Father Michael Mary’s consecration would be “unlawful”, a bishop has confirmed, but the men who intend to make it happen claim it will make Mary the only legitimate bishop in Oceania.
A priest who used to work with Mary is not surprised, saying he has heard about two priests who recently “fled” the monastery and hopes more follow.
Mary, whose legal name is Gregory Sim, is the Superior General of the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer, also known as the Transalpine Redemptorists. He intends to be consecrated on the Sons’ remote Orkney is land of Papa Stronsay, Scotland, in late July.
The unauthorised consecration heightens the risk of Mary’s excommunication. Excommunication is rare a move, but one the Vatican has recently threatened a separate group with if it also goes ahead with its unauthorised consecrations in July.
Aberdeen Bishop Hugh Gilbert, who originally helped the congregation gain legitimacy in the church and allowed them to operate in his diocese, confirmed Mary’s consecration would be “unlawful and a grave act of disobedience”.
“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,” he said.
“No member of the faithful should attend. This action is not ‘for the good of the Catholic Church’ as is falsely claimed,” he said in a statement to parishioners. This development is greatly to be regretted and we can only pray that those concerned have a change of heart.”
The announcement was made by Monseigneur Pierre Roy, a Canadian Bishop who operates outside of the Catholic Church.
According to Roy, Mary, who is being investigated by Gilbert for “heresy and schism” and may face disciplinary action in Aberdeen, would live primarily in New Zealand.
Mary was being consecrated without the Pope’s permission because the governing body Catholic Church was “clearly occupied by the enemies of God,” Roy said.
A spokesperson for the Catholic Diocese of Christchurch said illicit ordination would not change any local decrees, which remain in force.
Religion expert Peter Lineham said it was the group’s most significant schismatic act against the Catholic Church yet, as the creation of new bishops absolutely needed the approval of the Pope.
Bishops have the authority to create new priests and can discipline, or place proclamations on, other people, such as the orders Christchurch Bishop Michael Gielen placed on the Sons’ members forbidding priests from giving mass. “The Catholic Church can move slowly ... but there’s no question about where it will end. It is absolutely [leading to] excommunication,” Lineham said. “That letter [Roy’s] denounces the church as the epitome of evil ... this cements the schism that was clearly happening.”
Father Colin Marshall, a traditional Latin mass priest and early member of the Sons, believed Mary had always been anti-authority and was not surprised.
Marshall left the Sons in 2010 after two decades with Mary, but continues to practice the old rites. He said Mary would in effect “be his own Pope” if illicitly consecrated. “I’m glad two priests and a subdeacon have fled the monastery and I hope others do too, especially those I used to know,” he said.
Marshall was referring to professed members who left the Sons in April, about the time 24-year-old monk Justin Evans, or Brother Ignatius, went missing. Evans was later found dead.
Father Anthony Mary, another leader of the Sons, said in an interview with Catholic radio show The 13th Apostle that two priests and a brother “tried to secretly leave” the island.
“They were found out on the day that they were going to leave. Father found ... they’d used their laptop against, without, permission,” he said in the interview, uploaded on May 3.
He said the men did not have his permission to leave, but had received the local bishop’s permission, proving the bishop had “worked against us”.
The group’s professed members, including Mary, were ordered to leave Canterbury following a Vatican investigation into abuse allegations. The findings are sealed and the Sons have denied wrongdoing.