John Raphael Quinn (March 28, 1929 – June 22, 2017) was an American prelate of the
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 let ...
Church. He was Archbishop of
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
from 1977 to 1995 and Archbishop of
Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...
(and Bishop of the predecessor
Diocese) from 1971 to 1977. He served as the president of the
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in the United States. Founded in 1966 as the joint National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) and United States Catholic Conference (US ...
from 1977 to 1980.
Early life and ordination
Quinn was born in
Riverside, California
Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States, in the Inland Empire metropolitan area. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. It is the most populous city in the Inland Empire an ...
, and
ordained
Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...
to the
priesthood for the
Diocese of San Diego on July 19, 1953. Pope
Paul VI named him
auxiliary bishop of
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...
with the
titular see
A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbis ...
of
Thisiduo on October 21, 1967. He was consecrated on December 12. While a social progressive, Quinn was identified with a conservative camp in the questions of dogma. Early in his career as an auxiliary bishop, he criticized American "pansexuality and materialism" in a 1971 interview, noting that as a result, the supernatural explanation of celibacy falls on deaf ears in many parts of Western society.
Archbishop of Oklahoma City
On November 17, 1971, he was appointed Bishop of Oklahoma City-Tulsa. When the diocese was split to form the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the
Diocese of Tulsa on December 13, 1972, Quinn became the first Archbishop of
Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...
.
The website of that Archdiocese reports that "he revealed his priorities by his actions: emphasis on priestly vocations, desire for better pastoral care of Spanish-speaking Catholics, re-establishment of a Catholic newspaper, appointment of a full-time youth director, and a reorganization of Catholic charities." As leader of the new Archdiocese, Quinn "fought against the death penalty, championed land reform and complained about extremism in the right-to-life movement."
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 State from 21 June 1963 to his death in Augus ...
named Quinn to participate in the 1974
World Synod of Bishops.
Archbishop of San Francisco
Quinn's appointment by Pope Paul VI in 1977 was received with local praise; for almost his entire episcopate in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
the archbishop enjoyed the support of priests and the lay faithful. In his early years in the Bay Area he was simultaneously president of the
USCC NCCB, which often kept him away from the archdiocese.
He was the first bishop of a diocese west of the Mississippi to become president of the USCC. He succeeded
Joseph Bernardin
Joseph Louis Bernardin (April 2, 1928 – November 14, 1996) was an American Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Cincinnati from 1972 until 1982, and as Archbishop of Chicago from 1982 until his death in 1996 from ...
(then Bishop of Cincinnati). Kenneth Briggs, writing for
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
, deemed Quinn to be "much more at ease with the press than his predecessor". The same article described Quinn as "a polished, courtly gentleman, self-assured with a substantial element of modesty and self-effacement."
Quinn recognized that the Archdiocese was too large for effective pastoral governance and helped devise plans for the creation of the
Diocese of San Jose, which was erected by
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
on January 27, 1981.
LGBT
Quinn reached out to gay Catholics as early as 1983.
He issued a document that asked priests to take concerns of gay people seriously.
[ In it, he said he wanted gay Catholics to find "a church where he or she will find acceptance, understanding, and love."][ Priests were reminded in the letter that many gay Catholics saw their orientation as a positive.][
He supported the efforts of Most Holy Redeemer Church in ]The Castro
The Castro District, commonly referred to as the Castro, is a neighborhood in Eureka Valley in San Francisco. The Castro was one of the first gay neighborhoods in the United States. Having transformed from a working-class neighborhood through ...
in their efforts to reach out to the LGBT population of the neighborhood.[ Quinn regularly visited this parish, especially during the annual 40 Hours Vigil held throughout the 1980s in support of those who were HIV-positive and their caregivers.
]
AIDS
In 1985, Archbishop Quinn initiated the Catholic Church's first institutional response to the AIDS epidemic and when John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
visited San Francisco in 1987, Archbishop Quinn arranged for the pontiff to meet with several AIDS patients, including a young boy.
Loma Prieta earthquake
In the 1990s, Quinn turned his attention to the needs of the archdiocese after the Loma Prieta earthquake, which damaged many churches. The Archdiocese of San Francisco drew up a plan which would see the closure of a dozen parishes whose churches had been damaged in the earthquake. This plan drew the wrath of many priests, 41 of whom signed a dissenting petition. Quinn sold the former archiepiscopal residence and in the summer of 1992 moved into the cathedral rectory, where he lived with fellow clergy until his retirement.[
]
Scandals, unusually early retirement
Quinn retired at 66, much earlier than the usual 75, after a "tumultuous 18-year reign". He had taken a leave of absence because of depression in 1987, but returned to lead the archdiocese effectively. There followed "a series of scandals during the past two years 993-1995involving child abuse and embezzlement by several San Francisco priests." The archbishop received particularly harsh criticism for his lenient treatment of the pedophile priest Msgr. Patrick J. O'Shea, who was later removed from ministry and laicized. O'Shea was a prominent figure in the Archdiocese of San Francisco, often promoted by Quinn. From 1972 to 1982, for instance, O'Shea was Assistant Director for Vocations, tasked with recruiting young priests, and also director of the archdiocesan Society for the Propagation of the Faith
The Society for the Propagation of the Faith (Latin: ''Propagandum Fidei'') is an international association coordinating assistance for Catholic missionary priests, brothers, and nuns in mission areas. The society was founded in Lyon, France, in ...
(1971-1982).
Views
Quinn became a regular contributor to the Jesuit magazine '' America'' and wrote several books.
Irenicism and liberalism
Quinn was an irenic and liberal presence in San Francisco who, in the 1970s and 1980s, offered leadership to Catholics in the United States on issues as diverse as women religious, nuclear weapons, sanctuary for Central America
Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...
n refugees, and working to overturn Roe vs. Wade.
Óscar Romero
After the assassination of Archbishop Óscar Romero
Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez (15 August 1917 – 24 March 1980) was a prelate of the Catholic Church in El Salvador. He served as Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of San Salvador, the Titular Bishop of Tambeae, as Bishop of Santiago ...
in March 1980, Quinn issued a statement lauding the murdered prelate as "a voice for the poor and the oppressed." Quinn attended Romero's funeral.
''The Reform of the Papacy''
Throughout his episcopate he maintained strong links with the Catholic Church in England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
; he visited there regularly. After his retirement as archbishop, he spent time at Campion Hall, Oxford
Campion Hall is one of the five permanent private halls of the University of Oxford in England. It is run by the Society of Jesus and named after Edmund Campion, a martyr and fellow of St John's College, Oxford. The hall is located on Brewer St ...
, giving a talk in 1996 on "The Claims of the Primacy and the Costly Call to Unity". It was the first draft of his 1999 book, ''The Reform of the Papacy''.
This call for the reform of the Roman Curia and a reduction of its powers was interpreted by some as an attack on the papacy. Quinn repeatedly made it clear that he was not opposing the Vatican. In many ways, his writings prefigured the views of Pope Francis.
Selected works
* ''The Reform of the Papacy'' (New York: Crossroad Publishing, 1999).
* ''Revered and Reviled: A Re-Examination of Vatican Council I'' (New York: Crossroad Publishing, 2017).
* ''Ever Ancient, Ever New: Structures of Communion in the Church'' (New York: Paulist Press, 2013).
See also
References
External links
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Quinn, John R.
1929 births
2017 deaths
People from Riverside, California
Roman Catholic archbishops of San Francisco
Roman Catholic archbishops of Oklahoma City
Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego
20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the United States
21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the United States
Writers from California