Priest retains friendships, Catholic Leader, Brisbane, 27 March 1988, p 14:

When Fr Bernard (Barney) McLaughlin retired as parish priest at Mary Immaculate Annerley, he didn't end the warm relationhip he and the parishioners have enjoyed for more than 40 years, say parishioner John McKnoulty in a tribute.

Fr McLaughlin "merely moved into a retirement mode" in the parish with which he has been associated for most of his priestly life, beginning as confidante and close friend of his predecessor, Mgr Kelly, then as curate at Marymac, 1950/51, parish priest at nearby Moorooka, 1955/70, the parish priest at Annerley from 1970.

"His love of God in Christ is total and is expressed in the way he does most things," Mr McKnoulty said.

Fr McLaughlin had orchestrated a building programme, now largely completed, "which has led to the rare situation where his successor and we his parishioners have inherited, free of debt, a church, school and community complex, and with a substantial credit balance, too," Mr McKnoulty said.

Fr McLaughlin's first appointment, in 1941, was as associate pastor, Maryborough. He also served in the parishes of Gayndah and Petrie Terrace.

From 1942 to 1946 he was a RAAF Chaplain and from 1951 to 1954, national Chaplain to Catholic Action, based in Melbourne.

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A Parish Tribute to Reverend Father Bernard McLaughlin to Celebrate the Occasion of the Golden Jubilee of his Ordination to the Priesthood, 25th July, 1990:

The parishioners of Mary Immaculate Parish Annerley have published this booklet as a tribute to Rev. B. McLaughlin who was their Parish Priest from 1970 to 1987. We acknowledge with thanks the work of Kathryn Grant and Jack McGrath with the text of the booklet.

Introduction
Too small to play grade football, he had to be content to play for the Gregory Terrace Under 7 stone team! Well, the Lord works in mysterious ways indeed, for who could identify the same stripling with the burly and broad-shouldered Australian-Scot, Moorooka Parish Priest of the fifties. He grew, not only in physical stature, but his boyhood vocation matured to a wise, genial wisdom and kindly christianity which was to touch and enrich the lives of many.

Father Bernard McLaughlin is an extraordinary person who has done more in his life than most men dream of, and has always enjoyed what he has done. To go through life as a Curate to two parishes, a Parish Priest to three parishes, Chaplain to the Air Force during the Second World War and an active member and National Chaplain to "The Movement" and then say you had only one main regret is incredible.

The Young Scot
Bernard McLaughlin, Barney, or Fr Mac as he has come to be known by most parishioners at Mary Immaculate, was born in the middle of World War I, on the 26th January, 1916 at Greenock, Scotland, which is on one of the most important industrial rivers of that time, the Clyde. His parents were born in 1887, were in the same class at school and eventually married in 1910. His mother was one of thirteen children and her parents and their unmarried children migrated to Australia. Fr Mac's father was a Scot marine engineer and later was in the Royal Navy during World War I. He had one older brother, James, who was born in 1914, one sister, Margaret, who died at birth, and another brother, Daniel, who died of Meningitis at 22 months.

Father Mac's school years in Scotland were spent at St Laurence's until he, his brother James and his parents migrated to Australia in 1925. Here, Fr Mac's education continued at St James School, Fortitude Valley. The family lived with Mrs McLaughlin's mother, Kate Weir, in Herston, for a year. Fr Mac describes his grandmother as a saintly woman, who went to Mass every morning that he knew her. She prayed constantly for Fr Mac's vocation, but sadly died before his ordination. After a year, the McLaughlin's moved to Wilston.

Vocation
As Fr Mac says, "one has no knowledge of when one will be called to be a priest", but he seemed to have the yearning to enter the priesthood at a fairly young age. When he went to confession for the first time at Wilston, Fr Francis Burton, Parish Priest, asked this new boy from 4th Avenue what he wanted to do with his life. "I want to be a priest". Since that day, Fr Burton took special care of one of his altar boys. He owned a magnificent library with books from floor to ceiling, which Fr Mac thought was one of the most beautiful things he had seen in his life and was content to simply sit in this room and read.

Terrace Days
Fr Mac's father was then an engineer on Brisbane trams and when the depression hit he found himself unemployed for some time like hundreds of others. He knew his son wanted to be a priest, but he couldn't afford to send him to Gregory Terrace to continue his education. The Government had drastically reduced the number of Scholarships available, but fortunately, Fr Mac, who worked hard, managed to pass the Scholarship examination and become a student at Gregory Terrace. He did well at high school, achieved good results in Sub-Junior A and Junior A and received an endorsed Scholarship to Senior.

