Rev. John E. McLaughlin

Summary of Case: McLaughlin was accused by two different adult males in 2002 of having groped them, one when he sought counseling with McLaughlin, and the other at his son's christening. In 2004 an accusation surfaced that he had sexually abused a minor in the 1980s. He was removed from his parish in May 2004, and officially removed from his position as pastor at the parish in March 2005.

Ordained: 1961

     

Start Stop Assignment Town/Accusations State Position Notes

1961

Boston archbishop was Richard James Cushing (1944-1970)

 1967 St. Joseph's Holbrook MA 3/3, 2/3 Parish had a school with 83-277 boys and 70-253 girls.
1967 1969 St. Bernard's Concord MA 3/3  

1969?

Cushing was succeeded by Humberto Sousa Medeiros (1970-1983)

1977 St. Joseph the Worker Hanson MA 2/2 McLaughlin is indexed but not listed in the Boston archdiocesan pages in the 1970 Directory as at St. Joseph the Worker.

1977

Bernard Francis Law replaced Medieros (1984-2002)

1985 St. Nicholas

Abington-Brockton

• McLaughlin was accused in 2004 of having molested a minor in the 1980s. (Boston Herald [Somerville MA]
May 16, 2004)

MA

2/3, 3/3, 2/2

In residence.

 
1985 1989 St. Benedict's Somerville MA 2/3, 2/2, 1/2 Parish had a school with 240-202 students.
1989 1990         McLaughlin is not indexed in the 1990 Directory, nor is he listed as at St. Benedict's in the Boston archdiocesan pages.

1990

Sean Patrick O'Malley succeeded Law (2003-)

2005 St. Benedict's

Somerville

• In a 2002 lawsuit, an adult male accused McLaughlin of touching his groin when the man sought counseling with McLaughlin in June 2001. (Boston Globe
September 19, 2002)

• A second man filed a complaint in 2002 that McLaughlin groped him at his son's christening. (Boston Herald
May 17, 2004)

 

MA 1/2, 1/3

Parish had a school with 196 students. The 2005 Directory shows a religious education program with 660 students.

McLaughlin was removed from St. Benedict's in May 2004 after an accusation surfaced that he had sexually abused a minor in the 1980s.

His assignment as pastor of St. Benedict's was officially ended by the archdiocese in March 2005. (Archdiocese of Boston
April 1, 2005)

2005 2009 Unassigned        


Source: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1962-2009)

Priests in a Parish: We use the following convention to show a priest's place among the clergy of a parish: 1/2 means that he is the first priest listed in the Official Catholic Directory (usually the pastor) and that there is a total of two priests at the parish. The shorthand 3/4 means that the priest is listed third on a four-priest roster. See our sample page from the Directory.

Note: The Official Catholic Directory aims to report the whereabouts of Catholic priests in the United States on January 1 of the Directory's publication year. Our working assumption is that a priest listed in the Directory for a given year was at the same assignment for part of the previous year as well. However, Kenedy and Sons will sometimes accept updates well into the year of publication. Diocesan clergy records are rarely available to correct this information. The Directory is also sometimes misleading or wrong. We have tried to create an accurate assignment record, given the source materials and their limitations. Assignment records are a work in progress and we are always improving the records that we post. Please email us with new information and corrections.

This assignment record collates McLaughlin's career history as it is represented in the Official Catholic Directory with allegations as reported in the media. We make no representation regarding the truth of the allegation we report, and we remind our readers that the U.S. legal system presumes that a person accused of or charged with a crime is innocent until proven guilty. Similarly, individuals who may be defendants in civil actions are presumed not to be liable for such claims unless a plaintiff proves otherwise. Admissions of guilt or liability are not typically a part of civil or private settlements. For more information, see our posting policy.

This assignment record was last updated on May 29, 2010