Alum, as a Chaplain, Answered "Calling Within a Calling"

The first time the Rev. Dave Holloway, ’77, joined the Navy, it was obligatory. The second time, he was called for a different reason.

The current priest at St. Bernadette Parish in Kansas City, Missouri, who visited Rockhurst University in the fall as one of several alumni cocelebrants for Mass of the Holy Spirit, was a student at what was then known as Rockhurst College when in 1972 he, realizing he was about to be drafted during the Vietnam War, decided instead to enlist in the U.S. Navy.

Working as an electrician on communications and compass systems aboard the USS Brownson and USS Sierra, Fr. Holloway served for four years before returning to Kansas City to finish his degree at Rockhurst and enter the workforce.

A retreat about a year later would prove to be a turning point — Fr. Holloway said that’s when he started to discern whether he was being called to the priesthood.

“Eventually I entered the priesthood and studied at the seminary in Denver, Colorado, in 1978,” he said. “And I was ordained in 1982 at the cathedral in Kansas City.”

The unique journey from veteran to ordained priest would soon take another turn — after serving as a diocesan priest in the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Fr. Holloway asked his superiors if he could become a military chaplain, thinking it might be a ministry opportunity he might be well suited for.

“I hadn’t really thought about it before then,” he said. “But this idea of joining the chaplaincy kind of percolated up. Some priests call it a 'calling within a calling.'”

After asking the bishop to pursue the opportunity, Fr. Holloway was eventually on his way after undergoing additional education to prepare to join the ranks of military chaplains.

Fr. Holloway was stationed in Japan, in California, and on the island of Sardinia off the coast of Italy. From 1997 to 2000, he served aboard the USS Harry S. Truman, an assignment he asked for because of his hometown connection to the 33rd president.

“I kind of begged to got on board that one,” he said, laughing. “That was such a unique opportunity, and I was living in Independence at the time, so there was the Truman connection. But I did have to work the phones a bit.”

Fr. Holloway had one more duty station before returning to diocesan ministry after a total of 21 years of service. But he said the lessons of his time as a chaplain, working with other members of the military, has carried through long after returning to civilian life.

“As a chaplain, you’re ministering to more than just Catholics — you have to be able to connect to people of all faiths, and counsel people who are often spending a lot of time away from their families and loved ones and who might be dealing with serious issues like PTSD,” he said. “I also grew up in a small town, so being able to know that there’s a bigger world out there than a lot of people experience, that gave me much bigger perspective. It gives you a sense of the universal aspect of the Church.”