Fr Simon Bradbury is an old boy of St Bede’s Grammar School in Bradford and his family home is in Ilkley. He trained for the priesthood at Ushaw College, Durham, and was ordained to the priesthood in 1993, serving as an assistant priest in parishes in Bradford and Leeds. In this time he was editor of the diocesan newspaper, the Catholic Voice and established in 1995 what was to be the Leeds Diocesan newspaper for many years - the Catholic Post.
In 1996 he began a twenty year commission as a Chaplain in the Royal Navy. Providing pastoral and spiritual care to all souls at sea, in Naval bases and training establishments, Naval Chaplains bring the sacraments to people serving in all parts of the world. The ministry encompasses youth work, evangelisation, counselling, catechesis, hospital and prison visiting. They help equip highly motivated and courageous personnel with the personal ethics, coping strategies and resilience needed if they are to be successful in the maritime environment. Through faith, the Chaplain helps Service men and women make sense of conflict, separation, sacrifice, injury and, on occasion, death. To be credible, Chaplains undergo the same level of training as their Naval peers, becoming fully immersed in Service life. Unlike the Chaplains of other services, Naval Chaplains assume the rank of the person to whom they are talking.
Fr Simon served on board warships in the Indian Ocean, the South China Seas, the Arabian Gulf, the Mediterranean, the Southern Ocean, the Eastern Seaboard of the USA and Antarctica in frigates, minor war vessels, an ice patrol ship and a squadron of survey ships. He visited remote parts of the Antarctic Continent, the Falkland Islands and many parts of Africa as well as the Middle and Far East. In some of the poorer parts of the world he helped lead works of charity carried out by the ship's company in orphanages, hospitals and schools.
His shore time included the submarine base at Faslane, the Naval bases of Portsmouth and Devonport and the training centres at HMS Raleigh, HMS Collingwood and HMS Sultan. For three years he led the team of Chaplains at Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth and, for a time, was the editor of the Forces Catholic News.
During two years on exchange with the US Navy he worked in Washington DC in the policy department of the Chief of Chaplains office at the Pentagon, taught on leadership courses at the Chaplains’ School in South Carolina and worked for a time in the wounded warriors unit at what was then Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland. He also travelled to Navy and Marine units across the States as part of a mobile training unit. Their role was to equip Chaplains with the knowledge and skills needed to help them support their people in the issues which affected them including domestic violence, sexual assault, bullying, suicide, self harm and post traumatic stress disorders. When not travelling he ministered at weekends in St Peter's church in Columbia, SC, where he relished being part of a parish community.
He ended his time in the RN as Navy director at the Armed Forces Chaplaincy Centre near Andover, his priesthood having been shaped and moulded by two decades of Naval service.
After leaving the Service, Fr Simon spent six very happy years serving the people of St Peter & Paul’s parish in Wakefield before being appointed as parish priest of St Robert’s and parochial administrator of St Aelred’s in August 2021. He has two Samoyeds, Molly and Luna. Both enjoy serious walks in the countryside, trying (but failing) to catch squirrels and chasing (but refusing to return) sticks.
