A monastic order in Scotland has been told it faces severe sanctions from the Church if it follows through on a plan to consecrate its own bishop. Source: The Tablet.
The Aberdeen Diocese has told the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer on Papa Stronsay , an island in the Orkney group, that their plan to consecrate Fr Michael Mary is “unlawful and a grave act of disobedience” that could result in “separation” from the Church.
The monastic group has been investigated for heresy by the diocese, after labelling the Vatican infiltrated by what the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer identify as unwelcome “modernist tendencies”.
This parallels the excommunication on Christmas Eve 2020 of three Black Hermits on nearby Westray, also in the Orkney group, for claiming that Pope Francis was a heretic and that under him the Church was a sinking ship.
Fr Michael Mary, who leads the monastic community on Papa Stronsay, denies the authority of the Pope and the Vatican.
The plan is to install the priest on July 25 in a ceremony to be led by Bishop Pierre Roy and others who hold allegiance to the “sedevacantist” tendency that claims Pope Leo XIV’s election was illegitimate and that the papacy has been vacant since the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958.
The Bishop of Aberdeen, Hugh Gilbert OSB, has warned, “Since this consecration is due to take place within the geographical boundaries of the Diocese of Aberdeen, I am obliged to make clear to the faithful of the diocese that any such episcopal ordination would be unlawful and a grave act of disobedience. It would separate those taking part from communion with the Catholic Church.”
The dispute follows the disappearance and death by drowning of a member of the community, New Zealand-born Justin Evans, known as Brother Ignatius.
The order had previously faced accusations of abuse, bullying and psychological torture.
The Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer, also known as Transalpine Redemptorists, have a community in New Zealand that has also faced allegations of abuse and of irregular exorcisms.
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Monks in Scotland warned against consecrating their own bishop (By Brian Morton, The Tablet)
