Martin Holley

Holley was born in Pensacola, Florida, and graduated from Tate High School in 1973. While a student there he 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 degree in general studies, and from Alabama State University in Montgomery, Alabama in 1977 with a Bachelor of Arts in management. At both institutions, Bishop Holley excelled at basketball and participated in student government.

Holley undertook post-graduate studies at the Theological College at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and St. Vincent de Paul Seminary in Boynton Beach, Florida, 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 in Pensacola, Florida.

Holley served as associate pastor and administrator of St. Mary Catholic Church, Fort Walton Beach, Florida, associate pastor of St. Paul Catholic Church, Pensacola, and as administrator and pastor of Little Flower Catholic Church, Pensacola. He was a member of the diocesan council of priests, the spiritual director of the Serra Club of West Florida, the spiritual director and instructor for the permanent diaconate program, the director of the Department of Ethnic Concerns of the diocese, and a member of the Joint Conference of the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus.

Pope John Paul II appointed him titular bishop of Rusubisir and auxiliary bishop of Washington on May 18, 2004,[1] Holley received his episcopal consecration from Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, Archbishop of Washington, on July 2, 2004.[2][3] In November 2014, he was elected by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to serve on the board of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network.[4] For 12 years, Holley served as auxiliary bishop and the vicar general for non-Hispanic ethnic ministries.[2] He was a member of the Washington InterFaith Network, the International Foundation for the support of Deaf People, and Catholic Athletes for Christ.[2] He also became a member of the archdiocesan College of Consultors, Presbyteral Council, Seminarian Review Board, Administrative Board, and chairman of the College of Deans.[3] Within the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, he was a member of the Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth; the Committee on Pro-Life Activities; the Subcommittee on Hispanic Affairs; and the National Collections Committee.[2]

Pope Francis named him Bishop of Memphis, Tennessee, on August 23, 2016,[2][5] and he was installed as bishop on October 19, 2016.[6]

Holley transferred about 75% of the pastors in the diocese within a few months of becoming bishop, first requesting their resignations and giving them the title "parochial administrator" rather than "pastor" of the same parish, to allow him to transfer them without their resignation.[7][8] He also appointed a Canadian priest, Msgr. Clement J. Machado, SOLT to three diocesan offices: vicar general, moderator of the curia and diocesan chancellor.[lower-alpha 1][9] In January 2018, citing lack of funds, the diocese announced the closure of the ten schools in its network of Memphis Jubilee Catholic Schools, founded in 1999 to serve children from poor families.[10]

In June 2018, Archbishops Wilton Gregory of Atlanta and Bernard Hebda of St. Paul-Minneapolis visited the Memphis diocese on behalf of the Vatican to investigate complaints about Holley's leadership. They met with several dozen priests.[11][12] Machado resigned from the diocese shortly after Gregory and Hebda completed their visitation and Holley assigned a different priest to each of the three offices Machado had held.[13]

On October 24, 2018, Pope Francis removed Holley as bishop, citing concerns about his reassignment policy, and named Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville to oversee the diocese as apostolic administrator.[14][15] The following day, Holley said to Catholic News Agency that he believed he was removed as "revenge" for advising Pope Benedict XVI against appointing Cardinal Donald Wuerl, under whom Holley served as auxiliary bishop in Washington, for the job of Vatican Secretary of State in 2012.[16] On March 5, 2019, the Vatican announced the appointment of Bishop David Prescott Talley to Holley's former post. Bishop Talley was the Bishop of Alexandria, Louisiana.[17]

• Roman Catholic Diocese of Memphis
• National Black Catholic Congress bio of Martin Holley
• National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus bio of Martin Holley