Father Paul-Anthony Halladay, CH (MAJ) USA (Ret.), Named Vocation Director

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA (AMS), has a new Vocation Director. He is Father Paul-Anthony Halladay, CH (MAJ), USA (Ret.). Father Halladay, a priest of the Archdiocese of Mobile, AL, and a retired, decorated 20-year veteran U.S. Army chaplain, succeeds interim director Father Marcel Taillon, who recently completed a successful eight-month run in the position pending search for a permanent successor. Father Taillon has since returned to his home Diocese of Providence, RI.

Father Halladay’s appointment, as of Jan. 22, 2025, was announced in Washington, DC, today by His Excellency, the Most Reverend Timothy P. Broglio, J.C.D., Archbishop for the Military Services.

Archbishop Broglio said:

“It is very positive that Father Halladay has accepted the role of Vocation Director for the AMS.  His years of experience as an Army Chaplain, his familiarity with this Archdiocese, and his great priestly virtue will help him as he succeeds Father Taillon to whom the AMS owes a debt of gratitude.  I have known Father Halladay since his days as a seminarian at the North American College—where he and I played tennis with another great chaplain, the late Msgr. Charles Elmer.  I am also very grateful to Archbishop (Thomas J.) Rodi of Mobile who released Father Paul Anthony for this ministry.”

After retiring from the U.S. Army in September 2024 Father Halladay served for a brief time as Associate Director of the Propaedeutic Program at St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park, CA. But God had other plans for the retired Army chaplain. Father Halladay received a surprise inquiry from the Very Rev. Monsignor Anthony R. Frontiero, AMS Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia, offering him the position of Vocation Director.

 
Upon accepting the offer Father Halladay said:

“To say that the request from Msgr. Frontiero to be the new Vocation Director for AMS took me by complete surprise, cannot accurately convey what I was truly thinking in the moment. However, the Lord has a consistent track record of completely surprising me when it comes to where He’s calling me to serve Him. Recognizing that consistency in this instance, along with the encouragement of the former Vocation Director, and my good friend, Father Marcel Taillon and the generosity of Fr. Mark Doherty, the Rector of St Patrick’s Seminary, where I had started to work only in October, all of it indicated that Vocation Director for the AMS was genuinely where I was being called to serve.”
 
As AMS Vocation Director, Father Halladay will be in charge of shepherding young men expressing an interest in the priesthood and U.S. Military chaplaincy through the process of discernment and formation. “I look very much forward to serving the AMS and the young men we have in discernment for the Priesthood and Military Chaplaincy,” he said. Young men interested in discerning a call to Catholic priesthood and U.S. Military chaplaincy may reach out to Father Halladay at vocations@milarch.org.

Father Halladay’s appointment as the new AMS Vocation Director comes upon an accomplished and diverse background in ministry, military service, humanitarianism, and academia. After graduating from Jesuit Spring Hill College in Mobile, AL, with a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) Degree in Business Administration and Finance, Father Halladay began his professional career as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer working with the Fishing Co-operative Development Office of the Agricultural Department for the Government of St. Christopher (St. Kitts) and Nevis, West Indies, in February, 1988. His primary responsibility was to assist with the development of several different co-operative ventures: Farming Co-operatives, Schools Co-operatives, but with a concentration in the development of Fishing Co-operatives. His secondary assignment, a requirement by the Peace Corps, was working with the Small Business Development Unit of the St. Kitts and Nevis Chamber of Industry and Commerce. 

Through the Fishing Co-operative Division, Father Halladay assisted with the development of four fishing co-operatives, a farming and a schools cooperative. He obtained funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for the construction of a Co-operative center for two fishing cooperatives, Sandy Point and Dieppe Bay, in St. Kitts. Additionally, in conjunction with the Fisheries Division, he assisted with the developing legislation for seasonal fishing, fishing limits, and fishing implement laws so as to assist in the responsible management of the nation’s natural resource and marine food supply. ? 

Through the Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Father Halladay assisted in developing legislation for the creation of a Historical Center for the capital city of Basseterre, St. Kitts.? In conjunction with that legislation, he collaborated with Caribbean Architects, for the development of an architectural plans and styles catalogue for new construction in the newly established Basseterre Historical Center.? This catalogue was a key instrument in developing Architectural cohesion for the Historical Center, implementing traditional West Indian architectural features in new construction, as well as retro fitting facades of existing structures for the same purpose. ? 

Working with another Peace Corps Volunteer, assigned to the St. Kitts and Nevis Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Father Halladay helped develop the Young Entrepreneurs Society for the Basseterre High School, a Junior Achievement-based program teaching business skills to High School Students.? In his last year, he was elected Lead Volunteer and was responsible for the health and welfare of approximately 15 PCV’s in country.? 

Upon completion of his service with the Peace Corps, Father Halladay worked for six months in the French West Indian Island of Martinique teaching English to French Postal Workers, while residing at the Benedictine Abbey of Notre Dame du Mont des Oliviers. In August of 1990, he entered Saint Joseph Seminary College in St Benedict, LA, as a seminarian for his home Archdiocese of Mobile, AL.? In 1992 Father Halladay obtained a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) Degree in Philosophy and entered theological studies at the Pontificia Università  Gregoriana, the Jesuit University in Rome, Italy, while residing at the North American College there.? 

