Alfred Edwin Monahan (1877–1945) was the Anglican

Bishop of Monmouth The Bishop of Monmouth (Welsh: ''Esgob Mynwy)'' is the diocesan bishop of the Church in Wales Diocese of Monmouth. The episcopal see covers the historic county of Monmouthshire with the bishop's seat located at Newport Cathedral (commonly k ...

from 1940 until his death in 1945.Diocese of Monmouth

Biography

Monahan was educated at

St Andrew's College, Dublin St Andrew's College Dublin () is a co-educational, inter-denominational, international private day school, founded in 1894 by members of the Presbyterian community, and now located in Booterstown, Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Ireland. The schoo ...

and

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

and

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

in 1905. He was Assistant Missioner at the Wellington College Mission,

Walworth Walworth ( ) is a district of South London, England, within the London Borough of Southwark. It adjoins Camberwell to the south and Elephant and Castle to the north, and is south-east of Charing Cross. Major streets in Walworth include the ...

and then

Curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () of souls of a parish. In this sense, ''curate'' means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy who are as ...

of St Swithun and Old St Martin,

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engl ...

. He was then successively the

Vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

(1912–1930),

Archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denomina ...

( 1930–1940) and finally

(1940–1945). Manohan has been described as "a firm churchman of authoritarian personality who attracted and repelled according to taste, but he was a strong and effective teacher, preacher and spiritual director". He based his compilation ''The Churchpeople's Prayer Book'' on the

1928 Prayer Book The 1928 ''Book of Common Prayer'', sometimes known as the ''Deposited Book'', is a liturgical book which was proposed as a revised version of the Church of England's Book of Common Prayer (1662), 1662 ''Book of Common Prayer''. Opposing what ...

. Monahan dopted the principle of

reservation of the blessed sacrament __NOTOC__ Reservation may refer to: Places Types of places: * Indian reservation, in the United States * Military base, often called reservations * Nature reserve Government and law * Reservation (law), a caveat to a treaty * Reservation in India, ...

in church and allowed devotional services of

Benediction A benediction (, 'well' + , 'to speak') is a short invocation for divine help, blessing and guidance, usually at the end of worship service. It can also refer to a specific Christian religious service including the exposition of the eucharisti ...

., which his immediate successor would later forbid. Despite his Anglo-Catholic churchmanship, however, Dr. Monahan's episcopate was notable for his deposing, in 1942, the extreme priest Edmund Loftus Macnachten,

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

of St Thomas, Overmonnow, who had adopted such Roman Catholic practices as processions of the

Blessed Sacrament The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an ordinance in others. Christians believe that the rite was instituted by J ...

and who, according to records, had also absented himself from his parish without making provision for services to be taken. During Dr Monahan's time in the

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

many clergy who had trained at

St Stephen's House, Oxford St Stephen's House is an external theological college with observer status at the University of Oxford, affiliated with the Church of England. From 2003 to 2023 it was a permanent private hall of the University of Oxford. The college typicall ...

were recruited to the diocese, and for all the furore caused by the proceedings against MacNachten, the character of Monmouth became considerably more "

High Church A ''high church'' is a Christian Church whose beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, Christian liturgy, liturgy, and Christian theology, theology emphasize "ritual, priestly authority, ndsacraments," and a standard liturgy. Although ...

" under his leadership. Records which came to light after his death show that Monahan had wished to appoint the Warden of

Pusey House, Oxford Pusey House () is an Anglican religious institution and charitable incorporated organisation located on St Giles', Oxford, United Kingdom, immediately to the south of Pusey Street. It is firmly rooted in the Anglo-Catholic Prayer Book tradi ...

, Canon Frederic Hood, as

Dean of Monmouth Newport Cathedral (), also known as Gwynllyw, St Gwynllyw's or St Woolos' Cathedral, is the cathedral of the Diocese of Monmouth within the Church in Wales, and the seat of the Bishop of Monmouth. Its official title is Newport Cathedral Church o ...

, but was prevented from doing so by the refusal of the then Dean to retire. Bishop Monahan died in post on 10 August 1945.''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', 11 August 1945, p. 6; Issue 50218; col F ''Obituary The Rt Rev A.E. Monahan''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Monahan, Alfred Edwin 1877 births 1945 deaths Christian clergy from Dublin (city) People educated at St Andrew's College, Dublin Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Bishops of Monmouth 20th-century bishops of the Church in Wales Anglo-Catholic bishops Archdeacons of Monmouth Welsh Anglo-Catholics 19th-century Anglican theologians 20th-century Anglican theologians