Robert J. Fox


Robert Joseph Fox was an American priest of the Roman Catholic faith. He was a prolific author of religious books, and appeared on many Roman Catholic television programs and conferences. Fox also served as a diocesan priest for several rural towns in South Dakota. He was the Director of the International Fatima Family Apostolate and Youth for Fatima Pilgrimages
, editor of the Immaculate Heart Messenger, and his writings appeared frequently in other Catholic publications in the US. He began the Marian Congress in the United States which is held annually and attended by thousands.

Early life

Fox was born in Watertown, South Dakota on December 24, 1928. His parents, Aloysius and Susie Emma Fox, were farmers. Fox, the youngest of eight siblings, was raised in a religious family, and he later recalled "I never remembered when I did not want to be a priest." His father died while Fox was still a baby and he grew up working with his siblings to preserve the farm throughout the Great Depression. Before attending school he was encouraged by his mother to study to become a priest like their local pastor Fr. William O'Meara. Fox stated that his "mother put the thought in my mind" of joining the priesthood before the first grade, "She mentioned it only two times in my life, but it stuck." He recalled going with her to town when she would buy groceries and that she left him free for an hour and he "would go the Catholic Church and genuflect and spend time before Jesus. Even then I could feel the Real Presence of Jesus in the tabernacle. That drew me to the priest-hood."

Schooling

Fox attended Immaculate Conception elementary school which was run by Franciscan nuns. There, Fox learned of Padre Pio. This further inspired him to pursue the priesthood.
He went on to attend Watertown High School. Fox later recalled his continued interest in learning about the Catholic faith during this time "We didn't have a Catholic high school in Watertown, but our family did receive the National Catholic Register. Msgr. William Smith used to have beautiful articles explaining the faith. I would wait for it to arrive in the mail every Tuesday and I would read it cover to cover."
In his senior year Fox suffered a farm accident with a hay rake which broke his leg. During his recovery, Fox solidified his decision to become a priest. After High School graduation Fox studied from 1947 to 1950 at St John's University, a Benedictine liberal arts college and a center of liturgical development in rural Minnesota. Fox recalled that "In those days St. John's taught the traditional Catholic faith", and incoming student's were required to take a religious placement exam." Despite having no formal religious education, he scored 17th out of 350 incoming college freshman, which he attributed to his frequent reading of the National Catholic Register.
After two terms at Saint John's, Fox transferred to St Paul Seminary, there he took classes and gathered with the other students to watch Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen's television program on the Seminary's television set. Fox graduated from Seminary in 1955.

