John James Joseph Monaghan
John James Joseph Monaghan was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Wilmington from 1897 to 1925.Biography
John Monaghan was born in Sumter, South Carolina, to Thomas and Margaret Monaghan, who immigrated from Ireland in 1850. He graduated from St. Charles College at Ellicott City, Maryland, in 1876, and then studied theology at St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore. Returning to South Carolina, he was ordained to the priesthood on December 19, 1880. He first served as a curate at and afterwards , both in Charleston. He was pastor of in Greenville and pro-rector of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist and chancellor of the Diocese of Charleston. From 1888 to 1897, he was assistant to the vicar general at St. Patrick's Church.
On January 26, 1897, Monaghan was appointed the third Bishop of Wilmington, Delaware, by Pope Leo XIII. He received his episcopal consecration on the following May 9 from Cardinal James Gibbons, with Bishops Alfred Allen Paul Curtis and Henry Pinckney Northrop serving as co-consecrators. During his tenure, he established seven parishes, seven missions, and eight schools. He also was instrumental in the establishment of the Oblate Fathers' Salesianum School for young gentlemen, St. Francis Hospital, and a home for the aged. After twenty-eight years as bishop, he resigned due to poor health on July 10, 1925; he was named Titular Bishop of Lydda by Pope Pius XI on the same date. Monaghan later died at age 78.
