Priests for Life, the international association of clergy headed by Father Frank Pavone, announced the exciting news today that yet another priest has joined its ranks as a full-time priest associate.
Father Walter J. Quinn, O.S.A., has been released by his Ordinary, Father John Deegan, Prior Provincial of the Augustinian Order, St. Thomas Villanova, to devote 100 percent of his time to Priests for Life.
The addition of Father Quinn to the Priests for Life staff brings the number of full-time priests in the organization to five. Assisting the priests is a rapidly growing, nationwide lay staff of 23.
Father Quinn brings to Priests for Life nearly four decades of experience in the priesthood, having served mostly in parishes throughout the Northeastern U.S. He was a Lieutenant in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, and for a time worked in industrial sales before being ordained in 1961. He has been actively involved in pro-life work since the late 1960's, and has founded prolife organizations in Philadelphia and New Jersey. He was also recently appointed by Bishop Colin Campbell, of the diocese of Antigonish, to be spiritual director of the "U. S. Hearts of Jesus and Mary," an international lay organization that has chapters in the U.S., Canada, England and Ireland.
Father Pavone, who has headed Priests for Life since 1993, today said: "We are thrilled to have Father Quinn as part of the Priests for Life team. Together with Fathers Hogan, West, Wilde and myself, Father Quinn will be traveling the country, teaching, training, motivating and encouraging his brother priests to speak up for life.
"Even more exciting, though, is what all this indicates for the future. There is a specific charism in the Church, a charism for the defense of human life. That charism is fittingly embodied in a number of institutional structures. If it is in accordance with God's will and the desire of the Church, Priests for Life could provide a natural launching point for an eventual Religious Order or Society of priests dedicated to pro-life ministry."