Rest in Peace - Fr Peter John McLaughlin OMI
It is with great sadness that the Australian Province of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate announces the death of Fr Peter John McLaughlin, 20th December 2025.
(Peter) John McLaughlin was born in Perth on 6 December 1939, the second eldest of 9 siblings. His father worked for the WA Railways so the family moved around; John went to 3 schools before years 7-10 at CBHS Highgate (Perth). He then was at St Joseph’s Geelong (the Oblate Juniorate) for 2 years, and joined the Oblates at Sorrento in 1958. He attended the Scholasticate in Rome from 1959 to 1966 and was ordained in Rome General House on 18 December 1965.
Fr John’s first obedience was to Fremantle parish in 1966, followed by a year assisting at Sefton NSW. In 1968 he moved to St Mary’s Seminary, Mulgrave Victoria as assistant novice master and tutor in philosophy.
In 1972 he joined the Indonesian mission as the curate at Purwokerto, Central Java, along with Charlie Burrows. In 1976 he became parish priest of Cilacap, Central Java, and in 1978 the first parish priest of Cengkareng in West Jakarta. In 1984 he moved to Yogyakarta as the Scholasticate Rector for 6 years and in 1987 became the first Delegation Superior (previously it was a mission under the Australian province, with Kevin Casey as Superior).
After a sabbatical in Chicago in 1990, from 1991 Fr John worked in the Diocese of Jakarta with specific focus as chaplain to journalists and artists while also helping the diocese with parish work in Pluit; he also was influential in setting up a new parish in the far east of Jakarta. He became the first parish priest of Kalvari Parish, Lubang Buaya, 1994-1995.
From 1999 to 2005 he was Provincial of Indonesia, taking over from Mario Bertoli the first provincial. As provincial he was instrumental in sending the first missionaries from Indonesia to overseas: 2 young Indonesian Oblates were sent to the Delegation of Pakistan.
Then after a transition period he returned to Jakarta and again was appointed by the diocese for non-parochial ministry, especially to be Moderator / Chaplain to the Medical and health ministry in Jakarta. He coordinated and visited the 3 major Catholic hospitals and clinics, until 2014. Thereafter he continued to supply and help in parishes including the Oblate parish in West Jakarta, Trinity Parish while living at Wisma Mario, Jakarta.
A special part of his ministry was Family Planning (the Billings Method). In 1972 he did a course on Family Planning and he began implementing it in the parish of Cilacap with women from Catholic and Muslim backgrounds: after a couple of years he founded a recognised association with a team of women. He worked with the government and others to get the Billings method approved officially as a valid birth control method. At that time the government was pushing Family Planning enforcing the 2-child policy with IUD, sterilization etc., so his work was a major success and a great breakthrough for women.
In 2018 May Fr John returned to Australia (Fremantle) owing to ill health, re-joining the Australian Province and in October retired to Mercycare Aged Care, Maddington, suffering from dementia. In September 2020 he moved to Glendalough Little Sisters of the Poor, then as the dementia worsened, in late 2022 to Margaret Hubery House.
He passed away peacefully on 20 December 2025, two days after celebrating his 60th anniversary of priesthood.
His hobbies are reading, listening to classical music, walking, hiking, bird watching, and current affairs. He speaks French, Italian and Indonesian, sings and plays the violin. He was a real missionary with daring, serious, dutiful, energetic, devout, but could be stubborn and sometimes absent minded.
Fr John’s requiem Mass will be held at St Patrick’s Basilica, Fremantle on 31 December 2025, at 9:30 am, followed by burial at Fremantle Cemetery.
May his soul now rest in peace,
Fr Andrew Chen OMI
Provincial
