Mollaghan was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. After the seminary he studied philosophy and theology at the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception of the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires.
On 22 July 1993, Pope John Paul II appointed him Auxiliary Bishop of Buenos Aires with the titular see of Theuzi. He was consecrated a bishop on 2 October by Cardinal Antonio Quarracino. He held several post in the administration of the archdiocese including vicar for the administration and moderator of the curia. He served on several committees of the Argentine Episcopal Conference, becoming a member of its Executive Committee and Standing Committee and one of its delegates to the Latin American Bishops' Council. From 1994 to 1999 he was secretary general of the Bishops' Conference.[which?] Several years of his time as auxiliary in Buenos Aires coincided with the period when the Archbishop of Buenos Aires was Jorge Bergoglio, later Pope Francis.
Pope John Paul II named him Bishop of San Miguel on 17 May 2000. On 22 December 2005, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Archbishop of Rosario, where he was installed on 18 March 2006.[2]
On 19 May 2014, Pope Francis assigned Mollaghan to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome to work on a commission responsible for handling cases of clerical pedophilia.[1] Because the commission had not been established, he moved to Buenos Aires to signify his release from responsibility for the Rosario diocese. He told a congregation at a festive celebration in Rosario in August: "The technical director decides the changes. I just wanted to stay in Rosario, but he sent me to Buenos Aires to make work easy for me." He remained in Argentina, living in Buenos Aires for several months, before moving to Rome.[2] The seven-member Commission was established on 11 November 2014 with responsibility for sexual abuse of minors, heresy, apostasy, misuse of the sacrament of penance, and the ordination of women.[3] Argentine newspapers interpreted Mollaghan's assignment in Rome as an "elegant" way to remove him from Rosario following an investigation into the mismanagement of church funds and referred to Mollaghan as "an old rival" of the pope.[4] Mollaghan denied that he represented a more conservative faction of the Argentine hierarchy and pointed to his long service alongside Bergoglio in Buenos Aires.[5]
References
^ abWooden, Cindy (19 May 2014). "Pope setting up board to hear appeals of clerical sex abuse offenders". National Catholic Reporter. Catholic News Service. Retrieved 3 July 2017. 'the commission being established to examine the appeals of clergy for delicta graviora,' the Vatican term for sexual abuse of minors and serious sins against the sacraments.
