Rev. Neil P. McLaughlin, s.j.- Assignment Record

Assignment Record –Rev. Neil P. McLaughlin, s.j.

Summary of Case: Neil P. McLaughlin was ordained a Jesuit of the Maryland Province in 1959. He spent the bulk of his ministry in the Scranton, PA diocese, as a Scranton Preparatory School science teacher and later as a campus minister and alumni club administrator at the University of Scranton. He was sent to a Highland Park, NJ parish for a year or so in 1964, then returned to Scranton. From the mid-1960s to the early 1980s McLaughlin spent summers as a Georgetown University Hospital chaplain. He also helped out at Scranton area parishes throughout the years. In 2006 McLaughlin was removed from ministry by the Jesuits after a review of his personnel file revealed an allegation of child sexual abuse from "much earlier." In 2008 a woman reported to the province what they deemed a credible allegation that McLaughlin sexually abused her in 1963 in Scranton, when she was a young girl. The allegations weren't made public until 2010, after McLaughlin told his order that "there may be other victims" in Scranton. McLaughlin was known in 2010 to be living in a Jesuit Community in Baltimore.

Ordained: 1959

Start	Stop	Parish/Assignment	Town/Accusations	State	Position	Notes
1959 Baltimore archbishop was Francis Patrick Keough (1947-1961).	1960	Woodstock College	Woodstock	MD
1960 Albany bishop was William Aloysius Scully (1954-1969).	1962	Our Lady of Martyrs Tertianship	Auriesville	NY
1961 Scranton bishop was Jerome Daniel Hannan (1954-1965).	1964	Scranton Preparatory School	Scranton • In 2008 the Jesuits received a report of what they deemed a credible allegation from a woman who said McLaughlin abused her in 1963 when she was a young girl in Scranton. McLaughlin had been removed from public ministry in 2006 after another allegation from "much earlier" was discovered during a review of McLaughlin's personnel file, per the Jesuits. The allegations weren't made public until 2010.	PA	science teacher; physics dept. head 1961-1983	Scranton Prep. was a Jesuit High School for boys until 1971, when girls were first admitted. It had 394-660 students.
1964 Trenton bishop was George William Ahr (1950-1979).	1965	St. Paul the Apostle	Highland Park	NJ	assisted	This assignment is per news reports. (The 1965 Directory indexes McLaughlin as still at Scranton Prep.)
1965 Washington DC archbishop was Patrick Aloysius O'Boyle (1947-1973). He was succeeded by William Wakefield Baum (1973-1983), followed by James Aloysius Hickey (1980-2000).	1983	Georgetown University Hospital	Washington	DC	part-time chaplain during summers	This assignment is per news reports.
1965 Hannan was succeeded as Scranton bishop by Joseph Carroll McCormick (1966-1983).	1978	Scranton Preparatory School	Scranton	PA
1971 McCormick was replaced by John Joseph O'Connor (1983-1984), followed by James Clifford Timlin (1984-2003).	1995	St. John Bosco	Conyngham	PA	weekend mass celebrant	This assignment is per news reports.
1978	1979					McLaughlin is not indexed in the 1979 Directory.
1979 1985	1983 1986	Scranton Preparatory School	Scranton	PA		Scranton Prep. had 694-834 students. Per news reports, McLaughlin returned to Scranton Prep. during 1985-1986. The Directories index him as at the Univ. of Scranton for that year.
1983 Timlin was succeeded by Joseph Francis Martino (2003-2009).	2006	University of Scranton	Scranton	PA	Jesuit community administrator 1983-1985; assistant director of campus ministries 1985-1986; alumni club administrator; alumni club chaplain 2002-2006
1990s		St. Mary of the Assumption	Scranton	PA	weekend mass celebrant	This assignment is per news reports.
1996	2006	St. Thomas More	Lake Ariel	PA	part-time ministry	This assignment is per news reports.
2006 Baltimore archbishop was William Henry Keeler (1989-207), followed by Edwin Frederick O'Brien (2007-2011).	2008	Jesuit Fathers and Brothers Maryland Provincial Curia	Baltimore	MD
2008	2010	Colombiere Jesuit Community	Baltimore	MD		McLaughlin is not indexed beyond the 2010 Directory. The Maryland Province Jesuits stated in 2010 that McLaughlin told them "there may be other victims of similar sexual misconduct in the Diocese of Scranton."

Sources: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1960-2010)

• Sexual Misconduct Allegations Surface against Former Scranton Jesuit, By Joe McDonald, The Times-Tribune, November 30, 2010
• Sexual Misconduct Allegations Surface against Former Scranton Jesuit, By Joe McDonald, Citizens Voice, December 1, 2010
• Possible Victims of Priest Sought, By Mark Guydish, Times Leader, December 1, 2010
• Jesuit Priest Accused of Decades-Old Abuse, MSNBC, December 1, 2010
• Possible Victims of Priest Sought, By Mark Guydish, Go Lackawanna, December 5, 2010
• Prep Sends Letter to Alumni about Possible Abuse by Jesuit Priest, By Sarah Hofius Hall, The Times-Tribune, December 5, 2010
• Sexual Abuse Allegations Levied against Priest, By Erin L. Nissley, Citizens Voice, June 8, 2011

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 April 6, 2014.