<< Return to Black Bishops

ARCHDIOCESE OF WASHINGTON, DC

Most Rev. Martin D. Holley
Auxiliary Bishop of Washington, DC

Bishop Holley was born and raised in Escambia County, Fla., and has served the Northwest Florida region for 17 years as a priest of the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee. He was born December 31, 1954 at Our Lady of the Angels Maternity Hospital, the 8th child of 14 born to Sylvester Thomas Holley (deceased) and Mary Elizabeth (Jemison) Holley (deceased.). The hospital, attached to St. Joseph's Church in Pensacola, has been closed for several years. Bishop Holley has seven brothers living, one deceased, and five sisters.

Bishop Holley attended Our Lady of Fatima School (now closed), Ransom High School (now merged with Tate,) St. Joseph School (now closed,) and Tate High School (class of '73.) While a student at Tate High School, Bishop Holley was a basketball standout and active in student government. He graduated in 1975 from Faulkner State Junior College in Bay Minette, Alabama with an Associate of Arts in general studies, and from Alabama State University in Montgomery in 1977 with a Bachelor of Arts in management. At both institutions, Bishop Holley excelled at both basketball and student government, winning a number of accolades.

Bishop Holley's post graduate studies include the Theological College at Catholic University in Washington, D.C. and St. Vincent de Paul Seminary in Boynton Beach, Fla., where he earned a Master of Divinity degree. He was ordained to the priesthood on May 8, 1987 at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Pensacola, Fla.

Bishop Holley has served as parochial vicar and administrator of St. Mary Catholic Church, Fort Walton Beach, Fla., parochial vicar of St. Paul Catholic Church, Pensacola, and as administrator and pastor of Little Flower Catholic Church, Pensacola. In addition, he has served as a member of the diocesan Council of Priests, as the spiritual director of the Serra Club of West Florida, as spiritual director and instructor for the Permanent Diaconate Program, as Director of the Department of Ethnic Concerns of the diocese, and is a member of the Joint Conference of the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus.

<< Return to Black Bishops