Pope Leo XIV has appointed Canon Gerard Bradley as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Southwark.
John Wilson, Archbishop of Southwark, said: “It fills me with great joy to welcome Bishop-elect Gerard Bradley as Auxiliary Bishop of Southwark. I thank the Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, for his generosity and care in providing for the needs of our Archdiocese. Bishop-elect Gerard has served our Archdiocese with a prayerful and impassioned love of the Lord Jesus, and I know he will continue in this same spirit as a Bishop.
“Bishop-elect Gerard will be at the forefront of our evangelisation and missionary efforts, as we continue to work tirelessly to form a community of confident, joyful, and missionary disciples dedicated to leading people to Christ.
Bishop-elect Gerard Bradley said: “Every time the Lord calls you to a new role or ministry in His Church, whether lay or ordained, He does it is precisely to stretch your soul and deepen your faith beyond what you could ever have imagined or desired. He does it to open you up to new and greater levels of obedience and humility. With every change in our lives, the Lord is inviting us to draw closer to him because we are going to have to depend on Him more if we’re going to be sincere about renewing our service to Him.
“I carry these words of Our Lord in my mind before my ordination, which I’ve been thinking about since my teens: ‘Watch and pray’. Keeping my eyes open and fixed solely on Him, watching to catch glimpses of His presence, and to beg for His Gifts again and again.
“I thank the Holy Father for this honour to serve the Lord prayerfully and obediently in this new way. I also want to thank Archbishop John, and the many people: family and friends, parishioners and students who have loved and supported me, in many and different ways over the years.”
Bishop-elect Bradley graduated from King’s College London in 1983 with a Batchelor’s degree in music.
He was ordained a priest in 1991 by Archbishop Michael Bowen and his first post was as assistant priest in St Thomas of Canterbury parish, Rainham.
From 1995 he was Assistant Priest at St George’s Cathedral, and from 1998-2000 full-time hospital chaplain to St Thomas’ Hospital.
In September 2000, he joined the formation staff at St John’s Seminary, Wonersh with responsibility for the Spiritual Formation programme. He also served as house spiritual director, teaching music and liturgy.
In 2017 he became parish priest in Old Coulsdon and has served as Episcopal Vicar for the South West London Area of the Archdiocese since September 2022.