Rev Father Simon Gillespie

Rev Father Simon Gillespie

Father Simon Gillespie is the Bishop’s Personal Secretary and the Episcopal Vicar for Catholic
Education. He has previously worked in the parishes of Our Lady of Victories, Southwell and
Saint Anthony, Calverton, Saint Mary and Saint Augustine, Stamford, Saint Thomas More,
Leicester, Saint Philip Neri, Mansfield, and Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Lincoln.

Prior to his ordination in 2012, Simon lived within the Cathedral parish, Nottingham and
worked in the legal profession, specialising in property law. He recently completed a licence
in Canon Law through the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium (2021), having graduated
with a Civil Law degree from the University of Manchester (1997) and a Canon Law degree
from the University of London (2008). Father Simon studied for the priesthood in Saint
Alban’s seminary, Valladolid and Allen Hall seminary, London, together with a year at the
Institute of Saint Anselm, Kent.

As well as parish duties, Father Simon helps to organise the annual Diocesan Lourdes
Pilgrimage, is one of the Defenders of the Bond in the Nottingham Tribunal. He edits the
Diocesan Yearbook, the Diocesan Ordo, the Nottingham section of the National Catholic
Yearbook and compiles the diocesan pastoral statistics. He has served as a foundation
governor and chair of governors on various school local governing bodies, and was Chair of
the Saint Gilbert of Sempringham MAT Board prior to its dissolution. In his spare time, he is
Group Scout Leader for a Catholic Scout Group in Nottingham and maintains links with his
alma mater, Heythrop College, University of London.