Paul Joseph Bradley (born October 18, 1945) is an American

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pref ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. He was bishop of the

Diocese of Kalamazoo The Diocese of Kalamazoo is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the southwestern portion of the State of Michigan. The Diocese of Kalamazoo encompasses Allegan, Van Buren, Berrien, Cass, Saint Joseph, ...

in Michigan from 2009 to 2023. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania from 2004 to 2009.

Biography

Early life

Paul Bradley was born on October 18, 1945, in

McKeesport McKeesport is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is situated at the confluence of the Monongahela River, Monongahela and Youghiogheny River, Youghiogheny rivers and within the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The population ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, to John and Cecilia (née Pater) Bradley. One of nine children, he has one brother and eight sisters; two sisters, Roberta and Mariella, became nuns. Bradley attended St. Meinrad Seminary in St. Meinrad, Indiana, for his high school, college and theology studies.

Priesthood

On May 1, 1971, Bradley was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

to the priesthood for the Diocese of Pittsburgh by Bishop

Vincent Leonard Vincent Martin Leonard (December 11, 1908 – August 28, 1994) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania from 1969 to 1983. Biography Early life Vincent Leonard was bo ...

. He then served as

parochial vicar A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...

in the following Pennsylvania parishes: * St. Sebastian in North Hills * St. Paul in

Butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some a ...

* St. Kieran in Lawrenceville At the same time, Bradley earned a

Master of Social Work The Master of Social Work (MSW) is a master's degree in the field of social work. It is a professional degree with specializations compared to Bachelor of Social Work (BSW). MSW promotes macro-, mezzo- and micro-aspects of professional social wor ...

degree from the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

. In 1973, Bradley became the youth director for the Northwest

Deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residenc ...

, working there until 1975. In 1977, he became family life director for the Butler Deanery, working there until 1982. In 1983, Bradley became the director of the diocesan Office for Family Life. In 1988, he became diocesan secretary for human services, during which time he also served as co-pastor with then Reverend

Daniel DiNardo Daniel Nicholas DiNardo (born May 23, 1949) is an American Cardinal (Catholicism), cardinal of the Catholic Church. He is the second and current archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston ...

of Madonna del Castello Parish in

Swissvale, Pennsylvania Swissvale is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, east of downtown Pittsburgh. Named for a farmstead owned by James Swisshelm, during the industrial age it was the site of the Union Switch & Signal, Union ...

. In 1994, Bradley became pastor of St. Sebastian Parish. He also served as dean of the Northwest Deanery from 1998 to 2001. In January 2001, Bradley was named

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of St. Paul Cathedral and pastor of the cathedral parish . On November 7, 2003, he was made general secretary and

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop's ...

of the diocese.

Auxiliary Bishop of Pittsburgh

On December 16, 2004, Bradley was appointed auxiliary bishop of Pittsburgh and titular bishop of

Afufenia Afufenia (also called ''Afufeniensis'') was a Roman era city in the province of Byzacena. Its exact location is unknown, but it would have been situated in central Tunisia. Afufenia was also the seat of an ancient Catholic bishopric. and was me ...

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

. He received his

episcopal consecration A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or offic ...

on February 2, 2005, from Bishop

Donald Wuerl Donald William Wuerl (born November 12, 1940) is an American prelate, a cardinal, of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Washington, D.C., from 2006 to 2018. He was elevated by Pope John Paul II to serve as auxiliary bishop of S ...

, with then-Bishop DiNardo and Bishop

David Zubik David Allen Zubik ( ; born September 4, 1949) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who has been bishop of the Diocese of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania since 2007. Zubik previously was the bishop of the Diocese of Green Bay in Wis ...

serving as

co-consecrators A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churches, ...

, at St. Paul Cathedral. His selected as his episcopal motto "Waiting in Joyful Hope". In June 2006, Bradley was named

apostolic administrator An Apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...

of the diocese, serving until the

installation Installation may refer to: * Installation (computer programs) * Installation, work of installation art * Installation, military base * Installation, into an office, especially a religious (Installation (Christianity) Installation is a Christian li ...

of Bishop Zubik in September 2007.

Bishop of Kalamazoo

On April 6, 2009, Bradley was named the bishop of the Diocese of Kalamazoo. Succeeding the retiring Bishop James Albert Murray, Bradley was installed at St. Augustine Cathedral in

Kalamazoo, Michigan Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in the southwest region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Kalamazoo County. At the 2010 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 74,262. Kalamazoo is the major city of the Kalamazoo-Portage Metropolit ...

, on June 5, 2009. As bishop, he served over 107,000 Catholics in Southwestern Michigan. On March 22, 2014, Bradley released the following statement in response to a federal court ruling that the Michigan ban on

same sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

was unconstitutional:

With the stroke of a pen, the meaning of marriage, one of society's most sacred institutions and the very foundation of the family, has been redefined in our state.

On September 4, 2018, Bradley proposed a ten-step plan for overhauling church policies on the reporting of sexual abuse allegations. In January 2019, Bradley started a controversy when he assigned Archbishop Emeritus

John Clayton Nienstedt John Clayton Nienstedt (born March 18, 1947) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the eighth archbishop of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis in Minnesota from 2008 to 2015. He previously served as bishop o ...

, formerly of the

Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis ( la, Archidiœcesis Paulopolitana et Minneapolitana) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Catholic Church in the United States. It is led by an archbishop who administers ...

, to assist for several months at a parish in

Battle Creek, Michigan Battle Creek is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan, in northwest Calhoun County, Michigan, Calhoun County, at the confluence of the Kalamazoo River, Kalamazoo and Battle Creek River, Battle Creek rivers. It is the principal city of the Battle C ...

. Many parishioners did not want Nienstadt due to his previous failures to report sexual abuse claims. After two weeks, Nienstadt left Battle Creek. On January 19, Bradley made this statement:

Archbishop Nienstedt's presence has unintentionally brought about a sense of disunity, fear, and hurt to many of you during this brief period of time....As your spiritual father and shepherd, I regret that more than words can express.

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

accepted Bradley's resignation on May 23, 2023. In September 2023, Bradley was named as the administrator of the

Diocese of Steubenville The Diocese of Steubenville ( la, Dioecesis Steubenvicensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church covering thirteen counties in southeastern Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the Un ...

References

External links

Roman Catholic Diocese Of Kalamazoo Official SiteSt. Sebastian Church

St. Paul Church

Episcopal succession

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bradley, Paul J. 1945 births Living people People from Glassport, Pennsylvania 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Religious leaders from Pittsburgh University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work alumni Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology alumni Roman Catholic bishops of Kalamazoo Catholics from Pennsylvania