The Philadelphia Inquirer

The Rev. Teclezghi M. Ucbaghiorghis, 59, of Mount Laurel, a Cistercian monk who ministered for 11 years to parishioners of St. John Neumann Church in Mount Laurel and to emigres from his African homeland in several states, died Aug. 31 from injuries sustained in a car accident.

Father Ucbaghiorghis was in the two-car collision in Pocomoke City, Md., while returning home from one of his monthly trips to the Baltimore-Washington area to administer sacraments to Roman Catholics from Eritrea and Ethiopia. The day before, he had presided over a wedding in Northern Virginia.

At a Memorial Mass at St. John Neumann on Monday for members of the Eritrean and Ethiopian communities, it was “standing room only,” said David Petaccio, a friend of Father Ucbaghiorghis.

For several years, the biblical scholar organized an annual conference in Washington for members of the Abyssinian diaspora. His ministry had recently expanded through the use of teleconferencing and Internet technology.

Father Ucbaghiorghis grew up in the farming region of Eritrea, then part of Ethiopia. He was ordained in 1978 in Asmara, Eritrea, and, for three years, directed a technical school and conducted Bible study classes in Ethiopia.

After studying for two years at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, Father Ucbaghiorghis became a professor at the Cistercian seminary in Asmara and collaborated with orthodox and evangelical Protestant scholars on a translation of sacred scriptures into Tigrigna, the principal language of Eritrea.

The author of five books in his native language, Father Ucbaghiorghis also edited and contributed to two Eritrean magazines.

In 1997, he was assigned to Our Lady of Fatima Monastery in Mount Laurel as vocation director. He and other monks also ministered to the members of St. John Neumann, which is adjacent to the monastery. Father Ucbaghiorghis conducted weekly Bible studies and prayer meetings and celebrated Mass at the church.

He is survived by a brother and two sisters.

Friends may call from 8 p.m. to midnight tomorrow and from 9 to 10 a.m. Saturday at St. John Neumann Church, 560 Walton Ave., Mount Laurel. A Funeral Mass will be at 11 a.m. Saturday. Burial will be in Eritrea.