Priesthood

Fox was ordained into the Roman Catholic priesthood on April 24, 1955 at the Cathedral of St Joseph in the Diocese of Sioux Falls by Bishop William O. Brady.
Fox's first assignment was as an assistant priest in Milbank, South Dakota. In January 1959, he was transferred to St. Anthony's Parish in Hoven; and in August, to Sacred Heart parish in Yankton. In 1961, Bishop Hoch assigned Fox as pastor of St. Anthony's in Bristol. Letters and articles he sent to Catholic publications were published and he soon became a weekly columnist for the National Catholic Register and wrote regularly for a number of other publications.
After the Second Vatican Council's promulgation of the Decree on Ecumenism, his bishop authorized him to hold an ecumenical Advent prayer service with three Protestant denominations. Over six hundred attended and news of the event was picked up by the national media, with Fox being called a "new breed" of priest.
In 1965 he was sent to St. Joseph's Parish in Mobridge; and in 1969 returned to St. Lawrence in Milbank. Responding to the Council's call for a greater commitment to Catholic catechesis, Fox became concerned that some individuals people believed themselves responding to the mandate of the council were diluting Catholic doctrine in presenting it. In response to this he wrote "Religious Education; Its Effects, Its Challenges Today". Reception was mixed. In Milbank, he attempted to implement his ideas from his book into a Catholic school and was opposed by both the school board and principal, but received encouragement from John Cardinal Wright, Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, who requested six copies.
In 1971 he was sent to St. Bernard Parish Redfield where he built a shrine in honor or the Blessed Virgin. In 1974 the Pilgrim Virgin of Fatima statue came to the Diocese of Sioux Falls. This inspired him to lead a pilgrimage group on a six-week tour to Portugal to the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima. Fox later told a reporter that at Fatima "I asked Our Lady, 'What do you want of me?' Those were always the first words spoken by Lucia when Our Lady appeared to her. I had the overwhelming conviction that Our Lady wanted me to teach the fullness of the Catholic faith to young people wherever I could using the Fatima message as the vehicle in my instruction."
Upon returning to the United States he produced a tape series for the World Apostolate of Fatima. In 1975 Fox led a Holy Year Pilgrimage through Fatima to Rome. During the pilgrimage he travelled and visited what is believed to be the crypt of Mark the Evangelist. Fox reported hearing "a voice within" while at the tomb, telling him to conduct pilgrimages. From this developed the idea to make a Youth Pilgrimage program to Fatima run like a retreat. This was the beginning of his Youth for Fatima Pilgrimages which travelled there annually.
Fox created media to encourage young men to consider a vocation of the Catholic priesthood. He was given permission to establish priestly formation program named the "Sons of the Immaculate Heart". In 1982 with the encouragement of his bishop and the support of Cardinal Pironio, head of the Congregation for Religious, seven candidates took up residence at the rectory in Redfield. Fox also create a catechism course called "Sharing the Faith", all while continuing to do his parish work, writing, and Fatima pilgrimages.
In 1984, on a trip to Fatima, Fox collapsed with life threatening pneumonia that effected his voice. Bishop Dudley disbanded the Sons of the Immaculate Heart and sent Fox to the rural parish of Immaculate Conception in Waubay to regain his strength and relearn how to speak. During this period Fox wrote "Immaculate Heart of Mary" expounding on the work of Louis de Montfort. He also built his second Marian shrine while at Waubay.
In 1985 Fox arrived at St. Mary of Mercy parish in Alexandria and began building a shrine to Our Lady of Fatima on a parcel of donated land believed to be near the center of North America. The shrine expanded to become the "Fatima Family Shrine" and includes "areas dedicated to Our Lady of Fatima, Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts, angels adoring the Holy Eucharist, Saint Joseph, the Christ Child blessing the world, plus a Divine Mercy Shrine."

Fatima Apostolate

Responding to Pope John Paul II's November 22, 1981 encyclical Familiaris Consortio, and with the encouragement of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, in 1986, Fox founded the Fatima Family Apostolate. He served as its first director and as the editor of its quarterly magazine Immaculate Heart Messenger. He became chairman of a Fatima Youth Seminar in Detroit and founded a youth division of the World Apostolate of Fatima. He also wrote "Catholic Truth for Youth".
Fox gave many conferences on Catholic Mariological teachings at Fatima, and in Australia, Poland, Syria, Mexico, Italy, and the United States. One of these speaking engagements took him to Moscow where he met Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz,Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Catholic Archdiocese of the Mother of God in Moscow. As a gift to the Russian people, Fox presented the Archbishop a statue of Our Lady of Fatima "with Our Lady's assurance that Russia will be converted and 'In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph.'"
In September 1987 Fox hosted the first annual Marian Congress in America at Alexandria. Among the notables that have spoken at Marian Congresses are Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz, John Corapi, Mother Angelica, Father Harold Cohen and Jeff Cavins. In addition Administrating Bishops of Fatima, Portugal have attended the Congresses - Bishop Alberto Amaral and his successor Bishop Serafim S. Ferreira e Silva.

Later years

In 2003, Fox retired to Hanceville, Alabama near the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament. In retirement Fox became involved in the Roman Catholic media network EWTN Among Fox's numerous television and radio appearances were on "Mother Angelica Live", "The Abundant Life"; "Bookmark"; Daily Mass; WEWN shortwave radio and Sirius Satellite Radio; and Relevant Radio. He continued to publish and remained editor of the Immaculate Heart Messenger Magazine. In 2005, he published an autobiography A Priest is a Priest Forever that coincided with his fiftieth anniversary in the priesthood.
Shortly after arriving in Alabama, Fox met John C. Preiss, who began writing for the Immaculate Heart Messenger.
In 2008, Preiss encouraged Fox to move the FFA headquarters to Hanceville. The Fatima Family Center was built, comprising a gift shop, conference room and storage for Fr. Fox's many books. Shortly before his death from cancer in 2009, Fox named Priess to succeed him as President of FFA.

External sources