Jeffrey Monforton was born on May 5, 1963, 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 School in Westland, Michigan. He graduated from Wayne Memorial High School in Wayne, Michigan. Monforton then attended Wayne State University in Detroit.[2]
After his 1994 ordination, the archdiocese assigned Monforton as the associate pastor at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Parish in Royal Oak, Michigan. He also taught religion at the parish high school for two years. In 1998, Maida appointed Monforton as his as a priest secretary in 1998. He was also named as a faculty member of Sacred Heart Seminary in 2002[2]. He would later receive a Doctor of Sacred Theology degree from the Gregorian University.[3]
Monforton traveled with Maida in 2005 to Rome for the funeral mass of Pope John Paul iI and the election of Pope Benedict XVI. Later that year, Monforton left Little Flower and his position as priest secretary to become pastor of St. Therese of Lisieux Parish in Shelby Township, Michigan. Benedict XVI named Monforton a chaplain of his holiness, with the title monsignor in 2005.[2] In 2006, Maida appointed him as rector of Sacred Heart Seminary, serving there until 2012.[6]
On July 3, 2012, Monforton was named the bishop of the Diocese of Steubenville by Benedict XVI. His episcopal consecration took place at the Finnigan Field House of Franciscan University of Steubenville in Steubenville on September 10, 2012. Archbishop Dennis Schnurr was the consecrating prelate, with Maida and Archbishop Allen Vigneron serving as the co-consecrators.[4]
Since 2012, Monforton has served on the United States Conference of Bishops (USCCB) Subcommittee on Aid to the Church in Central and Eastern Europe; in 2019, he was named chair of the subcommittee.[7] In 2012, Morforton became a board member for the Pontifical North American along with a member of its Development Committee.[3]In 2013, Monforton announced plans renovate Holy Name Cathedral in Steubenville.[8]
In 2017, the diocese embarked on a year of re-consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, patroness of the diocese. The diocese formed an 18-person ad hoc task force to ascertain the present pastoral needs of the diocese. The task force shared its survey with the priests and parishioners.[9]
In May 2018, the diocese discovered that the financial department had been mis-allocating 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 pay $3.5 million in employee taxes. The financial crisis forced Montforton to suspend work on Holy Name Cathedral.[8] Following austerity measures, the diocese balanced its financial standing. Monsignor Kurt Kemo, vicar general of the diocese, was forced to resign from his diocesan positions; in 2021, he pleaded guilty to felony theft, having stolen over $289,000 from the diocese for his personal consumption.[10][11]
After the 2020 murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Monforton released this statement:
“The horrible and inexcusable death of Mr. George Floyd is indisputable proof that the cancer of racism continues to permeate our society. Any discrimination against our brothers and sisters, especially racial prejudice, is an active virus that poisons the life blood of any community and society. Together as we experience outrage resultant of Mr. Floyd’s death, we must confront the tragedy of racial injustice."[12]
Monforton was elected in 2020 as a member of the Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs and Evangelization and Catechesis committees for the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.[3]
In January 2021, Monforton and the diocese were sued for $1 million by a Glouster, Ohio, woman regarding sexual abuse by Reverend Henry 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.”[13] On April 14, 2021, the judged dismissed the from the lawsuit, leaving Monforton as the defendant.[14]He and the plaintiff reached a settlement in July 2022.[15]
Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit
In September 2023, Pope Francis appointed Monforton as an auxiliary bishop of Detroit and titular bishop of Centuria.[16][17] He was installed on November 7, 2023.[18]
The Archdiocese of Detroit is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church covering the Michigan counties of Lapeer, Macomb, Monroe, Oakland, St. Clair, and Wayne. It is the metropolitan archdiocese of the Ecclesiastical Province of Detroit, which includes all dioceses in the state of Michigan. In addition, in 2000 the archdiocese accepted pastoral responsibility for the Catholic Church in the Cayman Islands, which consists of Saint Ignatius Parish on Grand Cayman.
Adam Joseph Maida is an American prelate of the Catholic Church. Maida served as the archbishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit in Michigan from 1990 to 2009, and was elevated to cardinal in 1994. Maida previously served as bishop of the Diocese of Green Bay in Wisconsin from 1984 to 1990.
Allen Henry Vigneron is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He is the current archbishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit in Michigan and Ecclesiastical Superior of the Cayman Islands, serving since 2009. Vigneron previously served as bishop of the Diocese of Oakland in California from 2003 to 2009 and as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Detroit from 1996 to 2003.
The Diocese of Steubenville is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church covering thirteen counties in southeastern Ohio in the United States.
Paul Joseph Bradley is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was bishop of the Diocese of Kalamazoo in Michigan from 2009 to 2023. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania from 2004 to 2009.
John Huston Ricard, S.S.J. is an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee in Florida from 1997 to 2011 and as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Baltimore in Maryland from 1984 to 1997.
Walter Allison Hurley is a Canadian-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church.
Bernard Joseph Harrington is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Winona in Minnesota from 1999 to 2009 and as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit in Michigan from 1993 to 1999.
Earl Alfred Boyea Jr. is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He has been serving as the bishop of the Diocese of Lansing in Michigan since 2008. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit in Michigan from 2002 to 2008.
Leonard Paul Blair is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, serving as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Hartford in Connecticut since December 16, 2013.
John Michael Quinn is an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He was named as the eighth bishop of the former Diocese of Winona in Minnesota in 2008.
Francis Ronald Reiss is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit in Michigan from 2003 to 2015.
Daniel Ernesto Flores is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He has been the Bishop of Brownsville in Texas since December 2009. He served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit in Michigan from 2006 to 2009.
Patrick Ronald Cooney was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the third Bishop of Gaylord and held the title Bishop Emeritus in that diocese.
Joseph Casimir Plagens was a Polish-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Grand Rapids in Michigan from 1941 to 1943.
Kevin Michael Britt was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Grand Rapids in Michigan from 2003 to 2004. Britt previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit in Michigan from 1993 to 2002
Gilbert Ignatius Sheldon was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the third bishop of the Diocese of Steubenville in Ohio between 1992 and 2002. Sheldon previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Cleveland in Ohio from 1976 to 1992.
Donald Francis Hanchon, is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Detroit.
Gerard William Battersby is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, serving as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Detroit in Michigan since 2016.
Robert John McClory is an American prelate of the Catholic Church who has been serving as bishop of the Diocese of Gary in Indiana since 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
