Reverend Archbishop Emeritus John Quinn
Diocese of San Francisco
San Francisco, CA
Sponsor: Rep. Anna Eshoo, (D-CA)
Date of Prayer: 02/13/2013
One Minute Speech Given in Recognition of the Guest Chaplain:
The SPEAKER. Without objection, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Eshoo) is recognized for 1 minute.
There was no objection.
Ms. ESHOO. Mr. Speaker, it is a great privilege to welcome Archbishop John Quinn to the House of Representatives and to thank him for offering the opening prayer today.
Archbishop Quinn is one of the preeminent spiritual leaders and theologians of our Nation. His church service spans over four decades, beginning with his ordination in Rome in 1953. He has served as a pastor, as an educator, as Provost of the University of San Diego College for Men, as Auxiliary Bishop of San Diego, as Bishop of Oklahoma City and Tulsa, as the first Archbishop of Oklahoma City; and in 1977, he was named the sixth Archbishop of San Francisco.
His fellow bishops elected him President of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops in 1977, where he led with great distinction for a 3–year term. In December 1995, after 18 years of ‘‘tending his flock'' of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, he resigned and was given a visiting fellowship at Campion Hall, Oxford.
My colleagues, our country has been blessed by the great patriotism, wisdom, scholarship, deep spirituality, and inspirational leadership of this humble and holy man.
Thank you, Archbishop Quinn , for gracing the House of Representatives with your prayer and your presence and for strengthening our country with a faith that calls each of us to be instruments of peace and justice.
Opening Prayer Given by the Guest Chaplain:
Lord, we give deep–felt thanks for the great providential blessing that makes us citizens of the United States of America.
The men and women of this House, in their service to our country, daily confront seemingly intractable public issues, a burden at times overwhelming; but You work even in the dark places of human history.
Teach us this day not to fear the darkness but to put our hand in Yours and resolutely seek the light.
You reveal Yourself as the Father of us all. We ask You to bring us together in civic harmony and in the common task of making real in our time the ideals and the dreams that make us America.
As we turn now to the work of this day, we ask for more than human wisdom, and pray that Your blessing, moving across our continent, will keep us one nation under God with liberty and justice for all.
Amen.
To learn more about Members who have sponsored a Guest Chaplain, please visit the Congressional Biographical Directory