Peter John Holiday (born 11 January 1952) is a South African Catholic prelate who was the bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kroonstad, in the Ecclesiastical Metropolitan Province of Bloemfontein, in the Republic of South Africa from 1 April 2011 until his health-related resignation on 12 December 2022. He was appointed bishop on 1 April 2011 by Pope Benedict XVI and was consecrated on 25 June 2011 by Jabulani Adatus Nxumalo, Archbishop of Bloemfontein. Before that, from 10 December 1992 until 1 April 2011, he was a priest of the Catholic Archdiocese of Johannesburg. Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Bishop Peter John Holiday on 12 December 2022 due to the bishop's ill health.
He was born on 11 January 1952, in Durban, Archdiocese of Durban, Kwazulu Natal, in the Republic of South Africa. He attended the Salesian Boys High School, in Cape Town from 1967 until 1969. He then apprenticed as a printer and obtained a diploma in "Letterpress Machine Handling" in 1973. He worked in that role for the next 13 years. He then studied at Saint Peter's Major Seminary in Hammanskraal, in Gauteng. Later, he studied advanced theology at the Pontifical Urban University, in Rome, Italy.
He was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Johannesburg on 10 December 1992. He served as a priest until 1 April 2011. While a priest, he served in various roles and locations including:
On 12 December 2011, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Reverend Father Peter John Holiday, previously a member of the clergy of Johannesburg as the new bishop of the Diocese of Kroonstad. He succeeded Bishop Stephen Brislin, who had been appointed archbishop and transferred to the Archdiocese of Cape Town on 18 December 2009. Bishop Holiday was consecrated at Kroonstad on 25 June 2011, by the hands of Jabulani Adatus Nxumalo, Archbishop of Bloemfontein assisted by Stephen Brislin, Archbishop of Cape Town and Buti Joseph Tlhagale, Archbishop of Johannesburg.
On 12 December 2022, Pope Francis accepted the resignation letter submitted by Bishop Peter John Holiday from the pastoral care of the Catholic Diocese of Kroonstad, in South Africa. He lives on as Bishop Emeritus of that Catholic See.