News

New priest first wanted the American dream

By Joanne Fleming
Compass Correspondent

	Fr. Quinn Mann

The last thing Quinton Mann, 29, Sturgeon Bay, wanted to be was a priest.

"I didn't want to be celibate; I wanted to be married," he laughed. "I wanted to make a lot of money. I tell people I have paint underneath my fingernails because God had to drag me into seminary."

Bp. David Zubik ordained Fr. Mann on June 3 at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral, Green Bay. Prior to his ordination, he spent six months at Holy Spirit Parish, Kimberly/Darboy in his "first assignment as a clergyman" learning about parish ministry after his ordination as a deacon.

Fr. Mann said Sr. Helen, one of his teachers at Corpus Christi School, Sturgeon Bay, was the first to suggest that he consider the priesthood. "You're a leader," she told him. "You should be a priest."

"I forgot about it for a long time," he said.

Related articles: from June 9, 2006 issue: • Cathedral overflows for ordination of three to priesthood • Later vocation gives longer perspectives     (Fr. David Duffeck) • Compass article leads to answering the call     (Fr. Walter Stumpf) • Editorial -- Time to congratulate from May 26, 2006 issue: • Three to be ordained to priesthood June 3 from Dec. 23, 2005 issue: • photo of three after being ordained transitional deacons from Dec. 16, 2005 issue: • Next step toward priesthood (includes     biographies of the three)

After graduating from Sturgeon Bay High School, he studied political economy and business marketing at Hillsdale College in southern Michigan, then worked in the college's development office after graduation.

"I left the church for a while," Fr. Mann said. "At one point, I was close to being engaged and getting married. I wanted nothing to do with the Catholic Church; I didn't agree with its teachings."

Still, he'd sneak away to daily Mass sometimes. One day, he met a woman who offered him a book - one of two that brought him back to the church. She also invited him to help chaperone a TEC (Teens Encounter Christ) weekend.

During that TEC, while praying in front of the Blessed Sacrament, "For the first time, I experienced the true presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. Everything changed," Fr. Mann said.

"I suddenly realized what a great gift the church is ... the fullness of truth is in the Catholic faith," he continued. "The Lord extended the grace to me to know that, and that he created me to be a priest. That was the call I had ignored so long."

During the next year, he ended his relationship, quit his job, sold his apartment and car and became part of NET (National Evangelization Team). He returned to the Green Bay Diocese and entered the seminary at Mundelein, Ill., in 2001.

In his assignment at Holy Spirit, he has spent his weekends "learning the ropes" of parish life, he said. Mondays through Thursdays he spent in classes in Mundelein. From Fridays to Sunday evenings or Monday mornings he was in Kimberly/Darboy.

What he learned, he said, was that "parish life is like a family with its struggles and difficulties in trying to work together. In the end we are all sons and daughters of God united in the Eucharist. That's beautiful."

He said he especially enjoys preaching and considers it one of the gifts he brings to his priesthood. "I love preaching about Jesus, letting them know that Jesus loves them and will always be with them. He has a plan for all of us."

"By bringing myself to my priesthood, my gifts become more authentic and real," he said. "By being myself and being more authentically who I am, Christ will reveal himself to people."

Fr. Mann also has assisted at Fr. Carr's Place 2B, Oshkosh, and said that his dream is to see places like it in every diocese.