[2] He gave up his study at Bristol University, and while backpacking met Burmese refugees who engaged his interest in the plight of ethnic minorities in Burma.
[4] This time, he spent 415 days in solitary confinement, before his release in October 2000, after pressure was exerted by the United Kingdom Foreign Office on the authorities in Myanmar.
[6][7] In February 2003, Mawdsley co authored New Ground, a pamphlet advocating foreign policy based around freedom, dignity and the rule of law.
[9] From November 2017 through August 2018, Mawdsley was assigned to the FSSP apostolate in Reading, Berkshire, where he served the Latin Mass centres of Bedford and Chesham Bois.
In response to Pope Francis' promulgation of his motu proprio Traditionis custodes on 16 July 2021 restricting the use of the traditional Mass and the 18 December 2021 clarification on its implementation released by Bishop Arthur Roche, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Mawdsley informed his superiors in the FSSP of his intention to leave the Fraternity in order to be able to speak out against the motu proprio without fear of reprisal from Church authorities.
After being suspended a divinis by FSSP leadership for, by his own admission, 'illegitimate absence' from his assigned duties, Mawdsley formally broke with the order in January 2022; shortly thereafter, he released a video on YouTube publicly castigating Francis and the Church hierarchy for their 'intention to eradicate the traditional liturgy.