Gulf Pine Catholic

Gulf Pine Catholic • August 20, 2021 11 through downtown Hattiesburg in protest of the assassination would be a peaceful one, regardless of what might come otherwise by those who wished to take more aggressive action. Father Quinn also challenged fellow pas- tors, black and white, to join him in the march and to call for it to be a peaceful event. He received a phone call om then Jackson Diocese Bishop Joseph Bernard Brunini, during which the bishop expressed concern for Father Quinn’s safety because of threats om white supremacists if he participated in the march. “He (Bishop Brunini) called and said, ‘Hello, Peter. I hear you’re in a lot of danger down there.’ And I said, ‘Danger? om who?’ He said, ‘Well, I don’t know om who.’ And I said, ‘How do you know that? Who called you?’ And he said, ‘Well, I can’t tell you that.The person that called me told me you were going to get killed.’ I said, ‘Who’s going to kill me? He says, ‘Well, I called you to get you out of the march.’ Oh, I said, that might get me killed now. (Laughter.) He (Bishop Brunini) says, ‘What?’ ‘Getting me out of the march,’ I said, ‘I’ve been organizing this march for three or four days, and then I… [said] that they could burn down the town tonight if they want to but that there’s going to be complete peace in the march. And here, I’m not going to be on it?’ And I said, ‘Then they probably will come and burn my house down and with me in it,’ And I said, ‘I couldn’t even blame them.’ “Then he said to me, “Well, Father, if I ordered you off the march, would you get off?” And I said, ‘Bishop, are you ordering me off the march?’ And he said, ‘Well, if I ordered you, would you get off?’ I said the same thing [again], ‘Are you ordering me off the march?’ And then he said, ‘No, I’m not ordering you off the march. But if anything happens, just remem- ber you do have one phone call so I’ll be stand- ing by my phone.’ I said, ‘OK.’” The march proceeded without major incidents; according to Father Quinn, he was the only white pastor to ultimately participate in the event. Holy Rosary CYO alums recall Quinn fondly Under Father Quinn’s guidance, the young people who made up Holy Rosary CYO played an important role in the movement, helping with the organization of and communication about planned pickets, sit-ins, boycotts, voter registra- tion campaigns and marches. CYO meetings at Holy Rosary also served as a safe gathering time and space for its members to just relax and share their daily experiences with their iends and Father Quinn as they navigated the segregated world of Hattiesburg in the 1960s. Johnny Belinda Kenter moved to Hattiesburg with her family as a young child and began attending Holy Rosary with her mother Mardis Walters. She was actively involved with Holy Rosary CYO and the Civil Rights movement as a teenager. “We lived just around the corner om the church,” she said. “It was a big part of our lives.” After a more than 30-year career with AT&T in Kansas City, Kansas, she returned to Hattiesburg to be closer to and care for her mother and is happy to be once again associated with Holy Rosary Parish where she is active in its music ministry. Kenter has fond memories of her youth and Father Quinn. “He was our hero, and CYO was an outlet for us to understand and discuss what was going on, to deal with the challenges of the Jim Crow era.” Hattiesburg resident Doris Gaines also recalls Father Quinn fondly. She was one of many non-Catholics who joined other iends in participating in the programs sponsored by Holy Rosary that also included monthly dances that served as fundraisers for the church. “Father Quinn was out in the foreont of the civil rights movement in Hattiesburg,” Gaines said. “He was in charge of the youth faction (Holy Rosary) and was present at every meeting, in and out of town. He was an excellent motiva- tor and example for the young people. He exposed so many kids to experiences that they would not have had but for him: concerts, mass meetings, picketing, and a whole plethora of happenings. We just loved him. “My most endearing thought was when my father passed away in June of 1969. I remember looking up in the balcony of the Antioch Baptist Church during the funeral and Father Quinn was there with a group of Catholic and non-Catholic youths, and I have never forgotten how much I appreciated his being there to support me. That has meant so much to me across the years and really let me know what kind of heart he had for everyone.” Moving upward and onward, grounded in the spirit of a historic movement Earlier this year during Black History Month, Sacred Heart Church’s Social Justice Ministry issued a statement praising the important legacy of Holy Rosary Church and its lasting impact. That statement included the following: “In 1964, Bishop Gerow urged Catholics in Mississippi to support the Civil Rights Act signed by President Lyndon Johnson. Father Quinn, the first diocesan priest appointed to serve Holy Rosary, heard his call. He exercised a special ministry to young people in the Hattiesburg community, both Catholic and non- Catholic, black and white. He organized sit-ins, voter registration, boycotts, and civil rights meetings to help move forward the rights of all people. SEE HOLY ROSARY, PAGE 16 Holy Rosary om page 10 An unidentified man and woman work on the grotto in ont of Holy Rosary Church. Photo/File Photo Father Joe Dillettuso served as pastor of Holy Rosary Church om 1976-1980. Photo/File Photo Bishop Joseph Howze installed Father Ivan Weis (left) as pastor of Holy Rosary Parish in om 1981 to 1985. At right is Father Ron Herzog. Photo/File Photo