Martin Holley

Biography

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 in 1977 with a B.A. 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 Catholic University 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 curate and administrator of St. Mary Catholic Church, Fort Walton Beach, Florida, curate of St. Paul Catholic Church, Pensacola, and as administrator and pastor of Little Flower Catholic Church, Pensacola. 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 as a member of the Joint Conference of the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus.

He was consecrated bishop on July 2, 2004. Pope Francis named him Bishop of Memphis, Tennessee, on August 23, 2016, and he was installed as bishop on October 19, 2016.