Société des Missions Africaines –Province d'Irlande

né le 18 février 1905 à Kilmeena dans le diocèse de Tuam, Irlande membre de la SMA le 7 juillet 1926 prêtre le 8 juin 1930 décédé le 28 juillet 1983

1930-1983 missionnaire au Nigeria 1930-1935, vicariat du Bénin 1936-1954, vicariat de Lagos 1954-1959, Ibadan, supérieur régional 1959-1983, archidiocèse de Lagos décédé à Abeokuta, Nigeria, le 28 juillet 1983, à l'âge de 78 ans

Michael McLoughlin was born near Newport, in the parish of Kilmeena, Co Mayo (the family address was 'Shendrim', Newport), in the archdiocese of Tuam, on 18 February 1905. He died, following a heart attack, in the Sacred Heart hospital, Abeokuta, Nigeria, on 28 July 1983.

Michael was educated in the colleges of the Society. He came to the Sacred Heart college, Ballinafad, Co Mayo, in 1920 and a year later entered St. Joseph's college, Wilton, Cork, to complete his secondary education. In September 1924 he joined the Society's novitiate and house of philosophy at Kilcolgan, Co Galway. He received his theological formation in the major seminary at Dromantine, Co Down. Michael became a member of the Society on 7 July 1926 and was ordained a priest by Bishop Edward Mulhern of Dromore diocese, in St. Colman's cathedral, Newry, on 8 June 1930. He was one of a group of ten ordained on that day.

After ordination Michael was appointed to the vicariate of the Bight of Benin which covered much of south-western Nigeria. He served there for a total of fifty-three years which placed him among the longest-serving missionaries on the West Coast of Africa. His service was unbroken, since he never held a home appointment. The field of his labours was centred on the vast territory of Yorubaland. He spent most of his time in what today constitutes the archdioceses of Lagos and Ibadan and the diocese of Ijebu Ode. His first appointment, given to him by Francis O'Rourke, the vicar apostolic, on his arrival in Lagos in October 1930, was to Oshogbo. This mission district, founded in 1915, had a catholic community of some 2,800 catholic members and 600 catechumens. Jakob Imholz, a Swiss member of the Society, was superior and the first assistant priest was Tom Donoghue. Michael served here for a year before being transferred to St. Theresa's inter-vicarial minor seminary, at Oke-Are, Ibadan.

This institution provided candidates for priesthood from jurisdictions in south-western Nigeria and further afield, with secondary education and a knowledge of Latin. Later, for a year, Michael ministered in Ogunpa mission, in the heart of the great Yoruba town of Ibadan. In 1933 Michael was appointed superior of Esure district, in Ijebu country. Michael went on his first home leave in 1935, returning a year later to take charge of Ibonwon mission, also in Ijebu country. The Immaculate Conception mission of Ibonwon had been established in 1900 and by the time Michael came there, the catholic community exceeded 3,000 members and 800 catechumens. Early in 1941, Michael responded to a request from his bishop (then Leo Hale Taylor who had succeeded Bishop O'Rourke in June 1939)) for volunteers to serve as chaplains to the West African Division which at the time was being prepared for overseas service. Michael was accepted by the military authorities and stationed in Lagos.

Michael went on his second home leave in July 1942. His return journey, a year later, almost ended in disaster. He sailed in a convoy, on board the troop-ship liner M.V. California. The convoy was bombed four days out to sea and Michael's ship was among those hit. There were many casualties among the troops. All the missionaries survived, rescued by the corvette Moyola, which took them to Casablanca. There, having lost all their belongings, they were kitted out in the uniform of American soldiers. Michael eventually made his way to Lagos, arriving there at the end of the month. He was to work in the Lagos jurisdiction for a further four decades. For many years he was education secretary, nominated by Bishop Taylor.

In this capacity Michael had to travel thousands of miles each month, visiting schools, interviewing managers and teachers, over-seeing academic standards, and liaising with the government education department from which vital subsidies were secured. This was a key position and Michael acquitted himself with distinction. He was equally at home when appointed parish priest, demonstrating particular skill in the building of churches, schools and mission houses. He was to serve in most of the major parishes of Lagos and Ijebu-Ode dioceses. It was inevitable that a man of Michael's calibre should be entrusted with senior Society responsibilities in addition to those given to him by his bishop. In 1954 he was appointed 'regional superior', responsible for the spiritual and temporal welfare of his confreres in the jurisdictions of Lagos, Ondo, Ibadan, and Ijebu-Ode. This important post, which he held up to 1959, required him to visit the confreres in their stations. He discharged his duties with flair and enthusiasm despite the long roads to be travelled.

Michael was much more than an educationalist, a parish priest, and an administrator. He was also a writer and historian. His articles on the early history of the Church in Nigeria appeared over many years in the pages of the Independent (a catholic newspaper, published in Ibadan, Nigeria). He published pamphlets and books, pride of place perhaps going to his History of the Catholic Church in Abeokuta. He was also an inveterate letter-writer. In the archives of the Province in Cork, there is a manuscript history of the Church in south-western Nigeria which provides an invaluable record by one who participated in the making of that history.

Michael celebrated his golden jubilee of priesthood in the S.M.A. regional house, at Ibadan, on 9 April 1980. During his early years in Nigeria Michael had suffered from a duodenal ulcer and in his last decade developed a cardiac ailment. Despite the advice of doctors, given after an examination in 1975, Michael remained on in Africa until the end of his life. His death came rather unexpectedly, in 1983. An obituary written by a colleague paid the following tribute to Michael: 'His life is bound up with the history of the catholic Church in Nigeria. He left his native Kilmeena in Co Mayo in 1930 and toiled in the humid, tropical climate in Lagos until his death in 1983. During those years the missionaries built schools, hospitals and teacher training colleges. They prepared the way for national independence by educating the future leaders of the country. They preached the Gospel and formed groups of committed Christians. Today these have taken over the leadership of their own Church and are sending out their own missionaries to other areas. As a missionary Michael has left us the example of a man who for more than half a century was a living witness of Christ in Africa. Michael's sister, Sr. Fintan, is a member of the O.L.A..

He is buried in Abeokuta, Nigeria