Bernard J. Quinn
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Bernard John Quinn (January 15, 1888 – April 7, 1940) was an American Catholic priest. He is known for his humanitarian work with
African-Americans African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...
in New York.


Biography

Bernard J. Quinn was born in
Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...
, to poor Irish immigrants, Bernard and Sarah Quinn. He entered St. John's Seminary in 1906. He was ordained on June 12, 1912, and was temporarily assigned to several different churches. He served as a chaplain in the 333rd Machine Gun Infantry Regiment during World War I, and he was gassed in France. Following the war, he resumed his pastoral duties in Brooklyn. In 1922, Quinn established the first church for Black Catholics in Brooklyn, which he had consecrated to St. Peter Claver, which is still in operation and counts among the graduates of its parochial school the civil rights activist and singer
Lena Horne Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American singer, actress, dancer and civil rights activist. Horne's career spanned more than seventy years and covered film, television and theatre. Horne joined the chorus of the C ...
. Quinn also included music as part of his ministry. Hundreds of black children joined the church choir, including Horne and Pearl Bailey. In 1928, he established the diocese's first orphanage for black children, in Wading River. His humanitarian work was met with opposition from some groups and individuals. In 1929, John L. Belford had written openly in his newsletter against the growing number of African-Americans in the Catholic Church, which was met with strong disagreement from Quinn. Quinn responded, "No church can exclude anyone and still keep its Christian ideals." The Little Flower House of Providence was burned twice in one year by the
Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...
, which prompted Quinn to rebuild once again but this time out of more fireproof material, according to a 1929 article in '' The Brooklyn Daily Eagle'' with the headline: β€œNew Fireproof Orphanage Will Defy Incendiary.” It later became the base of operations for the Little Flower Children and Family Services of New York, which continues to provide services such as care for adults with developmental disabilities, for those in Brooklyn, Queens, and Long Island.


Death

In April 1940, he was admitted to St. Mary's Hospital for surgery to treat an abdominal problem. He died of stomach cancer on April 7, 1940, at the age of 52.


Cause for canonization

Quinn's cause for canonization was opened in 2019 by Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of Brooklyn, granting Quinn the title "Servant of God". The next step, following a Vatican investigation, would be for him to be declared "Venerable" by the pope. He is currently a candidate for sainthood, which if successful would make him the first person from
Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
to be canonized by 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 ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quinn, Bernard J. 1888 births 1940 deaths Clergy from Newark, New Jersey American Roman Catholic priests American Servants of God 20th-century venerated Christians African-American Roman Catholicism