The first Parish Priest of St. Paul's, Shettleston. Known as a "hero of the Confessional" for his refusal to break the seal of the Confessional.
While in charge of St. Paul's he was approached in the Confessional by a penitent thief who wished to make restitution of the money he had stolen but also wanted to avoid detection by the authorities. He asked Fr. McLaughlin to address the envelope and returned the money.
When inquiries were made there was no problem in identifying that the envelope was addressed by the Catholic priest of Shettleston. Fr. McLaughlin, when asked, did not deny the fact but he refused in the trial to give any evidence or make any statement which could be construed into breaking the seal of the Confessional. As a result he was sentenced to 30 days imprisonment for contempt of court.
Fr. McLaughlin went to prison, but when the sentence was half-way through, he was liberated through the efforts of Bishop Murdoch, who took the case in hand and spared no effort to obtain the release of the priest.
In 1851 after being ordained he was appointed to St. Patrick's, Anderston before being transferred to St. Paul's. From there he went to St. Margaret's, Ayr until his retirement towards the end of 1890. He retired to Rothesay where he died in April 1895, at the age of 74. He was buried in St. Peter's Cemetery, Dalbeth.
One of the first things Fr. McLaughlin did on coming to St. Paul's was to build a school. Ten years later, in 1857, the little wooden church was replaced by a more permanent fine Gothic building with seating for 400. It took just over six months to build and the actual cost was much below the original estimate. A gallery was added 8 years later. Mass was offered in the chapel on Sundays at 9.00 a.m. and 12 noon.
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