Death in Dublin of SMA Bishop John Moore of Bauchi, Nigeria

Bishop John Moore SMA, who has worked in northern Nigeria since 1966, died recently in Dublin.  He had returned to Ireland in December for medical treatment and was undergoing tests at St Vincent's Hospital, Elm Park, Dublin, but his death on  January 20 was unexpected.  He was aged sixty-eight.

The attendance at his funeral Mass celebrated in St Joseph's (SMA) Church, Wilton, Cork, by Fr Fachtna O'Driscoll, SMA Provincial, included the Nigerian Ambassador to Ireland, Dr Kemafo Chikwe, the Irish Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Kyle O'Sullivan,  Bishop Tim Carroll SMA, Vicar Apostolic of Kontagora, Nigeria, Fr Tom Ryan, SMA vice-provincial, Fathers Paul Gokok and Andrew Batare, priests of the diocese of Bauchi, a large number of missionaries from congregations working in Nigeria, as well as his brother and sister with their families.

John Moore was born in 1942 in Harold's Cross, Dublin, the second son of John and Mary Moore (née Broughal).  From 1955 to 1959 he attended the Christian Brothers Secondary School, Synge Street, Dublin, and then entered the Society of African Missions (SMA).  He was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Eugene Doherty, Bishop of Dromore, in 1965 at St Colman's Cathedral, Newry.

Appointed to the then diocese of Jos in northern Nigeria, he ministered in the parishes of Akwanga, Kwa, Shendam, Kafanchan, Kwande, Pankshin and Jos.  A good pastoral man, he worked also for the development of the area, digging wells, building schools, clinics and churches.  From 1983-1984 he was SMA Society Superior in Jos.

During his 44 years as a priest and bishop in Nigeria, John Moore saw three new dioceses carved out of the original diocese of Jos: Kafanchan, Shendam and Bauchi.  When Bauchi was set up as a Vicariate Apostolic in 1996 John was ordained bishop and he brought the vicariate to the status of a full diocese, being installed at the Cathedral of St John the Evangelist, Bauchi, in 2004.

Bauchi is more than three-quarters the size of Ireland and has a population of five and a half million people, predominantly Muslim.  The Catholic population is less than two per cent.  Aided by his fluency in Hausa, Fulani and other languages, the new bishop set about creating good relationships with Muslim leaders.

In his fourteen years as bishop, the number of parishes went from 12 to 20, priests from 23 to 42 (29 diocesan clergy).  There are now 80 women and men catechists who lead Church services and look after development projects.  There are nine sisters (OLA, Holy Child and St Louis Congregations) and four Presentation Brothers. There are 22 seminarians training for the priesthood.

At his funeral Mass in Wilton, Cork, Fr Fachtna O'Driscoll, SMA Provincial, quoted Nelson Mandela as sayin,: "If you speak to a man in a language he understands, you get through to his head; but if you speak to him in his own language you get through to his heart.”  John, Fr O'Driscoll said, understood this instinctively because he had such a big heart himself.  Because of this heart connection, the people among whom he lived and worked in Nigeria are devastated at his untimely death.

Bishop Moore is mourned by his brother Gerard, his sister Mary, his sister-in-law Joan and his brother-in-law Michael, nieces, nephews, the clergy, religious and people of the Diocese of Bauchi, his brother bishops in the Nigerian Episcopal Conference and his confrères in the Society of African Missions.   

by Patrick Duffy