Name Thomas McLaughlin | Education University of Innsbruck | |
Died March 17, 1947, Paterson, New Jersey, United States | ||
Thomas Henry McLaughlin (July 25, 1881—March 17, 1947) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as President of Seton Hall College (1922-1933) and Bishop of Paterson, New Jersey (1937-1947).
Biography
Thomas McLaughlin was born in New York City to John and Margaret (nee Byrne) McLaughlin. He later moved with his family to Montclair, New Jersey, and attended St. Francis Xavier College, from where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1901. He then furthered his studies at the University of Innsbruck in Austria, where he was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Balthasar Kaltner on July 26, 1904. He earned a doctorate in sacred theology from Innsbruck in 1908.
Upon his return to the United States, McLaughlin became a professor at Seton Hall College at South Orange in 1908. He served as dean from 1914 until 1922, when he was elected president of Seton Hall and rector of Immaculate Conception Seminary. He remained as president until 1933 and rector until 1938. He was named a Domestic Prelate in 1923, and vicar general of the Diocese of Newark in 1933.
On May 18, 1935, McLaughlin was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Newark and Titular Bishop of Nisa in Lycia by Pope Pius XI. He received his episcopal consecration on the following July 25 from Archbishop Thomas J. Walsh, with Bishops John A. Duffy and Joseph H. Schlarman serving as co-consecrators. He was named the first Bishop of the newly erected Diocese of Paterson on December 16, 1937. The diocese encompassed Passaic, Morris, and Sussex Counties in North Jersey. He designated St. John the Baptist Church as the cathedral.
McLaughlin remained as Bishop of Paterson until his death ten years later, aged 65.