John Michael Quinn (born December 17, 1945) is an American
prelate
A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...
of the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
. He was named as the eighth
bishop
A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...
of the former Diocese of Winona in Minnesota in 2008. From 2018 until his retirement in 2022, Quinn served as bishop of the
Diocese of Winona–Rochester. Quinn previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the
Archdiocese of Detroit
The Archdiocese of Detroit () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or archdiocese, of the Catholic Church covering the south-east portion of Michigan in the United States.
The archdiocese consists counties of Lapeer County, Michigan, Lap ...
in Michigan from 2003 to 2008.
Biography
Early life

The youngest of three children, John Quinn was born on December 17, 1945, in Detroit, Michigan to George and Mary Quinn.
He attended St. Anthony High School and then
Sacred Heart Major Seminary
Sacred Heart Major Seminary is a private Roman Catholic seminary in Detroit, Michigan. It is affiliated with the Archdiocese of Detroit.
In 2016–2017, 107 seminarians, representing eleven dioceses and two religious orders were enrolled in cla ...
in Detroit, obtaining his Bachelor of Philosophy degree.
Quinn also earned a
Master of Divinity
For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and ...
degree from
St. John's Provincial Seminary in Plymouth, Michigan. He received Master of Religious Studies and Master of Systematic Theology degrees from the
University of Detroit Mercy
The University of Detroit Mercy is a private Catholic university in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is sponsored by both the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and the Sisters of Mercy. The university was founded in 1877 and is the largest Cath ...
.
Priesthood
Quinn was
ordained
Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...
to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Detroit at St. Raymond's Church in Detroit by Bishop
Walter Schoenherr on March 17, 1972.
He completed his graduate studies at the
Catholic University of America
The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Catholic research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is one of two pontifical universities of the Catholic Church in the United States – the only one that is not primarily a ...
in Washington, D.C. Quinn served as an associate
pastor
A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...
in parishes in
Farmington, Michigan
Farmington is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A northwestern suburb of Detroit, Farmington is located roughly from downtown Detroit, and is surrounded on most sides by the larger city of Farmington Hills. As of the 202 ...
and Harper Woods, Michigan, before becoming pastor of St. Luke's Parish in Detroit.
In 1990, the Vatican raised Quinn to the rank of
honorary prelate
A Prelate of Honour of His Holiness is a Catholic prelate to whom the Pope has granted this title of honour.
They are addressed as Monsignor (typically abbreviated 'Mgr') and have certain privileges as regards clerical clothing. . He served as the archdiocesan director for justice and peace and for education (1990–2003), and as Cardinal
Adam Maida's delegate to Sacred Heart Seminary (where Quinn was an
adjunct member of the faculty).
Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit
On July 7, 2003, Quinn was appointed by
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005.
In his you ...
as an
auxiliary bishop
An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions.
...
of Detroit and
titular bishop
A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese.
By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...
of
Ressiana. He received his episcopal ordination at the
Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament
The Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament is a Neo-Gothic style Roman Catholic cathedral church in the United States. It is the seat of the archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit. The metropolitan archdiocese for the Roman Ca ...
in Detroit on August 12, 2003, from Maida, with Cardinal
Edmund Szoka
Edmund Casimir Szoka (September 14, 1927 – August 20, 2014) was an American Catholic prelate who served as president of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State and president of the Governorate of Vatican City State from 1997 to 2006. H ...
and Bishop
Walter Schoenherr serving as
co-consecrators
A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop.
The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churche ...
.
Quinn selected as his episcopal motto: "Rejoice in Hope" (
Romans 12
Romans 12 is the twelfth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It is authored by Paul the Apostle, while he was in Corinth in the mid-50s AD, with the help of an amanuensis (secretary), Tertius, who ad ...
:12).
Bishop of Winona and Winona–Rochester
Pope Benedict XVI
Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...
named Quinn as
coadjutor bishop
A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) ("co-assister" in Latin) is a bishop in the Latin Catholic, Anglican and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in administering the diocese.
The coa ...
of Winona on October 15, 2008, being formally installed on December 11, 2008. After the retirement of Bishop
Bernard Harrington, Quinn automatically became the new bishop of Winona on May 7, 2009.
On March 27, 2018, the Vatican renamed the Diocese of Winona as the Diocese of Winona–Rochester, with Quinn remaining as bishop. On June 2, 2022,
Pope Francis
Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...
accepted Quinn's resignation as bishop of Winona–Rochester and appointed Auxiliary Bishop
Robert Barron
Robert Emmet Barron (born November 19, 1959) is an American prelate of the Catholic Church who has served as bishop of the Diocese of Winona–Rochester since 2022. He is the founder of the Catholic ministerial organization Word on Fire, a ...
as his successor.
See also
*
Catholic Church in the United States
The Catholic Church in the United States is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in full communion, communion with the pope, who as of 2025 is Chicago, Illinois-born Pope Leo XIV, Leo XIV. With 23 percent of the United States' population , t ...
*
Hierarchy of the Catholic Church
The hierarchy of the Catholic Church consists of its bishops, priests, and deacons. In the ecclesiological sense of the term, "hierarchy" strictly means the "holy ordering" of the church, the Body of Christ, so to respect the diversity of gif ...
*
Historical list of the Catholic bishops of the United States
History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...
*
List of Catholic bishops in the United States
The following is a list of bishops of the Catholic Church in the United States. The list also includes bishops in the American Territories of the United States, territories of Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and ...
*
References
External links
*
Roman Catholic Diocese of Winona–Rochester official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Quinn, John M.
1945 births
Living people
Clergy from Detroit
Roman Catholic bishops of Winona
Roman Catholic bishops of Winona-Rochester
Sacred Heart Major Seminary alumni
University of Detroit Mercy alumni
Catholic University of America alumni
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit
Sacred Heart Major Seminary faculty
Religious leaders from Michigan
21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States