Rev. Thomas (Tom) Holahan, CSP, Vice Rector

Father Tom arrived in Rome in the fall of 2006, after serving 11 years at St. Thomas Aquinas University Parish in Boulder, Colorado. During his 30 years as a Paulist priest, he has worked in both campus ministry and church communications. He has served on the campuses of the University of California at Berkeley and Los Angeles as well as Boston’s M.I.T. In 1979, he joined Paulist Productions in Los Angeles he as a creative consultant. After receiving a masters degree in communications management from the Annenberg School at the University of Southern California, he worked for 14 years as director of communications first for the diocese of Austin, Texas and then for the diocese of Columbus, Ohio.

He sought to become a priest at an early age and, after spending his childhood in Yonkers, New York, he entered the minor seminary (high school) of the Capuchin Franciscans in 1962. His mother died this same year and upon his first profession with the Capuchins, his father entered the same religious community. They were together for three years but in 1967, Father Tom left the Capuchins to complete a bachelor’s degree in philosophy at Manhattan College in New York City. He entered the Paulist novitiate in 1972.

During summer breaks in his theological training at Catholic University in Washington, D.C., he assisted Paulist Communications in distributing religious public service announcements to radio stations in the United States, driving thousands of miles in America’s South, Southwest and West Coast. He also earned a certificate in filmmaking from New York University.

Father Tom’s most recent assignment in Boulder, Colorado allowed him to explore the field of restorative justice, as an alternative to traditional court sentencing. As a board member of Boulder’s Victim Offender Reconciliation Program, he assisted the county in its effort to establish restorative justice in its court system. In the aftermath of 9/11, he helped form a group of interfaith leaders who provided educational opportunities and prayer services to promote non-violence.

In Rome, Father Tom enjoys his role as chaplain to Marymount International School, director of the Santa Susanna library and being a poetry-writing member of Rome Writers.

Fr. Tom's email address is: vicerector@santasusanna.org