In 1994, Father Halladay returned from seminary studies to work as the Archivist for the Archdiocese of Mobile.? In this position he was tasked with preserving from decay ecclesial records of the Archdiocese as well as translating into English records from Mobile’s French and Spanish Colonial period. ? In 1996 Father Halladay returned to the North American College and completed his Bachelors in Sacred Theology (S.T.B.) at the Pontificia Università Gregoriana.? 

From August 1997 to August 1998 Father Halladay returned to Mobile to work as the Pastoral Assistant at St. Ignatius of Loyola Catholic Church. In September of 1998 he returned to Rome to complete his License in Sacred Theology (S.T.L.) at the Pontificia Università  Gregoriana. 

?In April of 1999, Father Halladay entered the Chaplain Candidate Program serving at Layton Barracks, Wurzburgh, Germany and NATO HQ in Mons, Belgium as a 2nd Lieutenant Chaplain Candidate. ? 

In October of 1999 Father Halladay was ordained to the Diaconate at St. Peter’s Basilica, and in June of 2000 he obtained the S.T.L. in Theological Spirituality from the Gregorian and was ordained to the Priesthood at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Mobile, AL? ? 

From July 2000 to June 2004 Father Halladay served as Associate Pastor St. Pius X and St. Ignatius of Loyola Parishes in Mobile and for three months at St Columba’s in Dothan, AL, before returning to finish Chaplain Candidate School at Fort Jackson, SC, and entering Active Duty as a U.S. Army Chaplain in September of 2004. 

Since 2004 Father Halladay has served with the 1-506th INF REG of the 101st ABN DIV/AASLT, with whom he was deployed to Ramadi, Iraq from November 2005 to November 2006.? It was in Operation Iraqi Freedom that Father Halladay was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and the Combat Action Badge. ? 

While assigned to the 58th Trans AIT BN, 3rd Chem BDG from June 2007 to June 2009, Father Halladay worked as both the 58th Transportation Battalion’s Chaplain as well as the Garrison Catholic Chaplain at Ft. Leonard Wood, MO, where he was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal (MSM). ? 

Father Halladay was assigned from July 2009 to December of 2011 as the U.S. Army’s Special Categories Catholic Chaplain Recruiter.? 

From June 2012 to March 2013 Father Halladay served as the 2nd Regimental Chaplain and Catholic Chaplain to the United States Corps of Cadets (USCC) at the United States Military Academy, West Point, NY.? From that position he deployed from April 2013 to April 2014 as the NATO Training Mission – Afghanistan and Combined Security Transition Command Afghanistan Deputy Command Chaplain in Kabul, Afghanistan. During this deployment, Father Halladay was awarded the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Operation Enduring Freedom Campaign Medal, and the NATO Non-Article 5 Medal.? He returned to West Point as the 2nd Regiment Chaplain and Catholic Chaplain to the USCC where he led the Catholic Chaplain Coverage for Cadet Basic Training for the Class of 2018 and was awarded a 2nd Meritorious Service Medal at the conclusion of that assignment.? 

In August 2014, Father Halladay was assigned as an Advanced Civilian Schooling student with the U.S. Army Student Detachment, obtaining a Master of Arts (M.A.) Degree in Holistic Leadership and Ethics from Salve Regina University, Newport, RI, graduating with a 3.9 GPA 

?Upon graduating from that program, Father Halladay was assigned in August 2015 to Fort Gordon, GA, as the Ethics instructor at the U.S. Army Cyber Center of Excellence. he was also the Senior Catholic Chaplain supervising one other Catholic Priest and responsible for the Catholic Program at that Garrison.? 

In September, 2018 Father Halladay took up an assignment as the 2nd Combat Aviation Brigade Chaplain,?2nd Infantry Division, U.S. Army Garrison (USAG) Humphreys, South Korea.? In that assignment he supervised five Battalion Chaplains and executed a religious program for Brigade Staff.? In this assignment Father Halladay also held the position of Senior Catholic Chaplain at USAG Humphreys and ran the largest Catholic Community Outside the Continental United States for the U.S. Army.

In June of 2019 Father Halladay took up the position as Senior Catholic Chaplain in country.? In that same year he collaborated with the Sexual Harassment and Assault Response Program Co-ordinator and the Equal Opportunity Coordinator for 2nd Combat Aviation Brigade to implement a Combat Trauma support group for soldiers of the 2nd Combat Aviation Brigade.? The Program was assessed by the Brian Allgood Army Medical Hospital and utilized as a program for continuing trauma care for the Garrison. Father Halladay was awarded his third Meritorious Service Medal in this Assignment. 

In August of 2020 Father Halladay took up his last assignment with the Army as Deputy Garrison Chaplain for USAG Ansbach. There, he was the only Catholic Chaplain assigned to this Garrison and executed the Catholic Program with the assistance of lay volunteers and three enlisted Religious Affairs Specialists.? 

Just prior to retiring from the Army, Father Halladay participated in the Career Skills Program, an Internship Program for Service Members looking to retire or leave the military by Expiration Term of Service (ETS).? He took part in this program with St. Patrick’s Seminary, in the Archdiocese of San Francisco.? During this time the Rector offered Father Halladay a position with the Faculty as the Associate Director of the Propaedeutic Program. He accepted and, upon retiring from the Army on September 30 2024, Father Halladay began working with the Seminary full time on October 1, 2024, before accepting the position of AMS Director of Vocation.