Donnelly College is excited to welcome Father John Donart as its new chaplain. Ordained May 23, 2026, Father John looks forward to sharing the love and mercy of God with the Donnelly community this year.
Father John grew up in Shawnee, Kansas, and attended Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic School and St. James Academy. After high school, he attended the University of Kansas, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in geography with plans to become an urban planner.
“For most people, geography is just a general credit or class to take, but I enjoyed getting my geography degree in hopes of becoming an urban planner,” Father John said. “Clearly, the Lord had very different plans for me.”
He later recalled meeting a Dominican friar who offered a fitting reflection on his journey: “Oh, so you used to study the things of Earth, now you study the things of Heaven!”
During his sophomore year at KU, Father John volunteered at Camp Tekakwitha. That summer, he experienced what he described as a “huge conversion of heart and return to the Lord in the sacrament of reconciliation.”
After experiencing Christ’s mercy through the sacrament, Father John began seriously discerning a call to the priesthood.
“It was clear that everything that had been in the background, everything beneath the surface, started to come up, and I realized this call was a serious thing I needed to consider,” he said.
Two years later, after graduating from KU, Father John entered the seminary.
Today, Father John is eager to share God’s active love with the Donnelly community.
“God is in our corner,” he said. “He’s on our side, and he wants us to be his partner. Allow God to fight for you!”
Donnelly College is blessed to welcome Father John and looks forward to the guidance, compassion and faith-filled presence he will bring to campus. May his ministry inspire the Donnelly community to grow closer to God and one another.
For more information about Donnelly’s Catholic mission and daily Mass times, visit Donnelly’s Campus Ministry webpage.