Francis Anthony Quinn (September 11, 1921 – March 21, 2019) was an American

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

prelate who served as the

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

of the

Diocese of Sacramento The Diocese of Sacramento is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the northern California region of the United States. The diocese's see is Sacramento, it is led by a bishop who pastors the mother church ...

from 1980 to 1993.

Background

Born in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, he graduated from St. Joseph’s Seminary in Mountain View, CA (then the local minor seminary for high school and the first two years of college) and then from St. Patrick's Seminary in Menlo Park, CA (Bachelor's Degree and four post-graduate years of theology studies) and was ordained a priest for the

Archdiocese of San Francisco The Archdiocese of San Francisco (Latin language, Latin: ''Archdiœcesis Sancti Francisci''; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Archidiócesis de San Francisco'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the north ...

on June 15, 1946. He earned an MA in education from the

Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by U.S. ...

, Washington, D.C., in 1947 and an Ed.D. from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, in 1962. Quinn was a teacher at Serra High School, San Mateo, and a counselor at

Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory, commonly known as SHC or SH, is a Catholic school located in the Cathedral Hill neighborhood of San Francisco, California. Founded in 1852, Sacred Heart Cathedral is the oldest Catholic secondary school and wa ...

, San Francisco, before becoming an assistant superintendent of schools for the Archdiocese of San Francisco in 1955. He was editor for the ''San Francisco Monitor'' in 1962 and was appointed pastor of St. Gabriel’s Church in 1970.

Bishop

Under

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...

, Quinn was consecrated an auxiliary bishop of San Francisco on June 29, 1978, and installed as the seventh bishop of the Diocese of Sacramento on December 18, 1979. From 1980-1992, seven new parishes, several missions, two elementary schools, and one high school were established. He oversaw a 10-year pastoral plan for the diocese as well as a spiritual renewal program, reorganized the

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residenc ...

structure, initiated a diocesan pastoral council, and celebrated the hundredth anniversary of the diocese. Quinn inspired and encouraged women to lead in parish governance, educational, liturgical, financial and social ministries. He also activated lay individuals to continue their formation and assume leadership roles in various groups and movements. He supported the launch of an AIDS hospice and he protested the death penalty on the steps of the Capitol and at prison gates. He also spoke up regarding nuclear disarmament, immigration policies, and many foreign issues.

Bishop Quinn High School Bishop Quinn High School was a small, private Catholic high school in Palo Cedro near Redding, California. The school is named after Bishop Francis Quinn, the diocese's bishop emeritus. The school was designed to serve the Catholic population of ...

Palo Cedro, California Palo Cedro (Spanish for "Cedar Wood") is a census-designated place (CDP) in Shasta County, California, United States. It is 8 miles (13 km) east of Redding, California. Its population is 2,931 as of the 2020 census, up from 1,269 from the 201 ...

, is named in his honor, but closed in 2008 from low enrollment. Bishop Francis Quinn

Retirement and death

Quinn retired in 1993, and spent several years with the

Yaqui The Yaqui, Hiaki, or Yoeme, are a Native American people of the southwest, who speak a Uto-Aztecan language. Their homelands include the Río Yaqui valley in Sonora, Mexico, and the area below the Gila River in Arizona, Southwestern United Stat ...

s in

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

. In 2007, he returned to the Diocese of Sacramento. He took up residence at Mercy McMahon Terrace, a residence for seniors run by the

Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute of Catholic women founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. As of 2019, the institute had about 6200 sisters worldwide, organized into a number of independent congregations. They a ...

in midtown Sacramento, and continued to serve as an activist for

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fu ...

and

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

issues, especially for the poor. Quinn died on March 21, 2019, at the age of 97. At the time of his death, he was the oldest living bishop in the United States.

References

External links

Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento official website

last retrieved February 25, 2007.

Episcopal succession