Editing Patriarch Simon XVI (section)

==Early life==
Jonathan Joseph Alderdyce was born in Haberry, a district of [[Baium]], a port city on the southern coast of Sanctaria in September 1929. His father, Joseph, was a teacher and an active member in the family's local church. His mother, Maria, died in childbirth with Jonathan's younger sister, called Maria in her mother's honour, in 1934. He attended a Church-ran school in Haberry, and in 1948 graduated from his high school with a diploma. A poor student, later diagnosed as an adult with dyslexia, Alderdyce's father's connections in the Church secured him a place at St. Michael's Seminary, a training college for priests, in the city of [[Haven]] located in the eastern part of Sanctaria, away from his family in Baium.

He entered seminary in 1949, and was ordained a priest in October 1953. He celebrated his first mass with his family and neighbours in Haberry in the same church where he attended as a child. Although he considered further clerical education, Alderdyce's superiors convinced him that, due to his adverse scholarly history, immediately turning to parish work would be where he was best suited. Alderdyce petitioned the diocese of Baium to be stationed at a parish in the city so he could be close to his family; in January 1955 he was appointed parish priest of Millnea, a district of Baium, located just a few kilometres from his home district of Harberry.