Bishop John McAreavey has paid tribute to Professor John Monaghan who died earlier this week. Bishop McAreavey described the former vice-president of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul as ‘a person of the utmost integrity’ whose work supported ‘the most marginalised in our community.’
In his tribute, Bishop McAreavey said, ‘Professor John Monaghan was a person of the utmost integrity who has been at the forefront of the work for social justice in Ireland. John’s commitment to the marginalised in our society – in particular vulnerable children and the poorly housed – was both profound and practical. His leadership in the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, and his approach to that work, inspired many people in Ireland, not least by John’s ability to analyse poverty and the alleviation of poverty as the consequence of political choices.’
He continued, ‘As the driving force in SVP’s social policy unit, John’s work contributed both to the immediate support of the most marginalised in our community and leading campaigns to create structural change for a more just society. We, in Ireland, must give thanks to God for the life and innate generosity of spirit of John Monaghan.
‘I was deeply sorry to hear of John’s death. May he rest in peace,’ Bishop McAreavey said, who is Bishop of Dromore and Chair of the Bishops’ Council for Justice and Peace.
A retired professor of engineering at Trinity College Dublin, Professor Monaghan became involved with SVP in Leixlip, Co Dublin, in 1985. In 1998 he established and chaired the Society’s national social policy group, shortly after which he was appointed as national vice-president of SVP, a position he held until 2012.
ENDS
