Fr Dick Quinn returns to America after 61 years in Africa

On Sunday, 12 April 2015, Fr. Quinn had a backward fall from a stool he was standing on causing damage to his ribs and right lung. He was admitted to Nairobi’s Aga Kahn Hospital for five days.

As a result of the serious nature of the fall and the Parkinson disease that he suffers from, the Maryknoll council decided that he leaves Kenya on 14 May, not to return. Though difficult, Fr. Quinn understands that the decision by his superiors has been taken out of concern for his well-being. He has accepted this as God’s will.

Fr. Quinn has been In Africa for 61 years. He loves Africa and the people of Africa. He loves especially those who stood with him in building the Catholic Church, the Church of Christ in Africa.

Following his ordination in 1954, Father Quinn was assigned to the Maryknoll mission region of Musoma, in the then Tanganyika, East Africa. In 1962 he was made Parish Priest of the Komuge Parish where he remained until 1971. He formed the Mara Jazz Band which was No. 1 on the music charts for an entire one year in East Africa.

Fr Quinn was then transferred to Kenya where he was assigned to build a new parish called Kebirigo in Kisii, Kenya. He immediately saw the diocesan need for a lay leadership community training centre which would offer both pastoral and socio-economic courses, particularly to the youth.

Once established, the lay centre became the first diocesan pastoral centre in Kenya and Father Quinn named it, “Viongozi Senta,” (leadership Centre). More than forty short courses were offered to both to the religious and lay leaders at the centre. Three months of each year were dedicated to youth courses.

For seven years in the Kisii Highlands, Fr. Quinn proved that our lay people, if honestly formed, can do wonders.

Fr Quinn then moved to Nairobi where he saw the need for developing audio-visual pastoral tools. This eventually led him into the video ministry. For twenty-three years Fr. Quinn was the Director of Ukweli Video Productions under the auspices of the Archdiocese of Nairobi.  During his time there, more than 90 video documentaries, plays, and docu-dramas were produced. Of these, 60 have a strong pastoral message. Some of Fr. Quinn’s video productions have been shown on television stations worldwide.

At Ukweli Video Productions, Fr Quinn worked with the current Archbishop of Mombasa, Martin Kivuva. Another Bishop who attributes his inspiration to Fr. Quinn is the newly installed Bishop of Kakamega Diocese in Kenya, Joseph Obanyi.

Fr. Quinn’s many years in the video ministry changed his life and his whole understanding of how one communicates the Word of God.

A native of Clifton in the United States, Fr. Quinn celebrated his 60th anniversary of ordination as a Maryknoll priest on Sunday, 29 June 2014 in a ceremony held at the Maryknoll Mission Centre in Ossining, New York.

(Fr Joachim Omolo Ouko, AJ in Kenya)

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