It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Fr Simon Bishop SJ, who died on the evening of Sunday 4 January 2026. He was 58 years old and in the 33rd year of his religious life. May he rest in peace.

Simon Bishop was born in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on 28 March 1967, the youngest of four children of George (who died in 2001) and Dawn. He was baptised at St Peter’s, Oyster Bay, on 8 April 1967. Several happy early years were spent in Fiji before the family returned to Britain. Simon was confirmed at St Peter’s, Stonyhurst, on 4 November 1979.

He was educated at Stonyhurst College from 1975 to 1985, where qualities that would remain with him throughout his life were already apparent. One Jesuit who was starting to teach there recalls encountering him as a schoolboy serving at the altar: “There was this little carrot-head waiting for me with a welcoming smile. He knew exactly what to do and did it with grace and dignity.” In his final year at Stonyhurst, Simon was taught Scripture in preparation for university, and was remembered as thoughtful, generous, and deeply engaged. He was also a keen sportsman, playing cricket both at school and later at university.

Simon went on to study Theology at Cambridge University (1986–89). Friends recall watching him play cricket for the University during these years and accompanying him on pilgrimage to Lourdes, experiences that reflected both his sociability and his growing spiritual depth. After Cambridge, Simon trained as a social worker at the University of York (1990–92). During these years, those close to him sensed an evident vocation taking shape. As one Jesuit later reflected, “I found myself wondering why he was not applying to enter the Society … and eventually he gave in to the Lord.” Simon entered the Jesuit novitiate in Birmingham in September 1993, on the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows.

From the very beginning of his Jesuit life, his qualities were apparent to those around him. A fellow novice recalls that “from the first day of the novitiate” Simon was unselfish, focused on others, and genuinely interested in them. Studies in philosophy followed at Heythrop College (1995–98), after which Simon undertook Regency at Wimbledon College, working in teaching and youth ministry. He then moved to Paris to study theology at the Centre Sèvres, where he was ordained deacon at St Ignace in 2003. Later that same year, he was ordained priest at the Sacred Heart, Wimbledon, a moment remembered with great joy by those who had accompanied him from his early years.

In 2004, Simon was missioned as Chaplain to St Aloysius’ College, Glasgow. Here, his focus on other people and their needs became especially visible. One Jesuit recalls walking with him from the Jesuit house, which was then in Woodside Place, to the College, a walk of about half a mile, and observing how Simon greeted, by name, everyone they encountered: “He knew the name of every person he saw on that journey and greeted them all by name, every coffee-seller, every beggar, every person walking their dog, and certainly every pupil and every member of staff. He had an incredible ability to befriend, but he could do it because he was genuinely interested in every person he met.”

Appointed Vocations Promoter in 2006, Simon accompanied many as they discerned their calling. In 2009, he undertook Tertianship in Australia, travelling via Guyana, before returning to the British Province. He was then missioned to the Oxford University Chaplaincy, first as Assistant Chaplain and, from 2010, as Senior Chaplain. During his years in Oxford, Simon took his Final Vows in November 2011.

Oxford was also a place where many experienced Simon’s calm, reflective spirituality and gentle joy. From 2013, he served as Chaplain to the Oxford Leg of the Student Cross pilgrimage. Those who journeyed with him remember that “he brought the leg calm, reflective spirituality, and joy — his sense of humour was evident throughout.” He also drew other Jesuits into this work, including novices, quietly modelling companionship in mission. Jesuit friends recall overlapping with him in Oxford, sharing ministry, conversation, and sacramental life, including hearing one another’s confessions. On one such occasion, Simon’s radiant smile after absolution was accompanied by the words, “What a privilege to be able to say those words!”

After three years from 2014 as Director of Spirituality for the Province, Simon was appointed Novice Master in September 2017. In this role, his deep prayerfulness shaped the life of the novitiate. A former novice remembers praying the rosary with him while driving to a retreat day through heavy traffic and roadworks, invoking the saints at the start of ordinary activities, and learning from his quiet fidelity to religious life: “His piety always also matched by his fraternity and friendship, joining the novices occasionally as we played sports, gardened or watched a film on a Saturday night. Simon's presence and example will have marked and inspired the entire cohort of men currently in formation prior to ordination in the British Province.”

It was during his time as Novice Master that Simon’s illness first emerged. Even so, he continued to serve for as long as and in whatever ways he could, becoming an exemplary presence in the Birmingham community. Friends recall his openness about his diagnosis, his gratitude for prayer, and the steady, hopeful faith with which he carried this final chapter of his life. Even in his later years, those who knew Simon noticed that his core qualities endured and deepened. One friend recalls: “A year or so ago I went to Manresa to talk to him about the new buildings. The same delightful smile, the same humility, the same lack of pretension. He never really changed, just became more enthusiastic for the things that really mattered, more deeply Simon.”

In a recent interview with The Way, the Jesuit international journal of contemporary Christian spirituality, Simon reflected on his life and ministry:

“I suppose my Jesuit life has changed, and I have been asked to be in different places and do different things. Most recently I have needed to go to hospital for various treatments and, lying on an operating table or in surgery or follow-up treatment with a necessity for all sorts of other treatments, in the quiet there, I have found myself saying that simple prayer: There is nowhere else that I would rather be. Somehow the Lord is asking me to be with Him here in this place at this time.

“If we really believe that—that somehow we are this place where the Lord can be, and the Lord is also at home in you, in me, in those we meet, in our world—how could we destroy our world? How could we do or say something harmful to another person?

Fr Simon Bishop SJ was, as one Jesuit wrote, “a wonderful Companion in the Lord, and an example to us all.”

We give thanks for his generous life and ministry, and we pray for the repose of his soul and for the consolation of his family, friends, and all who knew him.

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For those wishing to send condolences for Fr Simon Bishop SJ, please send them to dsmolirasj@jesuit.org.uk.

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Service information

Details of Fr Simon’s Requiem Mass will be shared in due course.

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