Cardinal injured, priest killed in weekend car accident in Italy

Published: 2006-10-09

BALTIMORE (CNS) -- Cardinal William H. Keeler of Baltimore suffered a broken ankle and a retired priest of the Diocese of Harrisburg, Pa., was killed in an Oct. 7 automobile accident in Italy. Another Harrisburg diocesan priest, Msgr. Thomas H. Smith, who was driving the vehicle through the city of Terni, broke several ribs. Information about the accident was not released until Oct. 9 so that relatives of the deceased priest, Father Bernard Quinn, 78, could be notified. Cardinal Keeler and Msgr. Smith, pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Lancaster, Pa., were hospitalized in Italy. According to an Associated Press report, Father Quinn was in the back seat of the vehicle and Cardinal Keeler in the front passenger seat when a car struck the passenger side. Baltimore archdiocesan communications director Sean Caine said the three priests were friends and vacationed together often.

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