BIOGRAPHY OF REV. DONALD J. PLANTY, JR.

Father Don Planty hails from a U.S. Foreign Service family, so he grew up living in Latin America and Western Europe; but home in the States was Reston, Virginia, where he attended public schools. He graduated from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, majoring in Government and in French, having spent his Junior Year in Montpellier, France, and having been elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

Father Don then attended St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he received an M.A. in Theology, and was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Arlington in 1993. He subsequently served as Parochial Vicar both at St. Charles and at the Cathedral of St. Thomas More in Arlington. Beginning in 1996, he studied in Rome, in preparation for the diplomatic service of the Holy See, and obtained a Doctor of Canon Law degree from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, writing his dissertation on the laws governing sacred architecture. His work with the Holy See included service at the Secretariat of State in Vatican City, in Egypt, in Ethiopia, and in Eritrea. Father Don returned to the diocese in 2003, and since then has served as Pastor at Holy Family Parish in Dale City, as Head Chaplain of Christendom College in Front Royal, and as Pastor of St. Charles Parish in Arlington since 2014.

Father Don is fluent in Spanish, French and Italian, has eclectic taste in music–including Bluegrass and Flamenco, for example–and enjoys indoor climbing, riding his motorcycle, and meal-sharing.