Parishioners of St. Peter the Apostle Church at 5th and Girard Avenue in Northern Liberties may recognize a familiar, friendly face these days. That’s because Father Alfred Bradley, a Fishtown local and native, has begun his ministry with the parish, just blocks from where he grew up.
Having lived on Dreer Street, Fr. Bradley grew up near the now-closed St. Boniface, and attended Holy Name School. He was baptized at St. Michael’s church and remembers the community’s focus on the Catholic faith fondly.
“St. Peter’s Church has always been very much part of the community,” Fr. Bradley said. “The church has always been a staple through times of flux. It once catered to the German immigrants, and as the neighborhood has changed, the community in which St. Peter’s serves has changed, as well.”
In a longstanding tradition of serving the immigrant community, St. Peter’s Church has a large population of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Central and South American, Polish and Filipino parishioners. St. Alphonsus Liguori, a priest from Naples, Italy founded the Redemptorists, the religious organization that runs St. Peter’s Church, to care for the poor and neglected. Because the Redemptorists believed in the community so strongly, when they built St. Peter’s Church, it became a place of gathering and worship for the neighborhood, who were largely immigrants.
Fr. Bradley remembers growing up through times of change. In the 1970s, residents were coming to terms with losing their jobs at the near-by mills and factories. As they began to close, the working class, blue-collar neighborhood that was, and still very much is Fishtown, began to change. People relied on their faith, and the community often sought spiritual guidance by going to mass at St. Peter’s Church. Father Bradley recalls how important the Shrine of St. John Neumann, which is part of St. Peter’s Church, has been to Philadelphia residents and the faithful nationwide.
“The Shrine of St. John Neumann is very unique. It’s one of two shrines in Philadelphia and brings an incredible amount of visitors searching for spiritual direction to its doorstep. Just the other day a busload of Korean Catholics from California came on a pilgrimage to visit St. John Neumann’s shrine. That’s the sort of effect St. Peter’s and the shrine has for people. It’s a really special place.”
It is hardly a surprise that Fr. Bradley would go on to become the pastor of St. Peter’s Church, as Fr. Bradley’s efforts for the Catholic Church have hardly gone to the wayside.
Before entering the seminary and to make extra money for the family, Fr. Bradley took a job at Murphy Parker, a bookbinding company. There he worked his way up from an assistant to an apprentice, learning to rebind hardcover medical books. He left Fishtown in 1979 to join the seminary. While in the seminary and during the time of mutual discernment between him and the Redemptorists, Fr. Bradley kept his job during the summers.
“It was a great job that taught me beneficial skills,” Fr. Bradley reflected. “They took me back every summer and I was able to learn a trade and contribute to my family’s income. They always saved my job for me and I am grateful for that.”
During his time at the seminary, he spent 10 years studying spirituality before professing his formal vows of poverty, chastity and obedience in 1988 in Washington D.C. The next year, he was sent to Holy Cross Church and Sacred Heart Chapel in Saint Croix in the Virgin Islands. It wasn’t long, though, before disaster struck.
On September 14th, 1989, Hurricane Hugo, one of the costliest hurricanes to hit the U.S., hit and decimated 98 percent of homes on the island. Because Sacred Heart Chapel was located in the heart of the housing projects, troubled times were aplenty. But after the hurricane struck, he had his work cut out for him.
One of Fr. Bradley’s first jobs as a pastor was to install a new roof on the church. Though resources and help were scarce, Fr. Bradley persevered and turned the once sparsely populated parish into a community: a thriving epicenter of faith, prayer and resolve.
Fr. Bradley returned from the Caribbean in 2002 and has since served in an eight member council as Father Moley’s Consultor in the Baltimore Province administration. He also served as Provincial Vicar for Father Patrick Woods and served as the Director of Facility Management for six years restoring cemeteries in Philadelphia and Baltimore.
Father Bradley has spent the last 9 years doing a lot of administrative work but still found time to preach missions. Now, though, his work has led him full circle and back to his roots.
“I feel like I’m stepping into big shoes. I’m gracious to be the new pastor of St. Peter’s Church. The shrine, the school and the parish mean a great deal to me and the community. During my time here, I want to stress that our parish is part of the fabric of the community, not an addendum.”
Fr. Bradley admitted that growing up in Fishtown, he would have never dreamed that he would do or see any of the things he has done in his life. He has met Pope John Paul II and Mother Theresa. He was the pastor to welcome past and current presidents, first ladies, congressmen, senators and other people of notoriety to Ted Kennedy’s Funeral Mass.
“I never imagined I would be back at St. Peter’s Church in my old neighborhood. God works in mysterious ways. I am very proud of this church, the school and the religious education program. When I found out this was my new assignment, I was touched. Now I am home.”
In the coming months, do your part to make Father Bradley feel welcome in his new post. A humble, kind and courageous friend and neighbor is home.
