A Strange but True Coincidence

On January 15, 1888, Pope Leo XIII canonized Peter Claver (1581-1654), a Spanish Jesuit who ministered to African slaves in Colombia for over thirty years. Claver, who called himself the “slave of the Negroes,” was proclaimed patron of missions to people of African descent. Among the first churches named in his honor was a Brooklyn parish founded by Father Bernard Quinn in 1920. Located in Bedford-Stuyvesant, which was rapidly becoming a center for Black life in New York City, the parish was founded to serve Catholics of African descent in the Brooklyn area. Quinn served as pastor for twenty years. (We’ll have more on him future posts.) Also on this day in 1932, St. Benedict the Moor was founded as Queens’ first Black parish. Quinn’s canonization cause is now under consideration. What I only noticed recently was that Quinn was born on the day of Peter Claver’s canonization, January 15, 1888!