Fr. Thomas "TQ" Quinlan of the Diocese of Richmond

When I read in the course materials that a priest drove a Volkswagen down the aisle in the decades following the Vatican II Council, a memory was jogged of an evening I spent with an acquaintance who grew up in a parish led by an eccentric priest she referred to as “TQ.” She shared absurd stories that I chalked up to exaggeration and wine. When I mentioned the evening’s conversation to another friend, she immediately recognized the subject of the discussion: “Oh, yes, that’s Fr. Quinlan for you. The bishop let him get away with anything.” Though Fr. Thomas J. Quinlan, known as TQ, was retired by the time I moved to the Hampton Roads area, stories about him are still shared in Catholic circles. Sadly, many of them have been separated from their original context. TQ’s message is often lost, and only the theatrics remain. However, this class inspired me to do some digging and learn more about this sensational figure in the history of the Catholic Church in Virginia.

Fr. Quinlan preferred to be called “TQ” by his parishioners. He was born in 1929 in Massachusetts, the oldest of ten children in a Catholic family. [1] His father was a beer truck driver. [2] Fr. Quinlan entered religious life multiple times, but did not find a congregation that fit well. He left the Trappists because, “silence was never TQ's strong suit,” [3] and another religious order because he could not bear the daily tasks of caring for the henhouse. Instead, he merely developed a lifelong fear of birds. He returned home each time and discerned where God may be leading him.

TQ as a young priest 

{All photos courtesy of "The Trouble with TQ" Production Stills, http://thetroublewithtq.com/gallery/}

According to his obituary, “In 1958, amidst the now-long-gone vocations phenomenon of northern glut and southern shortage, the Massachusetts Yankee came south, to the ‘missionary’ diocese of Richmond, where he was ordained, and served as a presbyter (he wore the title of ‘priest’ loosely, and rejected the concept of priest-‘hood’, or anything else that smacked of special class, higher caste, or ‘ontological status’), pastor, and prophetic voice, for 54 years.” [4] His early priesthood was shaped by the Vatican II Council, and he endeavored to follow the spirit of that council. He served in numerous parishes in the diocese, particularly in the Hampton Roads area. [5] He pioneered exclusive ministries that accepted everyone on their own terms, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, disabilities, and other factors. He valued creativity in evangelization and catechesis.

TQ in contemplation

Fr. Quinlan was known as a polarizing personality. He did little to avoid this perception: he defended controversial statements by saying that he hated arrogance, spiritual complacency, and apathy. He saw himself as a modern Don Quixote.[6] He was once sent for a psychiatric evaluation when authorities were not sure how to address his outrageous comments and behavior.[7] According to the Virginia-Pilot newspaper, Quinlan “drove a Volkswagen down the church aisle to simulate Palm Sunday, used the rock Broadway musical ‘The Wiz’ as part of the liturgy and compared the execution of slave rebellion leader Nat Turner to Christ's death.”[8] He orchestrated a reenactment of Turner’s execution on the original site for Holy Week, and played the role of the judge. He planned a pre-funeral gala in 1998, riding in a hearse while 1,500 people gathered to celebrate his life and to hear an Evita-inspired version of “Don’t Cry for Me, Richmond” sung by a friend from seminary.[9]

TQ as a judge during Nat Turner performance

TQ at a protest outside St. Mary's infant home

While he acknowledged his role as a pastor to all, he enjoyed theatrics that would shock people out of complacency and keep them talking about the messages he shared. He said, "I don't mind getting in trouble if it's for the right reason."[10] He was featured in Time Magazine and received national attention on multiple occasions. Time Magazine quoted him calling rural parishioners, “spiritual white trash who merely drop by church to fill up at God's gas pump,”[11] which did not endear him to local residents.

