Father Louis Quinn - Priest of the Poor
Born Louis Joseph Quinn on January 12, 1928 in Newcastle, England, Louis and his family eventually made the move to Canada where he studied at St. Michael's Choir School in Toronto as a young boy. Years later, while studying at St. Michael's College, Louis felt the call to missionary priesthood and entered the Scarboro Missions' St. Xavier Seminary. He was ordained a priest in December 1952 and assigned in 1953 to the Society’s mission in the Dominican Republic.
“Padre Luis” as he was commonly known, served the parish of San Jose de Ocoa for 42 years. With seemingly inexhaustible faith and energy he wove pastoral sacramental ministry together with economic and social development aimed directly at improving the lives of his parishioners. His efforts and vision opened up a future of hope for their families and communities that is evident today in the bustling life of Ocoa. Taking on the role of Executive Director here at ADESJO, Padre Luis put his life-changing plans into action.
In his time working with ADESJO, Fr. Quinn inspired over 20,000 volunteers, among them many Canadian Catholic high school and university students, to come to Ocoa to work for a short time with the Dominican people. Supported by a small but equally dedicated community of Canadian religious sisters and fellow Scarboro priests, their collective efforts helped radically transform the lives and well-being of thousands of families and whole communities throughout the area of San José de Ocoa.
They in turn worked together with international partners, individuals and groups with specialized skills such as engineering, laboring successfully on a multitude of projects; building hundreds of kilometers of access roads, allowing remote communities to bring their produce to market; forming cooperative organizations for buying and selling produce; establishing extensive irrigation systems to carry water to isolated farms and farmers working to help each other; planting millions of trees to reforest vital watershed areas.
The statistics are amazing but true. Working together with his team from ADESJO, Padre Luis was responsible for the construction of:
• some 600 kilometers of paved roads
• 60 kilometers of irrigation systems
• 2,000 new homes, 7,000 hurricane-damaged homes repaired
• 12 million trees planted for re-forestation
• 69 schools, 11 clinics and 13 community centres
Other numerous projects were created to provide children in many areas with opportunities to learn practical skills in homemaking, carpentry, handcrafting artifacts, jewelry and clothing, in addition their schooling and religious instruction. Over his years of service, Fr. Quinn received many kinds of recognition for his labours. Some were international: the Order of Canada in 1995, the Vatican’s Supreme Cross in 2005, as well as a nomination for the Nobel Peace prize. Following a variety of honors given to him over the years by the Dominican government, he was designated ‘Father Protector of Ocoa’ in 2002 and recieved Dominican citizenship at the inauguration of the new province of Ocoa.
Regardless of the recognition Padre Luis received, he lived simply throughout his life in Ocoa, receiving visitors in the same original board house connected to the Church as when he arrived there in 1965. Being buried in a simple pine coffin was his wish, for he saw himself on the same plane as his people of Ocoa. As he lay in his hospital bed in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. failing to recover after open heart surgery, his last words were in Spanish, "I have to live, I love my people." Padre Luis passed away on October 11, 2007. His body was brought back to Ocoa where he would be laid to rest in eternal peace, close to the people whom he loved so much.
After a lifetime of shepherding his people, his wish was granted and he was buried in a simple wooden coffin, the kind used by ordinary campesinos for the burial of their loved ones. The funeral Mass was presided over by his bishop, Msgr. Freddy Breton, on October 19, 2007 outside the parish Church of Ocoa in front of the plaza. The president of the Dominican Republic had earlier declared this a National Day of Mourning. Over 25,000 people filled the plaza and area surrounding it to pay their final respects, and commend his soul to God.
The highest dignitaries of Church and state were there: the President, the Papal Nuncio, the Supreme Court Justice, and Canada’s own present and former Ambassadors to the Dominican Republic. At the celebration of the funeral Mass, his bishop spoke warmly of the faith and commitment of this missionary priest who had become so beloved among his people. He cited his witness as servant of Christ who lived the Gospel concretely; how he served so well the needs of the poor, inspiring people to work together to transform their lives and communities.
His body was then taken into the Church and interred in specially-built crypt beside the staircase leading to the choir loft. There, each time the people of Ocoa and visitors will pass by this spot on their way in to worship and their hearts will again be stirred as they remember the faith, spirit and dedication of this beloved Shepherd of his people, truly a "priest of the poor."
Several years have passed since Padre Luis left this earth, but his legacy lives on in Ocoa. ADESJO learned so much from his incredible leadership and they make an effort everyday to continue the work that he started. Because of Padre Luis, ADESJO continues to work with hundreds of youth volunteers from all over North America each and every year.
Although Padre Luis is no longer with us physically, his love and vision lives on through all of lives he touched during his missions here in Ocoa. The "priest of the poor" will never be forgotten here in Ocoa and ADESJO will continue the work he started here many years ago, spreading his love and ideas across the nation.
*Some of the above information was taken from the obituary as posted by the Scaraboro Missions.