Interview Transcript
Fr. Quinn Conners, O.Carm.

Interviewer | Ken Pino

Today we are with Father Quinn Connors, and we’re going to talk a little bit about, what I’d love to talk about is kind of your journey into and through Carmel. So the first thing I like to start with is when you were a young little man, how did you first learn of Carmel and come to Carmel was going to be your path?

Fr. Quinn Conners, O.Carm.

Well, I went to a Carmelite high school, Mount Carmel High School in Chicago, And so that was my first experience of the Carmelites. And I was struck by how comfortable they were with themselves and kind of informal and family-like. I grew up in a diocesan parish, and the priests there were all very fine. It was Father Barron and Father Sheridan. Father Egan and that kind of thing. And when I went to Mount Carmel High School, it was Father Thad and Father David. And it was a much more informal and friendly atmosphere way of being with the students. And I was really struck by that. I liked that.

Interviewer | Ken Pino

Had you always considered a religious life, or did that come because of your time around the Carmelites at Mount Carmel High School? What kind of made you decide to go into religious life?

Fr. Quinn Conners, O.Carm.

Well, it really was with the Carmelites, I think, you know, that, you know, as a kid growing up, I was an altar server and that type of thing. So, and my family was, you know, were practicing Catholics, and so that was just part of the life and in my family. But But I was really struck by the Carmelites and their interest in the students and the informal, welcoming kind of atmosphere they created in the school.

Interviewer | Ken Pino

And then going through your formation on the rest of that journey, I assume you were of the generation of Niagara.

Fr. Quinn Conners, O.Carm.

Right, I went in after, I joined the Carmelites after graduating from high school. So I did actually 3 1/2 years of college up at Niagara. Somebody got sick in Joliet in the middle of my senior year, and it was right after the fire, and they were looking for space. So they sent me to Joliet Catholic to teach. It was just before the internship program became more formalized. And so I left college, I finished college early, and then went to Joliet to teach, and then went to Washington to Anti-Catholic University of America for what turned out to be an STB in theology, Bachelor in Sacred Theology.

Interviewer | Ken Pino

And then once you were revals and ordained, kind of a little brief run-through of the ministries you served.

Fr. Quinn Conners, O.Carm.

Sure. I was ordained in 1971, and my first assignment was to Mount Carmel High School in Los Angeles, California. It was in South Central LA. It was a primarily African-American school. And And I taught there for two years, was principal there for two years. Then we closed the school and I stayed on for two years to sell the property. And did, that’s when I started doing spiritual direction with folks and giving retreats. Became very active with a marriage prep program called Engaged Encounter, working with married couples and preparing engaged couples for the sacrament of matrimony. And then I was an English major as an undergrad, and I had got an MA in English from the University of Illinois during the summers, which was a typical thing for us in those days, because we had lots of high schools. But then developed this interest in psychology and working with people. And so the two years after the high school closed and I was working to sell the property, I started, people started asking me for spiritual direction. And I took undergrad courses in psych and applied to and got into the graduate school of psychology at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. And When I started that, I also moved to the San Fernando Valley, part of Los Angeles, and worked with two other guys, two other Carmelites, in a formation house for college-age guys interested in becoming Carmelites. So I did that for five years and then was asked to do formation work. here in Washington at Whitefriars. So I was sent as the prior and formation director at Whitefriars. And that was 1983. Did that for seven years, then was elected provincial in 1990. Did that for six years, followed by a sabbatical. And then ended up coming back to live at Whitefriars, but to work full-time at a clinic called the St. Luke Institute, which was a rehab hospital and clinic for priests and sisters and brothers with various mental health issues. So I did that for seven years and then did worked with novices for three years. I was novice director for three years in Middletown, New York. And then I came back here to Whitefriars as the prior and formation director for five years. Excuse me. And then after five years, I went back to work full-time at St. Luke Institute. And after five years of that, I was made the prior and formation director back here at Whitefriars Hall. And so for the third time, I guess it was, no, the second time. And then I did that for five years, back to St. Luke’s for five, and then back here for the third time as prior and formation director. And that was until 2021, I think it was. And I went back to St. Luke’s full-time, then was asked to be the novice master again, did that for a couple of years, then back here to work as the prior information director. So I’ve been here three times for a total of 27 years. So it’s been basically formation work and teaching, because I taught at the Washington Theological Union when it was open, and now I teach part-time at Catholic University adjunct faculty there. So it’s been mainly, I guess, Los Angeles and Washington, with six years in Washington, in Chicago.

Interviewer | Ken Pino

One of the things that I always ask everyone is how do they feel they live out their Carmelite spirituality in their ministries? And I’m going to observe that your ministries, particularly your work at the clinic, focus so much on listening, which is a huge part of Carmel, that I can kind of see that connection. But if you can talk about that a little bit, how you lived being a Carmelite, brought your Carmelite spirituality to those ministries.

Fr. Quinn Conners, O.Carm.

