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From retro hippie to priest
Divine Mercy/Marian Conference
speaker to tell conversion story

By RENEE WEBB, Globe editor
(Email Renee)

At one point in his life, the keynote speaker for the Divine Mercy/Marian Conference to be held next month in Sioux City wasn’t such a great guy.

Father Donald Calloway pointed out that he wasn’t raised in any religion so as “a teenager, I really had some difficult times.”

Before his conversion to Catholicism, he was a high school dropout who had been kicked out of a foreign country, institutionalized twice and thrown in jail multiple times.

After what he refers to as a “radical conversion,” he earned a bachelor’s in philosophy and theology from the Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio; M.Div. and S.T.B. degrees from the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC, and an S.T.L. in Mariology from the International Marian Research Institute in Dayton, Ohio.

Father Calloway will share his conversion story at the 2nd Annual Midwest Divine Mercy/Marian Conference that will be held Oct. 1 at the Sioux City Convention Center. The conference is sponsored by Trinity Heights Queen of Peace and KFHC 88.1 FM.

“My conversion came about when I read a book about the Virgin Mary and I was rocked by God in a huge way,” described Father Calloway, who added that his life changed “from being a long-haired retro hippie to becoming a devout Catholic and then a Catholic priest.”

He presently serves as the vocations director for his community - Marians of the Immaculate Conception.
“The community that I joined, the Marians, spread the Divine Mercy message really more than anyone in the world,” Father Calloway noted.

Knowing that he was such a huge recipient of Divine Mercy was an added draw to that particular religious community.

“I’m like the poster-child for this message because I’ve received so much and so I wanted to be an apostle and a witness to this message,” he said. “That’s what all of my brothers do in my community but I wanted to be a part of that in a big way.”

The priest, who has become a well-known speaker on Divine Mercy and the Blessed Virgin, pointed out that prior to his conversion he had become very lost in his own selfish behavior and lifestyle. He credits God’s mercy for his change in behavior.

“When I came to the realization that I was so messed up, but there was a God who loved me and wanted to give me an ocean of mercy – that was my salvation and my hope,” said Father Calloway, who added that it is also part of his ongoing conversion. “I want to bring other people to that message because we all have issues and baggage.”

Through sharing his personal experience, Father Calloway said he spreads a message of hope.

“As they listen to my story, it might remind them of their son or husband who doesn’t go to church or who doesn’t like the church,” he said. “When they hear my story they think, wow, God really changed this guy’s life and if God can do that for this guy maybe there is hope for my situation – with my children or my spouse.”

Conference information
The 2nd Annual Midwest Divine Mercy/Marian Conference will be held Oct. 1 at the Sioux City Convention Center.

In addition to the main keynote presenter, Father Donald Calloway, MIC, the day will also include presentations by Joan and Dave Maroney of the Mother of Mercy Messengers and Dr. Bryan Thatcher, MD, who is founder of the Eucharistic Apostles of Divine Mercy.

The conference also provides a youth track that will include presentations by the diocese’s Father David Hemann, Mother of Mercy Messengers, a speakers’ panel and more.

Bishop Walker Nickless will celebrate 5 p.m. Mass at Cathedral of the Epiphany to close the conference.
Cost of the conference is $50 for adults and $10 for youth.

A special dinner with the speakers is slated for 6:30 p.m. The cost is $150 and proceeds will benefit Trinity Heights.

Registrations for the conference are due by Sept. 27. For more information go to www.trinityheights.com.