SALTILLO MISSION ADDS CHAPEL, AND MORE

NEW CHAPEL UNDER CONSTRUCTION

                                     
                                       


SALTILLO MISSION ADDS CHAPEL, DORMITORY, AND CONVENT, CONTINUING WORK OF FR. QUINN

BY:  Msgr. Michael Flannery
Taken from Mississippi Catholic, August 7, 2015

     SALTILLO, MEXICO--The good work begun by Father Patrick Quinn in Saltillo, still continues to bear fruit.  The most recent project is the building of a new church within the City of Saltillo, which will be named Divine Mercy.  This will bring the total number of churches within the city under the responsibility of San Miguel Mission to eight.  The mission is also responsible for 25 mountain villages, some of which are six hours away from Saltillo.

     The new project is about two miles form San Miguel the Archangel which is presently the center of the mission.  Within the confines of that same campus there are plans to build a home for unwed mothers and a dormitory-style building to provide housing for college students coming from the mountain villages who cannot afford to pay the housing costs during their college years.  Finally, there will be a convent on the campus where the Divine Mercy Sisters, a newly founded religious order, will supervise the operation of the campus and its ministries.

     On Dec. 1, 2014, Bishop Joseph Kopacz joined Bishop Raul Vera Lopez, Bishop of Saltillo, in blessing the cornerstone of the Divine Mercy Church.  The ceremony was attended by about 300 people.

                                          Father David with Bishop Kopacz
                                            and Msgr. Flannery in Mexico

Saltillo Bishop Raul Vera Lopez

     The Saltillo Mission was initially begun in response to an appeal made by Blessed Pope Paul VI to the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in 1967,  to consider adopting a mission in Latin America.  At the time the ratio between priests and people in Latin America was one priest for every 10,000 baptized Catholics and the ratio in the United States was one priest for every 1,000 Catholics.  Then Bishop Joseph Brunini, of happy memory, responded positively to the challenge.

     Father Murray Clayton, a priest from Shreveport, La., who was  involved with an orphanage in Saltillo, suggested that the diocese consider going there.  Saltillo is 200 miles south of the border at Laredo, Mexico.  Father Patrick Quinn volunteered to be the first pastor of the mission.  Father Quinn spent three months learning Spanish at Laredo before he moved to Saltillo and became pastor of one of the poorest parishes in the diocese, Perpetual Help (Perpetual Socorro), in 1969.

"THE MAN"

     Father Quinn remained the pastor of Perpetual Help Church until the time of his death on Jan. 7, 1997. During that 40-year administration, the parish had grown and several parishes were split off from it. The city of Saltillo grew from 200,000 to 709,000.  The first group of Catholic youth to visit the mission was from Pascagoula Our Lady of Victory Church Parish in 1969.  It became a very popular retreat for the youth of Mississippi and Father Quinn built a dormitory to house up to 100 youth at a given time.  It is estimated that over the 40 years more than 40,000 people from Mississippi went to the mission and for many of those youth it was a life changing experience.

     The situation in Mexico changed to the point where  the safety of the youth could not be guaranteed and  the state did not recommend sending young people there.  Shortly after Father Quinn's death, a decision was made to move the center of the mission from Perpetual Help to San Miguel, and Msgr. Michael Thornton was appointed pastor.  Presently, Fathers David Martinez and Elevio Casarubias staff the mission and the good work begun by Father Quinn continues.

Padre Elevio and Padre David

     Because of the shortage of priests in Mississippi, we find it impossible to send priests to the mission. However, the shortage of priests in Latin America has changed to the point where we are looking to Mexico for seminarians and we are blessed to have a number of priests from Mexico working in our midst.

     "We cast our bread on the water and it is returned to us."
                    (Msgr. Flannery is pastor of Madison St. Francis Parish)

Msgr. Flannery served with Father Quinn in Saltillo from 1971-1974.
(photos added)

OH, GOOD MAN! The Legacy of Patrick Quinn

"OH, GOOD MAN",  a book about Father Patrick Quinn, Pastor of the Mexican Saltillo Mission in Saltillo, Coah., Mexico, by Jesus "Chuy" Salas Cortes, is now on sale in the United States. 

     Chuy brought the book to America for Presentation and book signing on July 25, 2015, in Biloxi, Mississippi.

     The books can now be purchased at the following locations:

1.   Annunciation Catholic Church book store, Kiln, Mississippi.

2.    Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, Laurel, Mississippi.

3.     Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

4.     Fatima Catholic Church, Biloxi, Mississippi.

5.      Ascension of Our Lord Catholic Church, Laplace, La. 

6.      St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church,  Madison, Mississippi.

and through the mail at email erubielsando@hotmail.com .

     The book is bilingual with English in front, then lots of pictures of the much-loved priest, then the Spanish version.

     

      Father Quinn was born in Ireland on June 25, 1930,  ordained a priest in Ireland,  then came to the United States, Diocese of Jackson, Mississippi, then volunteered to open a Mission in Saltillo, Mexico.  He arrived in January 1969, then became Pastor of  Perpetuo Socorro Catholic Church, on Abasolo Street, and also other churches in the City of Saltillo, as well as a large number of  rancho churches scattered throughout the mountains, near and far from the City.

     Many are still awed by the fact that he could take care of such as large and   vast parish.

     Doing great work there for 28 years, he passed away unexpectedly, on January 9, 1997.

     During his ministry he touched many thousands of lives.  He loved them and they loved him.  He is sorely missed in Mexico, the United States, Ireland, and around the world.  

     The book is a chance for those who knew him to remember the life and works of a great man, and for those who did not know, to become aware of how amazing this great man was.  

     Father Benny Piovan,  former Pastor of the Saltillo Mission, began the movement to have Padre Quinn canonized a Saint by the Catholic  Church.  Father Benny, himself, passed away while working at the Mission doing great work for his parishioners.

     The Mission started by Padre Quinn is still going strong, still doing great work started by him,  and now located at San Miguel A. Catholic Church, Saltillo, where it moved after the death of  Padre Quinn.

     BRAVO PADRE QUINN................................

His mission is on Facebook at:  Saltillo Mission San Miguel