Msgr. Kevin Holmes

Msgr. Kevin D. Holmes has served as Parochial Administrator at Pastorate 20, which includes St. Maria Goretti Catholic Church and St. Christopher Catholic Parish, since July 1, 2023.

Msgr. Holmes was born in Janesville, Wisconsin on August 14, 1957, the son of the late Ernest and Phyllis (Vogel) Holmes. He attended St. Patrick School, Janesville; Holy Name Seminary (High School), Madison; and the Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, where he received his B.A. and M.A. in Philosophy. He finished his seminary education with four years at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium, where he was ordained a deacon at St. Michael Church on April 4, 1983.

Fr. Holmes was ordained to the priesthood on June 15, 1984, by Bishop Cletus F. O’Donnell at St. Raphael Cathedral in Madison. After ordination, he served as parochial vicar at Sacred Hearts of Jesus & Mary, Sun Prairie and Our Lady Queen of Peace, Madison; and as pastor of Holy Redeemer, Madison; St. Michael, Dane; and St. Aloysius, Sauk City, where he also served the Hispanic Community of Sauk County, and as administrator of the parishes of St. Mary, Merrimac and St. Camillus, Durward’s Glen.

In 2006, Fr. Holmes was named pastor of three parishes in downtown Madison including St. Raphael where the cathedral church had been destroyed by fire the previous year. In March 2007, Bishop Morlino announced that Rome named him Prelate of Honor, with the title Monsignor. Msgr. Holmes oversaw the merging of the three parishes and a renewal of parish life (especially among young adults), but the hope of building a new cathedral on the site of St. Raphael was never realized.

In the major reorganization of the Diocese of Madison in 2023, Msgr. Holmes was appointed Parochial Administrator of Pastorate 20 which includes St. Maria Goretti Catholic Church in Madison, St. Andrew Catholic Church in Verona, and St. William Catholic Church in Paoli.

Msgr. Holmes has also served the Diocese of Madison in various other capacities. By appointment from Bishop Hying, Msgr. Holmes is currently a member of the Diocesan Pastoral Council, the Presbyteral Council and the College of Consultors.  Through election by his brother priests, he serves on the Priest Personnel Board and the St. Raphael Board (which oversees benefits for retired priests).

For seven years in his earlier priesthood, Msgr. Holmes served on the Diocesan Marriage Tribunal. In 2006 he was appointed Judge Delegate for a local tribunal investigating a miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Samuel Mazzuchelli, whose cause for beatification is pending in Rome. Msgr. Holmes has taught in the Education for Parish Service program at Edgewood College, and in the Diocesan Lay Institute.

He is also a Knight Commander in the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre, and a member of the Knights of Columbus. He is currently the Spiritual Advisor of the Madison Diocesan Council of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.