Jeffrey M. Monforton

Jeffrey Marc Monforton (born May 5, 1963) is an American prelate who is bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Steubenville in Ohio.

His Excellency, The Most Reverend

Jeffrey Marc Monforton
Bishop of Steubenville
ChurchCatholic Church
ArchdioceseCincinnati
DioceseSteubenville
AppointedJuly 3, 2012
InstalledSeptember 10, 2012
PredecessorRobert Daniel Conlon
Orders
OrdinationJune 25, 1994
by Adam Joseph Maida
ConsecrationSeptember 10, 2012
by Dennis Marion Schnurr, Adam Joseph Maida, and Allen Henry Vigneron
Personal details
Born (1963-05-05) May 5, 1963
Detroit, Michigan
MottoFaith Comes From Hearing
Coat of arms
Styles of
Jeffrey Marc Monforton
Reference style
Spoken styleYour Excellency
Religious styleBishop

Monforton was named the fifth bishop of the Diocese of Steubenville on July 3, 2012.

Early life and education

Jeffrey Monforton was born in Detroit, Michigan. He is the son of Marc Louis and Virginia Rose (Ackerman) Monforton, and is the eldest of three sons.[1] Monforton received his early education at Tinkham Elementary School and John Marshall Junior High in Westland, Michigan. He graduated from Wayne Memorial High School in Wayne, Michigan. Monforton attended Wayne State University.

Monforton studied for the priesthood at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, where he received a degree in philosophy. He then attended Pontifical North American College in Rome, Italy and studied at the Pontifical Gregorian University, also in Rome, where he earned a bachelor's, licentiate and doctorate in sacred theology.[2]

On June 25, 1994, Monforton was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Detroit by Cardinal Adam Joseph Maida in the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Detroit.[3][4]

Priesthood

After ordination, Monforton served as the associate pastor and taught religion in the parish high school at the National Shrine of the Little Flower in Royal Oak, Michigan (1994–1996). He served Cardinal Maida as a personal secretary from 1998 to 2005, and was on the faculty of Sacred Heart Seminary from 2002 to 2005.

Pope Benedict XVI named Monforton a Chaplain of His Holiness, with the title Monsignor, in 2005.[2] Monforton then served as pastor of St. Therese of Lisieux Parish in Shelby Township, Michigan from 2005 to 2006. In 2006, he became rector of Sacred Heart Seminary, serving there until 2012. From May until July 2012, Monforton was pastor of St. Andrew Parish in Rochester, Michigan.[5]

Monforton joined the board of trustees of Madonna University in 2006 and he was an apostolic visitator of the Congregation for Catholic Education during the 2005–2006 academic year.[2]

Bishop of Steubenville

Actions

On July 3, 2012, .Monforton was named the bishop of Steubenville by Pope Benedict XVI His episcopal consecration took place on September 10, 2012. Archbishop Dennis Marion Schnurr of Cincinnati was the consecrating prelate. Cardinal Maida and Archbishop Allen Henry Vigneron of Detroit were the co-consecrators.[3]

Since 2012, Monforton has served on the United States Conference of Bishops Subcommittee on Aid to the Church in Central and Eastern Europe, and in 2019 was named Chairman of the Subcommittee. In 2019, Monforton became a member of the USCCB Committee on National Collections. As a request from Catholic Relief Services, Monforton visited Iraq in 2019 to assess their needs.

In 2013, Monforton announced renovations to Holy Name Cathedral. That initiative was suspended in 2018, following the discovery of financial irregularities in the diocesan finance office.[6]

In 2017, the diocese embarked in a year of reconsecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, patroness of the diocese. This was accompanied by the formation of an 18-person ad hoc task force to ascertain the present pastoral needs of the diocese. A survey was also shared with all priests and with all diocesan households.

Scandals

In May 2018, the Diocese discover that the financial department had been misallocating funds from employee paychecks since 2004. Monforton started a forensic audit of the diocesan finances dating back to 2004. As a result. the diocese was forced to paid $3.5 million in employee taxes. Following austerity measures, the diocese balanced its financial standing. Vicar General Kurt Kemo resigned from his church positions; he was later convicted of felony theft, having stolen over $289.000 from the diocese.[7][8]

In January 2021, Monforton and the diocese were sued for $1 million by a Glouster, Ohio, woman regarding sexual abuse by a diocese priest, Henry Christopher Foxhoven. The woman said that Foxhoven impregnated her in 2017 when she was a young teenager attending his church. The suit also stated that an affidavit for a 2018 arrest warrant stated that Foxhaven told Monforton that he had been “sexually involved with a juvenile member of his congregation and that she was now pregnant.”[9]

See also

References
  1. "Rev. Msgr. Jeffrey M. Monforton". Sacred Heart Major Seminary. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
  2. "Pope Names Detroit Monsignor As Bishop Of Steubenville, Ohio". United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
  3. "Bishop Jeffrey Marc Monforton". catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
  4. "Diocese of Steubenville". GCatholic.org. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
  5. Dave Gossett (July 3, 2012). "City diocese has new bishop". Herald-Star. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
  6. SteubenvilleRegister.
  7. "Steubenville Diocese Must Repay $3.5M in Back Taxes". theintelligencer.net. Retrieved August 9, 2019.
  8. "Kemo enters plea, gets sentenced". weirtondailytimes.com. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
  9. Editor, Sydney Dawes Athens NEWS. "Athens County judge overrules motion to dismiss in Glouster woman's lawsuit". The Athens NEWS. Retrieved October 9, 2021.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)

Episcopal succession
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