A foundational part of Carmelite spirituality, from my perspective, comes from the little flower St. Theresa de Lesieux, who said that everything is grace. And so it’s a very incarnational kind of theology that she has that basically says that God’s grace is present throughout the human experience. And so from my perspective, working in spiritual direction in particular, but also at the clinic at St. Luke Institute, is really helping people see where is God operating in their lives. And at St. Luke’s, it’s helping folks see that whatever brokenness they have experienced, whether that brokenness is in the form of depression or alcoholism or anxiety, those kinds of mental health issues, that not that God causes that in any way, but that there is grace in that experience and helping them listen to themselves becomes a process for discovering where those moments in which God has touched them in a particular kind of way.

Interviewer | Ken Pino

We’ve spoken a lot about how you’ve spent your life serving and assisting others in that. endeavor. When you were coming up through formation, were there any Carmelites, professors, friends in class with you that were really your go-to and who helped you through good times and bad times in working through that formation journey?

Fr. Quinn Conners, O.Carm.

Sure, I’d say three in particular. First was the novice master, Father Humphrey Connors. was very important in terms of helping me to understand myself and that interior journey of self-discovery and self-knowledge as a key to doing ministry. The second person would be Keith Egan, whose emphasis on Carmelite spirituality is well known and well appreciated. And the third would have been Roland Murphy. who was a scripture scholar, and I was not a scripture scholar, but we were good friends, and he was really a mentor for me in terms of living the Carmelite life with integrity and with a commitment to the intellectual dimension of our life.

Interviewer | Ken Pino

Was there, of course, it sounds like you kind of decided early on that this was the life you wanted to do, you wanted a religious life, or you moved into that. Was there ever a point of something that happened or something that you went through even later on that really made you go, yes, this was the right choice. This is where I am supposed to be.

Fr. Quinn Conners, O.Carm.

I guess one, probably a number of times in which I ended up re-choosing the life in that sense, falling in love a couple of times and kind of recognizing the love for another human being, for women, but ending up saying to myself, I think the more honest response is as much as I cared for these women, that the truth was somehow or other in this life for me. I was going to be honest with God and had a sense of what God wanted for me. So I’d say that, so it’s happened a couple of times. And no regrets. In fact, lots of gratitude. Lots of gratitude.

Interviewer | Ken Pino

If you had to describe to someone considering religious life and discerning if Carmel is for them, what would you say Is distinct of. about being Carmelite among that group of religious orders and what someone might think about what would draw someone and say, yes, Carmel is the place for you.

Fr. Quinn Conners, O.Carm.

For me, I think it is, and it’s not exclusive to us, but prayer and relationship with God is very important in our tradition and helping other people explore that experience and deepen it, I’ve found very satisfying, very gratifying. It is interesting to me that I started, people started coming to me for spiritual direction when I was relatively young. We had just closed the high school and I was in Los Angeles trying to sell this property and that kind of thing, and very mundane things to do. But people started asking to see me for helping them with their spiritual journey. So it’s come fairly naturally. And then deciding that clinical psychology would be really helpful in kind of deepening that ability to help them.

Interviewer | Ken Pino

So kind of, you didn’t find the path, the path found you. sort of.

Fr. Quinn Conners, O.Carm.

To some degree it was pretty natural, feeling drawn to something. And I started graduate school in clinical psych in 1978. So it was just as doctoral programs in pastoral psychology were starting. But But I wasn’t really interested in them. I was interested in the clinical and knowing kind of the challenges that folks have psychologically in our world and get a better sense of it from the clinical psych than the others for me.

Interviewer | Ken Pino

That I guess this is a good example because I always try and find in each of these interviews and stories And it’s usually very easy to pick out. And I think in this particular instance, when I look at what mendicant means and very much, that’s the community had a need and you as a Carmelite filled that need. It wasn’t what people would traditionally think of a parish priest or you saw a need in the community and you served that need for your Carmelite spirituality. That to me speaks significantly to the definition in the living of mendicant. Does that make? of mendicant lifestyles. That makes sense.

Fr. Quinn Conners, O.Carm.

Sure. It’s, yeah, it’s going where the need is or being there where the need is and offering assistance and asking for help to do it.

Interviewer | Ken Pino

I guess having been here, one, two, three times, all the way from 70s or 80s to now 20, 25. What changes have you observed? I guess I’m going to leave it that broad. What changes have you observed?

Fr. Quinn Conners, O.Carm.

In the formation program.

Interviewer | Ken Pino

In the formation program.

Fr. Quinn Conners, O.Carm.

Yeah. Well, when I went through, I was here 68 to 71. When I went through, basically the formation process was pass your classes, show up for prayer, do your house job. And if you did those things, then you’d be passed along for solemn vows and for diaconate and priesthood. There was no sense of really kind of getting to know people and helping them explore their motivations, that kind of thing. that we do in formation now, so it’s quite different. And I came back, well, I guess I started doing formation work in 78 out in California. And it was by then, it had begun to shift in terms of more one-to-one encounters with the formators. And growth in self-knowledge and discernment as to is this a good fit?

Interviewer | Ken Pino

I think because you have that unique perspective of the 60s to the 2020s. You were at Niagara for a while.