TQ as the 'Blue Angel' at Christmas

Quinlan was a product of liberalism in the post-Vatican II years. Many took the council as a license to adapt their version of the Gospel to modern times. Quinlan cling to the concept of the Principle of Adaptation. He believed in meeting people in their own unique circumstances. He was gentle to the repentant and those he considered authentic, but crude and offensive to those he felt deserved condemnation. He did not pull punches. He demanded a great deal from parishioners, and pushed for extensive ministry to the poor.[12]

TQ dressed at Superman

However, Quinlan’s beliefs were not strictly orthodox. For instance, he said, “There's just God and me and you. No devil. No angels. But there is a heaven, and Jesus is in it. I can't wait to get there.”[13] He critiqued the hierarchal nature of the church, and beliefs he considered antiquated. On a nationally-televised appearance on the “The Phil Donahue Show,” Quinlan nearly got attacked by the audience members. According to Mal Vincent in the Virginia-Pilot, Quinlan used the interview to “belittled the influence of the Virgin Mary, mentioning her lack of historical documentation, and branded the Garden of Eden as no more than relatable myth, questioning the education of people who believed that a snake actually spoke to Eve.”[14] The public outcry that a priest should posit such theories while questioning the intelligence of those who believed otherwise did not go over well.

Furthermore, his personal foibles such as smoking, cursing, and alcoholism could give scandal to those who expect priests to be above reproach in their personal life. He recounted his typical response to children who said he should stop smoking, “I tell them to get the hell out of the way. They're brainwashed little suburban monsters."[15] He startled parishioners by wearing costumes at mass, and using crass language during homilies. His car had a bumper sticker that had an image of a cardinal and read, “Ordain Women or Stop Dressing Like Them.”[16] A former parishioner, Kerry Dougherty, calls him the Howard Stern of priests, an “irreverent reverend, a chain-smoking, cussing, take-no-prisoners priest.”[17]

TQ smoking on the set of "The Trouble with TQ"

Nevertheless, he attempted to share the Gospel as he saw it. Parishioners were moved by his desire for spiritual growth, and his honesty in admitting his shortcomings. His mass attendance rapidly grew when he was the pastor in Norfolk, and he was a popular figure in less traditional Catholic circles. His intelligence, passion, and sense of humor won him friends. His liturgical abuses, such as secular performance pieces during important feast days and a psychedelic mass, received media attention. Even relatively liberal Catholic friends of mine agree that he pushed the border of liturgical decency in his quest to make the faith and its expressions relevant to our time.

TQ ministers to a St. Mary's parishioner

Near the end of his life, he battled cancer and other illnesses. He retired in 2005, but continued to minister as he was able. The bishop of Richmond removed his faculty to celebrate mass publicly after reports of an offensive Christmas homily in 2006.[18] Quinlan found ways to reach out, including assisting his former altar boy Calvin Thomas with making a movie of Quinlan’s life, called, “The Trouble with TQ.” Quinlan gave interviews for the movie from 2008 to 2012.[19] He died in April 2012, before the film was completed. At his request, his ashes were interred in a Chock-Full-O-Nuts coffee can he prepared.[20] His funeral was held in the diocese of Richmond, and his large biological and spiritual family mourned his passing.

Article on TQ's censure

TQ's final resting place with personal touches

[1] Obituary of Thomas J. Quinlan, Legacy.com, https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/pilotonline/obituary.aspx?n=thomas-j-quinlan&pid=157289264&fhid=5773.
[2] Obituary, Legacy.com.
[3] Obituary, Legacy.com.
[4] Obituary, Legacy.com.
[5] Obituary, Legacy.com.
[6] Obituary, Legacy.com.
[7] Obituary, Legacy.com.
[8] Mal Vincent, “The priest who shook up Hampton Roads,” The Virginia-Pilot (15 May 2014), https://pilotonline.com/entertainment/movies/article_4e31147c-00d5-52b1-b052-36cdb2a0fa96.html.
[9] Vincent, “The priest.”
[10] Vincent, “The priest.”
[11] Vincent, “The priest.”
[12] Vincent, “The priest.”
[13] Vincent, “The priest.”
[14] Vincent, “The priest.”
[15] Vincent, “The priest.”
[16] Kerry Dougherty, “God must have broken mold after he made 'TQ,'” The Virginia-Pilot (25 April 2012), https://pilotonline.com/news/local/columnist/kerry-dougherty/article_afa3af55-14db-5d94-8f9b-0ad511087e66.html.
[17] Dougherty, “God.”
[18] Dougherty, “God.”
[19] “About the Movie,” The Trouble with TQ website, http://thetroublewithtq.com/about/.
[20] Obituary, Legacy.com.