Roger Joseph Foys     Born: July 27, 1945, in Chicago, the third of four children to Martin and Theresa Foys.     Education: The University of Steubenville in Steubenville, Ohio, and St. John Vianney Seminary in Bloomingdale, Ohio.     Ordination: May 16,1973, at Holy Name Cathedral in Steubenville.     Memberships, honors: Canon Law Society of America; National Catholic Stewardship Conference;     Conference for Pastoral Planning and Council Development National Association of Church Personnel Administrators; Appointed Prelate of Honor to His Holiness, Pope John Paul II, Dec. 30, 1986.     News: Ordination as bishop of Covington at 3 p.m. today. Where: Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption, Madison Ave.nue, Covington     Public reception: 5:30-8:30 p.m. today, Drawbridge Inn, Buttermilk Pike, Fort Mitchell

IN HIS WORDS

First impression of the Cincinnati area: “I used to come to Kings Island. Much more traffic, and LaRosa's pizza, which is incredibly like Chicago's. I did find that out. Definitely, the thinner the crust the better.”     On the possibility of false accusers of priest sexual abuse: “I don't personally think there will be a rash of false accusations because I think people are more honest than that, but it could happen.”     On the transition to bishop: You can't know (parishioners) if you're not listening. The difficulty in the life of a bishop, as opposed to a pastor, you're a little removed. So the challenge is to make yourself more present.

        His immediate goal is the restoration of faith. He laments the scandal's impact on the overwhelming majority of priests who are innocent, as many parishioners do.

        “I see the bishop's role primarily as a pastor of souls,” he said.

        One of those souls is Robert Cashman of Fort Thomas, a Catholic for all of his 77 years.

        “I never thought of giving up my faith, never,” Mr. Cashman said from outside the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption in Covington, where he was among 40 seniors on a recent tour.

        “But I honestly believe we have bishops who kept this quiet. They wanted to protect the name of the church,” he said. “I know a lot of good priests, and now they're looked at with suspicion. That bothers me.”

No cure for pedophilia

        That suspicion bothers the bishop, too. He says he won't be silent on these issues, following the new openness after Dallas.

        He differs with some church leaders, including Cincinnati's Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk, on whether pedophile priests can be rehabilitated.

        “Everything that I've read on that, and know on that, there is no cure for pedophilia,” he said. “That doesn't mean there's no treatment, but there is no cure.”

        He said the archbishop called to welcome him to Greater Cincinnati. They spoke cordially, but did not discuss the issue of zero tolerance for past offenders.

        Most in Covington know little of Bishop Foys beyond that he was most recently vicar general in the Steubenville diocese, which is about half the size of the Covington diocese.

        “I learned that people are basically very good.,,” he said of Steubenville parishioners. “I learned that when faith is real, you can't shake it.”

Secretary will miss him

        Linda Nichols, the chancellor in Steubenville, was his secretary there for 20 years.

        “He's a man of ideas, always thinking, a go-getter,” she said the morning of his last day there last week.

        “He likes to joke, and he's a great storyteller. He'll see I'm flooded with things to do, all the mailings. If he saw this, he'll sit down and start stuffing envelopes.”

        For him, it wasn't complicated, despite being a high-level administrator: “If she needs help, I help her.”

        She pauses. “I'll probably cry today, sorry.”

        “He has a wonderful sense of humor,” said the Rev. Father Kurt Belsole of the St. Vincent Seminary in Latrobe, Pa.

        For the past three years, Father Belsole has worked closely with Bishop Foys, whose Steubenville diocese has sent several men to St. Vincent for training to become priests. They spoke frequently by phone.

        “You could always get him at 7:30 in the morning,” Father Belsole said. “He said of priesthood, 'For me, vacation meant camping with bug spray in one hand and painting the eaves of the school with a paint brush in the other.' ”

        Many people praised his approachability.

        “I've never had an occasion to meet a bishop,” said a smiling Sylvia Metzinger of Covington, a member of St. Cecelia Church.

        Dick Schue of Wilder, a member of Mother of God Church in Covington, also expressesd a willingness to chat with his new bishop — particularly that little issue about rooting for the Chicago Cubs.

        “Well,” he said, “that's one strike against him. That shows a little lack of common sense. Ah, just kidding.”

        The bishop said rooting for the Cubs, who haven't won the World Series since 1908, has taught him that, “you don't have to be perfect to be lovable, and you can quote that.”

        But it all made perfect sense to the kid born July 27, 1945, in Chicago and raised on Seeley Avenue on the city's west side. He was the third of three boys, then followed by his sister, Margaret, now suffering from pancreatic cancer. She will undergo surgery next week.

        “Personally, I don't know how people without faith deal with illness and death, I really don't,” Bishop Foys said. “It's had a profound effect on me. I've learned the depth of her faith, and it makes me proud of my parents, and of their parents.”

        He had wanted to become a priest since kindergarten, when he was inspired by his childhood parish priest.

        “He looked so peaceful and holy,” he recalled.

        Bishop Foys spent a lot of time at church because his parents, both deceased, were deeply involved in church business. He plans to spend plenty more.

        Mandatory retirement age for bishops is 75, “ “so I've got 18 years in Covington,” he said.

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