Thomas J. Quinlan (April 23, 1929 – April 24, 2012) was an American

Catholic 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 ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

of the

Diocese of Richmond The Diocese of Richmond () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in Virginia in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese of the metropolitan Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore, Archdiocese of Balti ...

Career

Father Quinlan (TQ) was ordained priest on May 1, 1958, and was named a curate at Blessed Sacrament Parish in Alexandria, Virginia. He subsequently served at: • Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Alexandria (05/22/58 - 01/26/63) - Associate Pastor • Assumption Parish in Keyser, West Virginia (01/27/63 - 08/15/63) - Associate Pastor • Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Norfolk, Virginia (08/16/63 - 05/31/68) - Associate Pastor • Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Covington, Virginia (01/01/68 - 12/06/68) - Pastor • St. Vincent De Paul Catholic Church in Newport News (12/07/68 - 07/26/71) - Pastor • Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Mount Vernon, Virginia Alexandria (07/27/71 - 09/03/74) - Pastor • Basilica of Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Norfolk (10/01/74 - 06/01/85) - Pastor • Sabbatical and Runaway from the Bishop (06/01/85 - 05/25/86) • St. Kateri Tekakwitha Catholic Church in Tabb (05/26/86 - 06/11/00) - Founding Pastor • Church of the Holy Family in Virginia Beach (06/12/00 - 06/13/05) - Pastor TQ was instrumental in providing a Haitian village with a freshwater well and a school by partnering their parish with Holy family. Father Quinlan was also the president of the priest senate in the Richmond diocese. Throughout his entire career as a Catholic Priest, T.Q. has emphasized the importance of caring for the poor, the marginalized, and the disenfranchised. At his prior assignment, St. Kateri Tekakwitha, he founded a thrift shop in Poquoson, VA to specifically help the poor. Father Quinlan was known for his "wake up" approach to teaching the Gospel and the message of Jesus Christ. His homilies tended to spark lively discussion within the communities he served. His style and approach to getting people involved in the Church and in the community, occasionally generated interest in the media. The Bishop of Richmond, Francis X. DiLorenzo, retired Father Quinlan in June, 2005, from service at Holy Family in

Virginia Beach Virginia Beach (colloquially VB) is the List of cities in Virginia, most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. The city is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in southeaster ...

. A

Christmas Eve Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas, the festival commemorating nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus. Christmas Day is observance of Christmas by country, observed around the world, and Christma ...

homily, which made references to Mary's humanly giving birth to Jesus, offended some members of the parish and was reported to Bishop DiLorenzo. According to local newspapers, Father Quinlan drove a

Volkswagen Volkswagen (VW; )English: , . is a German automotive industry, automobile manufacturer based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Established in 1937 by German Labour Front, The German Labour Front, it was revitalized into the global brand it ...

down the aisle during a

Palm Sunday Palm Sunday is the Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in each of the four canonical Gospels. Its name originates from the palm bran ...

procession at Good Shepherd Catholic Church. At another Palm Sunday Mass, "T.Q." drove a three-ton

forklift A forklift (also called industrial truck, lift truck, jitney, hi-lo, fork truck, fork hoist, and forklift truck) is a powered industrial truck used to lift and move materials over short distances. The forklift was developed in the early 20th c ...

down the center aisle at The Basilica of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Norfolk VA
Jet Magazine, August 18, 1977
The "yellow brick road" imagery was a metaphor for Jesus' pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Father Quinlan occasionally costumed himself as

The Grinch The Grinch is a character created by children's author and cartoonist Dr. Seuss. He is best known as the titular main protagonist of the 1957 children's book ''How the Grinch Stole Christmas!'' He has been portrayed and voiced by many actors, i ...

or as

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at the beginning of a

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

. Another endeavor included a

psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary mental states (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips") and a perceived "expansion of consciousness". Also referred to as classic halluci ...

Mass with lighting effects. On 30 January 2006, ''The Catholic Virginian'' (the official newspaper of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Richmond), printed the following regarding Fr. Quinlan:

"The Rev. Thomas Quinlan, a retired priest of the Diocese of Richmond, can no longer celebrate the
sacraments A sacrament is a Christian rite which is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence, number and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments to be a visible symbol of ...
publicly. He can celebrate Mass privately. Bishop DiLorenzo said he took this action as a response to Father Quinlan's behavior that has 'engendered anxiety and emotional upset which interferes with an individual's religious experience.'"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quinlan, Thomas J. American Roman Catholic priests Religious leaders from Virginia 1929 births 2012 deaths