Francis Joseph Monaghan

Francis Joseph Monaghan (October 30, 1890 – November 13, 1942) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Ogdensburg in Northern New York from 1939 to 1942. Monaghan previously served as President of Seton Hall University in New Jersey from 1933 to 1936.

Biography

Early life Francis Monaghan was born in Newark, New Jersey, to Thomas P. Monaghan and Anna Loretta (née Daly) Monaghan. He attended Seton Hall College in South Orange, New Jersey, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1911 and a Master of Arts degree in 1913. He then studied at the Pontifical North American College in Rome.

Priesthood Monaghan was ordained to the priesthood by Cardinal Basilio Pompili in Rome on May 29, 1915. He earned a Doctor of Sacred Theology degree that same year.

Coadjutor Bishop and Bishop of Ogdensburg On April 17, 1936, Monaghan was appointed coadjutor bishop of Ogdensburg and titular bishop of Mela by Pope Pius XI. He received his episcopal consecration on June 29, 1936, from Archbishop Thomas Walsh, with Bishops Joseph Conroy and Thomas H. McLaughlin serving as co-consecrators. Following the death of Bishop Conroy, Monaghan automatically succeeded him as bishop of Ogdensburg on March 20, 1939.

On September 26, 1942, Monaghan suffered a traumatic brain injury when he fell from a train platform in Watertown, New York. He was a patient at Mercy Hospital in Watertown for the next month and a half. On November 13, 1942, Francis Monaghan died from a cerebral hemorrhage and heart attack at age 52.