The Congregation of the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer (; FSSR), commonly known as The Sons and The Transalpine Redemptorists, are a

religious institute In the Catholic Church, a religious institute is "a society in which members, according to proper law, pronounce public religious vows, vows, either perpetual or temporary which are to be renewed, however, when the period of time has elapsed, a ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

canonically erected in the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Aberdeen The Diocese of Aberdeen () is a diocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in Scotland. Foundation The see is the successor of that founded in 1012 at Mortlach by Beyn, which was moved to Aberdeen, by Bishop Nechtan of Aberdeen in ...

and based on

Papa Stronsay Papa Stronsay (; ) is a small island in Orkney, Scotland, lying north east of Stronsay. It is in size, and above sea level at its highest point. After being largely abandoned, the island was bought at the end of the 20th century by traditional ...

in the

Orkney Islands Orkney (), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The plural name the Orkneys is also sometimes used, but locals now consider it outdated. Part of the Northern Isles along with Shetland ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, as well as in the city of

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, until July 2024. They were formed in 1988 as a traditionalist offshoot of the

Redemptorists The Redemptorists, officially named the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (), abbreviated CSsR, is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of pontifical right for men (priests and brothers). It was founded by Alphonsus Liguori at Scala ...

, following a

monastic rule Monasticism (; ), also called monachism or monkhood, is a religious way of life in which one renounces worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual activities. Monastic life plays an important role in many Christian churches, especially ...

based on that of Saint Alphonsus Liguori, and was later formally erected as a religious institute in 2012.

History

The community was founded as the Transalpine Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer on 2 August 1988 by the Redemptorist priest Michael Mary Sim as a traditional Redemptorist religious community affiliated with the

Society of Saint Pius X The Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX; ("Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X"), FSSPX) is a canonically irregular traditionalist Catholic priestly fraternity founded in 1970 by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. Lefebvre was a leading traditionalis ...

. Originally based at the Monastery of the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary on the

Isle of Sheppey The Isle of Sheppey is an island off the northern coast of Kent, England, neighbouring the Thames Estuary, centred from central London. It has an area of . The island forms part of the districts of England, local government district of Borough ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, they moved to the Mother of Perpetual Succour Monastery in

Joinville Joinville () is the largest city in Santa Catarina (state), Santa Catarina, in the Southern Brazil, Southern Region of Brazil. It is the third largest municipality in the southern region of Brazil, after the much larger state capitals of Curitib ...

Haute-Marne Haute-Marne (; English: Upper Marne) is a department in the Grand Est region of Northeastern France. Named after the river Marne, its prefecture is Chaumont. In 2019, it had a population of 172,512.Golgotha Monastery Golgotha Monastery is a monastery located on the Orkney island of Papa Stronsay. The monastery was founded in 1999, after the monastic community of the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer purchased the island that year from farmer Charles Ronald Smith. ...

, and have published ''The Catholic'' monthly since 1982. They promote a Redemptorist Purgatorian Confraternity. In July 2007 the institute established a second monastery in

. In June 2008, the community petitioned the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

for reconciliation and this was accepted by

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

who declared them to be in "canonical good standing" within the

. The was the main incentive which caused the community to reconsider their position. Most of the members accepted the move, while a remnant continue to be affiliated with the SSPX. They changed their official name to The Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer (FSSR), and made alterations to their

religious habit A religious habit is a distinctive set of clothing worn by members of a religious order. Traditionally, some plain garb recognizable as a religious habit has also been worn by those leading the religious Hermit, eremitic and Anchorite, anchorit ...

in order to more clearly differentiate themselves from that of the Redemptorists. However, they were not canonically established as a religious institute and thus their faculties for celebrating

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

were for some years restricted to the islands of

and

Stronsay Stronsay () is an island in Orkney, Scotland. It is known as Orkney's 'Island of Bays', owing to an irregular shape with miles of coastline, with three large bays separated by two isthmuses: St Catherine's Bay to the west, the Bay of Holland to th ...

. On 15 August 2012, the community of fifteen was granted canonical recognition as a clerical institute of diocesan right by Hugh Gilbert, Bishop of Aberdeen. In June 2013, the congregation celebrated the ordination in Rome of two of its members. During 2017 another small community was established at

Kakahu Kakahu is a locality in the Canterbury region in the South Island of New Zealand. It is located about 22 kilometers (13.6 mi) west of Geraldine. It is well known for its rich historical and geological history. History Kakahu Station run wa ...

by the Christchurch monastery. On 7 October 2020, the community was invited to establish a monastery in the Diocese of Great Falls–Billings,

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

, US. In 2023, a New Zealand journalistic investigation suggested abuse within the community, including multiple

exorcisms Exorcism () is the religious or spiritual practice of evicting demons, jinns, or other malevolent spiritual entities from a person, or an area, that is believed to be possessed. Depending on the spiritual beliefs of the exorcist, this may be do ...

being conducted on children without the approval of the local Bishop. Shortly after, Michael Gielen, Bishop of Christchurch suspended all exorcisms in the Diocese. The Rector Major of the order responded to all the accusations and denied them. He specifically stressed that no exorcisms without the approval of the bishop were performed, that none of two involved minors, and that certain allegations concerned a priest who was not a member of their community. The Bishop of Christchurch on 13 July 2024 disallowed priests of the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer to minister in the Diocese of Christchurch.Luke Coppen, "New Zealand bishop expels traditionalist order", ''The Pillar'', 16 July 2024
Retrieved 16 July 2024)

References

External links

Golgotha Monastery, Papa Stronsay, Orkney Scotland
(official website)
Transalpine Redemptorists at home
(official blog)
Friends of Papa Stronsay
{{Coord, 59, 9, 6.12, N, 2, 35, 12.2, W, display=title Traditionalist Catholicism in Europe Christian religious orders established in the 20th century Communities using the Tridentine Mass Ecclesia Dei Organisations based in Orkney Orkney Religion in Orkney Catholic Church in Scotland Catholic orders and societies Society of Saint Pius X

History

See also

References

External links