Fr Mac realises how fortunate he was to have had a totally free education at "The Terrace" and will always be eternally grateful to the Christian Brothers and shows his appreciation with regular donations. The Christian Brothers had an incredible discipline which originated in their founder, Edmond Ignatius Rice, and the students responded extremely well to this discipline. Planted deep in the hearts of students at "The Terrace" was a great sense of school spirit, whether it was in sporting or academic fields. This loyalty remains with them for life, as even now 'old boys', like Father Mac are interested in how the school is going in the football or cricket.

The Sportsman
Fr Mac has always been sports minded, even in his "Terrace" days. He was a slow bowler in the A cricket team as well as playing pennant tennis.

A long-time member of Indooroopilly Golf Club, he was a formidable golfing opponent, both through eighteen holes and afterwards. In later years, he has been known to stay up into the "wee small hours" watching late, late sports on TV.

Even though Fr Mac and his classmates were close friends, they never discussed what they wanted to do after school. As it happened, six of the young men from the seniors of 1933 turned up at the Springwood Seminary.

The Seminary
In Fr Mac's own words, "It is not your own decision to become a priest. You simply go to the Seminary and try your hardest to see if you can be a priest". As a Jesuit priest once wrote, "vocation is an internal grace by which God unites himself with a person and calls that person to be a priest". There were no seminaries in Queensland at the time, and nearly everyone in Australia who wanted to become a priest studied at the seminaries in Sydney. St Columban's was situated in Springwood, which neighbours Katoomba in the Blue Mountains. Three years were spent here, studying philosophy, whilst subject to the breathtaking view of the rugged mountain ranges. The next four years were spent at St Patrick's Seminary in Manly, studying theology. The views at Manly were just as spectacular as those in the mountains. With the Seminary located atop North Head, one couldn't escape panoramic views, whether they be of Sydney Harbour, or out to sea or of Manly village itself.

Fr Mac describes his time at the Seminaries as a wonderful experience; a time when you met so many new friends and had few limitations. The discipline at the Seminaries was sound and similar to that at Gregory Terrace. This discipline, which they would never have experienced had they not attended these Seminaries, helped to mould and shape the characters of these young men.

Ordination
The few months leading up to ordination was a time of retreats, prayer and constant thought. Although there was always deep, prayerful thought throughout the seven years of training, it was now vital as it concerned one's entire future.

Once ordained, a priest is a priest, not just for this lifetime, but forever. Fr Bernard McLaughlin, ordained by Archbishop James Duhig in 1940, was fifty years a priest on 25th July this year, 1990. Of the class of thirty-two young men, nineteen are still alive, and of seven Brisbane boys who travelled to Sydney to study, six are still alive and one of these is still working.

After his ordination, Fr Mac returned to college until 8th December when he received temporary appointments at Maryborough and Hervey Bay over Christmas and New Year. He was then told to remain in Maryborough as Curate in 1941. Archbishop Duhig then contacted Fr Mac, wanting him to be a professor at Banyo Seminary. This was the last thing he wanted to do. He felt he was ordained for "the road" and that's where he wanted to be, but as Fr Mac says, "How do you tell the Archbishop to go to 'blazes'?" When he met with Archbishop Duhig, Fr Mac told him how he felt and the Archbishop said he didn't have to go to Banyo, but he did have to get his Arts Degree, so Fr Mac studied History Philosophy and Latin externally at University of Queensland, and achieved a pass in all three subjects.

The Chaplain At this stage, the Second World War had begun. Fr Mac received a letter from the Archbishop and Fr Barry instructing him to present himself for a medical to join the Army as a chaplain in the 47th battalion. Fr Mac thought this was marvellous; it was just what he wanted. His Parish Priest, Monsignor Martin Jordin, wouldn't allow him to leave. However the Monsignor allowed Father to transfer to Gayndah later that year. Once he was in Gayndah, the senior priests told him they could get him into the Armed Forces if he was willing to wait. At the end of 1942, Fr Mac was a member of the RAAF, and was so until March, 1946.

Although he enjoyed being chaplain to the Air Force, the war made him mature so very quickly, as it did all the young men who took part. It was up to the individual to make his own decisions and it turned boys into men. Fr Mac had the responsibility of standing for God, and the pressure of being God's man among so many great men. He suffered from tropical ulcers and contracted malaria whilst in active service.

