70 Years a Jesuit

Father Jim Bradley, SJ, dedicated decades of his active ministry to Jesuit secondary and higher education, teaching and serving in leadership in Jesuit high schools. He was provincial of the former New Orleans Province from 1996 to 2002 and served as a superior of Jesuit communities.

This year celebrating 70 years in the Society of Jesus, Fr. Bradley is assigned to a ministry of prayer for the Church and the Society of Jesus at St. Ignatius Hall in Florissant, Missouri.

Born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Fr. Bradley entered the former New Orleans Province of the Society of Jesus in 1955. He was ordained a priest in 1967 and pronounced final vows in 1973.

He began a long career in Jesuit secondary education during his regency, teaching at Jesuit High School in New Orleans and later in Shreveport, Louisiana. He moved to administration as principal of Jesuit High School in Shreveport from 1971 to 1972, then at Jesuit High School of Tampa, where he became principal in 1972 and served as the school’s president from 1973 to 1976.

For over a decade, Fr. Bradley served as associate director and director of the Committee on Research and Development (CORD) of the Jesuit Secondary Education Association (JSEA) in New York, from 1976 to 1987. CORD’s principal mandates from the U.S. provincials were to develop training programs for leaders of Jesuit secondary schools and to help the schools develop curriculum, especially to reflect Jesuits’ concern for faith and justice.

Father Bradley was instrumental in developing the Profile of a Graduate of a Jesuit High School. The Profile is a list of the qualities Jesuit schools hope their graduates exhibit: Open to Growth, Intellectually Competent, Religious, Loving and Committed to Justice. Later, CORD developed the Curriculum Improvement Process to help schools develop a curriculum that would impart the qualities described in the Profile. CORD eventually developed an instrument to help Jesuit schools evaluate their community service programs. Many other Catholic schools have used this tool.

Following his work with CORD, he moved to New Orleans to serve as provincial assistant for education in the former New Orleans Province and teach at Loyola University, 1987-88. He then returned to Tampa to serve as the president of Jesuit High School for eight years while he continued to be involved in work that benefited all Jesuit schools. In addition to his work with CORD, he served on the JSEA board of directors on three occasions and served for six years as the chairman of another JSEA commission which worked with the presidents and principals of JSEA schools.

In 1996 he was named provincial of the former New Orleans Province, and he served in that role until 2002. From 2003 to 2009, Fr. Bradley served as rector at Loyola University New Orleans, and then as superior and director of the Ignatius Residence in New Orleans.

Father Bradley continued his ministry to his Jesuit brothers in Grand Coteau, Louisiana, where he was the director and assistant director of the St. Alphonsus Rodriguez Pavilion, an assisted living and nursing facility that served senior Jesuits. In 2019, as he celebrated 10 years in that role, Fr. Bradley said, “My current assignment is my favorite as I accompany my Jesuit companions along their final pathway to Heaven. Shortly before Jesus began to walk the path that led to his death on the Cross and Resurrection, he effectively told his apostles, ‘He who serves best leads best.’ So, I focus on serving the men in the Pavilion, trusting that the leadership will fall into place.”

In 2023, he accompanied the men of the St. Alphonsus Rodriguez Pavilion in their move to St. Ignatius Hall in St. Louis. Father Bradley continues in a ministry of prayer for the Church and the Society of Jesus there today.

Father Bradley’s Reflection on His Jesuit Jubilee:

My assignments as superior and director of the residences for senior Jesuits, where I served for 14 years, were the most meaningful of my ministry. I accompanied my Jesuit companions along their final pathway to Heaven. Today I occupy myself with research projects, including on intuition, and lead weekly discussion groups at Saint Ignatius Hall, the community of senior Jesuits where I live.