Walter H. Halloran (September 21, 1921 – March 1, 2005) was a Catholic priest of the Society of Jesus who, at the age of twenty-six, assisted in the exorcism of Roland Doe in Washington, D.C. and St. Louis, Missouri. The anonymous Doe, a thirteen-year-old Lutheran boy from Cottage City, Maryland, was allegedly possessed. The case inspired William Peter Blatty to write his novel The Exorcist.
Life
Halloran was born in Jackson, Minnesota, in 1921. He was a member of the school's football team. In 1941, he became a member of the Society of Jesus. Halloran attended St. Louis University and in 1954 was ordained a priest, and two years later began teaching theology and history at his old school the Campion Jesuit High boarding school in Prairie du Chien, while also coaching football. In 1963 he moved to Marquette University, where he taught history until 1966 when he volunteered for chaplain duty with the United States Army. He first served in Germany but in 1969, at the age of 48, he volunteered for paratrooper training and then for duty in Vietnam where he would say he saw more evil than in the boy's hospital bed back in 1949. According to his brother John Halloran, he really wanted to work with the men. Halloran would helicopter in to the fighting zones, sometimes staying for days on end ministering to the soldiers. By the end of his service as a paratrooper chaplain in 1971, he had earned two Bronze Stars. When asked in an interview to make a statement on whether the boy had been possessed, Halloran responded saying "No, I can’t go on record, I never made an absolute statement about the things because I didn’t feel I was qualified."
Death
In 2003, Halloran was diagnosed with cancer and retired to the St. Camillus Jesuit Community in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, where he died on March 1, 2005.