After the War
In May 1946, Fr Mac suffered his most serious case of Malaria and underwent a 16 day course of medication in the Mater Hospital, and has not had an attack of Malaria since.

Returning from a short rehabilitation holiday, Fr Mac was asked by Archbishop Duhig if he would prefer to work in the city or the country and although he said he would like to work in the country, he ended up as a temporary replacement for the ill Fr Flannigan at Moorooka Parish which took in Salisbury, Sunnybank, Acacia Ridge, Coopers Plains and down Beaudesert Rd to Jimboomba. During his three years at Moorooka he was made Queensland Chaplain to the Catholic Action Australia, or "The Movement" as it came to be known. "The Movement" was developed to combat the influence of Communist ideals and attempted takeover within the Trade Unions. He founded "Movement" groups all over Brisbane, went to Townsville for three months and eventually founded groups across the entire State. In 1949 Fr Mac came to Annerley Parish as Curate with Fr James D. Kelly at Mary Immaculate. He then became Parish Priest of Petrie Terrace church on the comer of Hale and Caxton Streets. The Parish was made up of little, old condemned houses. During this time he was back and forth to Melbourne for meetings and conferences dealing with "The Movement". Here he met Archbishop Mannix. Archbishop Duhig told him that he might be wanted in Melbourne by Archbishop Mannix and soon after was appointed National Chaplain to "The Movement". He met with Archbishop Mannix on the first Monday of each month for at least half an hour with written reports, and got to know him very well.

He worked full-time with "The Movement" from 1950 to 1955, in which time he visited every State and Diocese in Australia, except Darwin.

Fr Mac considers the work he did with "The Movement" one of the greatest achievements of his priesthood and in his own words, "it would take a 2000 word essay to describe those years and so obviously cannot be included here". He then returned to Petrie Terrace for three months before going to Moorooka in January 1956 as Parish Priest after Fr Flannigan's death. He stayed with the parish until 1970 in which time the parish built Moorooka Primary School which cost them 56,000 pounds.

Our Parish Priest
In April 1970, Monsignor Kelly of Annerley died and Fr Mac became Parish Priest of Mary Immaculate in June of that year. The Parish was already well established, but with a new Parish Priest they built a new convent and in 1978, a new hall, now known as Mary Mac Centre. The only regret in Fr Mac's extraordinary life occurred in August of 1979 on Norfolk Island. The simple thing of breaking a leg completely changed his life.

It was an extremely serious break, with the entire knee shattered and took six months in hospital to heal. However, he was always happy being a part of Annerley Parish and says, "It would be an extraordinary man who was not happy working at Mary Immaculate". To many Annerley residents, the term "Mary Mac" and "Barney Mac" will be synonymous.

Retirement
He never anticipated retirement. He always thought he would be fit and healthy until his dying day, but there came a time when he could no longer continue and Fr McLaughlin retired as Parish Priest of Annerley, his successor being Fr Terry Keliher. He remains in the Parish, as 'Pastor Emeritus' which he considers a privilege. There is no doubt in his mind about whether he chose the right profession. He still thanks God for the varying facets of work which have been asked of him by Christ throughout his life, and would gladly do it all over again if he had the chance.

The Jesuits Loss — Our Gain
Fr Mac's earliest memory is of his mother taking him to see a school at Garnett Hill in Scotland. It was a Jesuit school and, had he attended it, we might never have had the privilege of meeting this man. He might have stayed in Scotland for his schooling and attended a seminary in Spain or Rome, or even become a Jesuit priest. We are all grateful that this dedicated man and priest came to Australia instead.

So, here's health to you, Father Mac, with our deepest respect and affection. Long may your Scot's eye twinkle!

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Funeral brochure, 30 September 1991:
Bernard Thomas McLaughlin was born in Scotland on 26th January 1916. He was ordained on 25th July 1940 and held the following appointments: Maryborough 1941-1942; Gayndah 1942; RAAF 1942-1946; Moorooka 1946-1949; Annerley 1950-1951; Petrie Terrace 1951 (April 1951-1954 First Secretary Catholic Action, Melbourne). He was appointed Parish Priest of Moorooka in 1955 until 1970; Parish Priest of Annerley 1970-1988. He retired in January 1988 and died on 26th September, 1991.