Fr. Quinn Conners, O.Carm.

I was. I had, I guess, 2 1/2 years or 3 1/2 years.

Interviewer | Ken Pino

I tend to see a different, I can tell a distinct pre-fire, post-fire formation program changed. Can you speak a little bit about that, the shifts that took place before and after that?

Fr. Quinn Conners, O.Carm.

Sure, because I was there for the fire, and so at Niagara. And the shift was regular meetings with formators, them getting to know you, you getting to know yourself, that’s probably the most dramatic change. And because prior to that, my early years in formation, really, throughout, as I say, if you did your house job, passed your classes, showed up for prayer, then you got through. And those were the external signs. So the big shift was much more internal in terms of getting to know formators getting to know you and clearly you getting to know yourself at a deeper level.

Interviewer | Ken Pino

When you were going through formation, men that were with you that went on to become Carmelites and men that left through them, just remember any individuals and any little stories of happy moments, difficult moments that just kind of stand out to you.

Fr. Quinn Conners, O.Carm.

Oh, sure. Well, I mean, I basically, well, to give you a perspective, I made first vows, simple profession, with 27 other, 26 other people, or 27 of us. When I was ordained, there were four of us. So it was a big exodus. But I’m still in touch with regularly, you know, a couple times a year. a couple of guys that I was in formation with who are now married and now retired and that kind of thing. So they were losses, but maintained friendships with those that wanted to and that I wanted to. So it was, sad to see them go in some respects, but you want them to be happy.

Interviewer | Ken Pino

Who were the three that went beginning to end with you?

Fr. Quinn Conners, O.Carm.

Kevin Lafey, Bob Carroll, and then Blakey on the 4th one.

Interviewer | Ken Pino

That’s okay.

Fr. Quinn Conners, O.Carm.

So yeah, and never, assigned with them any place, once we left formation. But the advantage of provincial chapters and annual meetings and stuff like that, you stay in touch with folks.

Interviewer | Ken Pino

And I guess, again, that speaks to the, you think of so many of the other religious orders, one will focus on education, one will focus on senior care. The Carmelites have such a diverse, what gifts do you have, where can you serve? So I would assume often you tend not to follow each other more so than in other orders.

Fr. Quinn Conners, O.Carm.

Right, yeah, It kind of depends on what gifts we’ve got and what the needs are.

Interviewer | Ken Pino

There’s also been a big shift from US and Canada to US and Canada and Mexico and El Salvador and Peru and Honduras. I’ll make sure I got them all. So that has added a lot more diversity and diversity of skills, diversity of community to the province. So through the formation program. Now I know… currently slightly different formation program maybe in Mexico, El Salvador, Peru and them than they have up here. But there still is that good interchange. Everybody comes up here, learns some English. Most everybody goes down there and learns some Spanish, spends some time, or a good chunk.

Fr. Quinn Conners, O.Carm.

Well, the guys in formation do, I would say.

Interviewer | Ken Pino

Formation.

Fr. Quinn Conners, O.Carm.

The larger province, probably some will know Spanish simply because that’s a need in the church today, but not everybody.

Interviewer | Ken Pino

Did that, when that first started happening, I would assume it shift, there was a bit since you were here before, during transition and now a little bit. Is it more difficult to know everyone throughout the province? So you do depend more on the chapters and things like that to get to see it because you don’t, not everybody’s kind of in the same spot, I guess.

Fr. Quinn Conners, O.Carm.

Right, Yeah, it’s more of a challenge. I think one of the things we’ve tried to do is like when it comes to doing internships, having guys from South America, Latin America, up here to do internships in North America. Some will go down to, right now we have got an intern in Lima teaching in the high school. So there is some exchange. But, and I, and I think the guys that from let’s say, El Salvador, Peru, have enjoyed their experiences up here. And they’ve been very, I think, very welcomed. The guys up here, the North Americans, the Yankees, have engaged with them in positive ways.

Interviewer | Ken Pino

I think. the Carmelite Order being around the world, I think it’s a little more unique to our province that we are able to say we are more of an international province. Most of the provinces will be in a particular spot. We have the advantage of all that experience and talents and skills that we bring in from the upper end of North America to the lower end of Central America, so to speak. So we get a much more diverse skill set and perspectives on it. So I Absolutely. If someone is discerning and they discern Carmel, any message to them starting in the program, coming up to formation that you’d just like to share with them?

Fr. Quinn Conners, O.Carm.

Well, all I can say is that I’ve been blessed by this life. It’s worth doing. it’s needed, and that I hope that they feel comfortable with the diversity that’s in the province, but also with tremendous opportunities, educationally, geographically, ministerially. Just we’ve got a great variety, and so enjoy it.

Interviewer | Ken Pino

I think that’s it.

Fr. Quinn Conners, O.Carm.

Okay.

Interviewer | Ken Pino

We’re good.

Fr. Quinn Conners, O.Carm.

Okay. Thanks, Ken. All right.

Interviewer | Ken Pino

Thank you. Thank you.

Fr. Quinn Conners, O.Carm.

Sure, absolutely.