Sevevacantist

The Bishop of Aberdeen has warned Catholics not to attend the planned episcopal consecration of Fr Michael Mary on Papa Stronsay, saying any such ordination would be unlawful and a grave act of disobedience The Bishop of Aberdeen has warned Catholics not to attend the planned episcopal consecration of the founder of the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer by a sedevacantist bishop. The statement by Bishop Hugh Gilbert OSB follows the announcement that Fr Michael Mary, the founder and Rector Major of the congregation based on the island of Papa Stronsay in Orkney, is due to be consecrated a bishop on 25 July by bishops associated with the sedevacantist movement. In a statement issued after news of the planned ceremony reached the Diocese of Aberdeen, Bishop Gilbert said he was obliged to clarify the Church’s position because the consecration is expected to take place within the geographical boundaries of his diocese. “Any such episcopal ordination would be unlawful and a grave act of disobedience, separating those taking part from communion with the Catholic Church,” the bishop said. “No member of the faithful should attend. This action is not ‘for the good of the Catholic Church’ as is falsely claimed.” The statement added: “This ordination would be celebrated without a papal mandate, by a group of bishops who deny that Our Holy Father Pope Leo XIV is actually the pope.” His Grace concluded: “This development is greatly to be regretted, and we can only pray that those concerned have a change of heart.” The statement marks the latest chapter in a dramatic rupture between the community and Rome that has unfolded over the past two years and culminated in plans for an episcopal consecration without papal approval. The announcement was made earlier on 18 June by Bishop Pierre Roy, a Canadian sedevacantist bishop, who said that Fr Michael Mary would receive episcopal consecration at the monastery on Papa Stronsay with the assistance of Bishops Rodrigo Ribeiro da Silva and Fernando Altamira. In a lengthy explanation of his decision, Bishop Roy argued that the congregation’s growing international presence required a resident bishop. He said the order now has a presence in Scotland, New Zealand and the United States, and undertakes apostolic work elsewhere in Oceania. “The Redemptorists have houses in Scotland, New Zealand, and the United States,” he wrote. “From these houses, they visit Samoa, Australia, and other places.” Bishop Roy argued that it had become increasingly difficult for him to provide oversight personally and said it was “reasonable and necessary to give the Redemptorists a bishop who could properly care for a flock that already knew the sound of his fatherly voice”. Bishop Roy openly acknowledged that the consecration would take place “in the absence of an apostolic mandate”, arguing that the Holy See is occupied by illegitimate authorities and therefore incapable of granting one. That position is the central claim of sedevacantism, a movement which maintains that there is currently no valid pope. Although different groups identify different points at which the papacy supposedly became vacant, they generally argue that the reforms and teachings associated with the Second Vatican Council demonstrate that recent pontiffs could not have been legitimate successors of St Peter. Founded in 1988 by Fr Michael Mary, during a period of intense turmoil following the episcopal consecrations carried out by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre that same year, the congregation eventually established itself on Papa Stronsay, a remote island in the Orkney archipelago. The election of Pope Benedict XVI appeared to heal divisions with some traditionalist communities, and the congregation sought reconciliation with Rome, entering into full communion with the Holy See in 2008. That reconciliation appeared to be firmly consolidated in 2012 when the community received formal canonical recognition from Bishop Gilbert as a diocesan institute within the Diocese of Aberdeen. For a period, the congregation seemed to have secured a stable future within the life of the Church. However, tensions later emerged, particularly following controversies connected with the community’s activities in New Zealand. Disputes concerning alleged exorcisms and wider questions of governance and ecclesial obedience led to increasing scrutiny from Church authorities. Matters eventually reached a turning point when Bishop Michael Gielen of Christchurch withdrew the community’s faculties and ordered its departure from the diocese. Appeals failed, and relations between the congregation and ecclesiastical authorities deteriorated rapidly. The decisive break came when the community publicly rejected key developments in the post-conciliar Church and concluded that the Catholic faith could not be reconciled with what it described as the modern Church that emerged after the Second Vatican Council. That declaration prompted a strongly worded response from Bishop Gilbert, who said the diocese “deeply regrets the tone, direction and key elements” of the community’s position and warned that it was incompatible with the Catholic understanding of ecclesial unity.