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Faith 'greatest gift' to Fr Barney, Catholic Leader, Brisbane, 6 October 1991, p 4:

He would never have wanted to be painted as a plaster saint, but he believed, he trusted and he loved, Archbishop Rush said at the Funeral Mass of Fr Barney McLaughlin in St Stephen’s Cathedral.

"Fr Barney McLaughlin made the final draft of his last will and testament as recently as six months ago," Archbishop Rush said. "The only paragraph in which he bares his soul he left unchanged from earlier versions. He was consistent in his loyalties. Reading it at his Funeral Mass, it is as if he were talking to us:

"I express my thanks to God for all that in his providence he has given to me in this life—my faith, his greatest gift, as it came to me through dedicated parents and a happy home. He alone can explain my priestly vocation, but through it I have enjoyed a life close to Christ and actually revelled in trying to bring the same joy to all my contacts in any way and by any means.

"There is nothing very sagacious about this quotation, but Churchill is reported to have said 'those whose work and pleasure are one are fortune's favoured children'. In that way I have been fortune's favoured child so I do thank my God for the life he has given me."

Archbishop Rush told how Barney, the youngest of four children, came to Australia with his Scottish parents and was educated at St James' and Gregory Terrace "… where he did well in his studies and was a fine sportsman, a slow bowler in the First XI and a very fine tennis player. Golf was to be lifelong interest".

"When he had completed his secondary schooling he entered St Columba's Seminary at Springwood on the Blue Mountains with five others from Gregory Terrace. Anyone who was at Springwood in the year of their arrival will never forget them. The influence they had on college life for the next seven years was an augury of the effective pastoral work they would do in the archdiocese over the next 50 years."

Archbishop Rush said the six Brisbane men of the same class who were ordained in St Stephen's on July 25, 1940, wre Bernard McLaughlin, Michael Carew, Brian Kelly, Patrick Kenny, John Rosenskjar and Vincent Rowan. Fr Barney served a year each in Maryborough and Gayndah before joining the RAAF as a Chaplain from the end of 1942 until April 1946.

Apart from a few months at Petrie Terrace and three-and-a-half years at the Australian Secretariat of Catholic Action in Melbourne, he spent the rest of his time at Moorooka and Annerley. On his return from Melbourne he was parish priest of Moorooka for two-and-a-half years and at Annerley from 1970 until his retirement in 1988.

Archbishop Rush added: "Fr McLaughlin looked on his years at the Secretariat of Catholic Action in Melbourne as the time of his greatest achievement. It was in those years that his intelligence, wit and gift of oratory came into full bloom.

"Fr McLaughlin had quite an exceptional gift for friendship. He attracted friends wherever he went, friends who remained so for life. Your presence here is proof enough of that. No one will miss him more than his priest-friends and the people of Annerley. They will pray for him with joy, remembering his generosity and compassion, his tough-mindedness and determination, his story-telling and his laughter.

"He was very human and never hid his faults from you or me. He was a man of strong emotion whether the emotion was anger, grief, indignation or sympathy. I thank God that in all the almost 60 years I knew him he was never anything but gentle with me. It could hardly be said of Barney McLaughlin, as it was said of one of Shakespeare's characters, that his life was gentle; but it could be said of him that the elements were so mixed in him that Nature might stand up and say to all the world, This was a man!

"Whoever chose the first reading for this Funeral Mass might well have imagined Fr Barney chuckling at the Old Testament vision of eternal life as a sumptuous banquet. Indeed he was always awed by the mystery of eternity. All that he knew is what we all know, that then he will see God as God is and, we hope, live serenely and joyfully for ever.

"Fr McLaughlin never doubted God's mercy. That was evident on Wednesday night [September 25, the night before he died] when I saw him after coming back from the ordination of Bishop Heenan in Rockhampton. Evident, too, when he sat on the side of his bed gasping for breath was his interest in anything that had to do with the archdiocese and its priests. He wanted me to tell him how it had gone in Rockhampton. Then, as always, his cheerfulness struggled to reassert itself.

"He would never have wanted to be painted as a plaster saint, but he believed, he trusted and he loved. What Jesus said in the Gospel is what Fr Barney McLaughlin would want to say to you now: This is why I am telling you not to worry about your life and what you are to eat, nor about your body and how you are to clothe it ... Your heavenly Father knows you need them all. Set your hearts on his Kingdom first, and on his righteousness, and all these other things will be given you as well. So do not worry about tomorrow: tomorrow will take care of itself.