A Deceased Monk, 3 Fugitives & an Excommunicated Bishop
The strange case of the Transalpine Redemptorists
On July 25, sedevacantist Bishop Pierre Roy consecrated sedevacantist Bishop Michael Mary, founder and superior of the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer, also known as the Transalpine Redemptorists.
The monastery, called Golgotha, sits on the isolated island of Papa Stronsay in the Orkney Islands, off the western coast of Scotland.
The Transalpine Redemptorists were created in 1988 under Abp. Marcel Lefebvre, who founded the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX). The monks are unrelated to the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists).
Originally based on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent, the monks relocated in 1994 to Joinville, France, before buying the island of Papa Stronsay in 1999. They also had a monastery in New Zealand until 2024.
The monks returned to full communion with Rome in 2008, only to cut ties with the Church last year, declaring that "the chain of command has been broken." In a declaration in May, the monks claimed Pope Leo XIV is "is no Pope at all."
Bishop Roy was also formed in the SSPX, leaving in 2016 over fears the SSPX would reunite with "Apostate Rome."
Bishop Michael Mary told media that "heaven and history will smile upon Papa Stronsay," claiming his consecration would be the first legitimate consecfration in Orkney for nearly a millennium.
"The Episcopal Consecration to be carried out on July 25 in Papa Stronsay will be the first pre-1968 episcopal consecration in 976 years," said then-Fr. Michael Mary.
The monastery, under the jurisdiction of the diocese of Aberdeen, is at odds with its bishop, Hugh Gilbert, who said the consecration was "unlawful and a grave act of disobedience."
The bishop recently expanded provision for the Traditional Latin Mass by authorizing two former priests of Papa Stronsay to offer the Mass more frequently. Instead of once a month, the traditional liturgy is now being offered every Sunday at the Church of Our Lady of the Garioch and St. John the Evangelist in Fetternear, Aberdeenshire.
MONK GOES MISSING
The community is the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation, after a monk went missing in April, only to be found dead a month later. The circumstances surrounding his death remain mysterious.
Twenty-four-year-old Justin Evans disappeared from Golgotha Monastery around midnight on April 11.
Police Scotland conducted extensive searches on the islands of Papa Stronsay and Stronsay, including along the shorelines, as well as coastal areas and other nearby islands.
During his disappearance, three members, including a priest, fled the monastery under cover of night, taking refuge with the bishop of Aberdeen.
"They got on the evening boat and [we] never heard a word again," said Fr. Anthony Mary, vicar general of the group, in a May 4 radio interview with EWTN.
The ex-monks accuse Fr. Michael Mary (now bishop) of psychological manipulation and abuse.
They aren't the first to flee. Other members have also escaped the island.
According to ex-members who have spoken to the Orcadian, they found it difficult to leave the monastery, saying that "you couldn’t freely leave without grave spiritual consequences."
"There was no physical restraint but instead psychological manipulation and fear," said one former member.
Another ex-member "was terrified that he was going to go to Hell for leaving," his friend describing him as in "real emotional distress."
Other ex-members have accused Fr. Michael Mary of exercising extreme control and imposing harsh penances, including licking the floor in the shape of a crucifix.
While law enforcement said at the beginning of the search that they found no evidence of "any suspicious circumstances or criminality," it is not the official conclusion of the investigation, which remains ongoing.
UNAUTHORIZED EXORCISMS
Other reports were made against the group in Christchurch, New Zealand, leading to a Vatican investigation. The local bishop eventually stripped the priests of their faculties and asked the group to leave in 2024.
"Priests were accused of tying people up during exorcisms and screaming at them for hours," according to one report.
Another report claims a young pregnant woman was tied to a chair and beaten, in order to have the "devil cast out" of her.
There were also allegations that young children were involved in exorcisms, although Fr. Michael Mary claims these were minor exorcisms that did not require the permission of the bishop.
The group was also accused of isolating children from parents.
Seventeen people had expressed concerns about the group's practices, highlighted on New Zealand television's NewsHub.
Ex-members wonder if Evans was attempting to flee the island when he disappeared.
His body was found washed up on the shore on May 6. He was buried on the island on May 13. According to a blog post by the monks, Evans is "presumed to have drowned at sea, but the circumstances of his disappearance and death remain shrouded in mystery."
The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service have confirmed that investigations into the death remain ongoing.
SSPX PREDATOR SENT TO PAPA STRONSAY
Papa Stronsay was home briefly to Fr. Benedict Van Der Putten, SSPX, accused by multiple girls of sexual abuse.
In 2001, SSPX Superior General Bishop Robert Fellay sent Van Der Putten to the remote island, presumably for prayer and penance, without informing the monks of the allegations.
The account is documented in the investigative document Spotlight: SSPX Predator in Our Midst.
Van Der Putten was eventually laicized, and is listed as a credibly accused priest in the diocese of Scranton, Pennsylvania.
The SSPX has not listed his name among credibly accused clergy because it remains one of the few groups in the Catholic world that refuses to publish such a list, in spite of an alarming track record of abuse, including a number of recent cases:
- the 2024 arrest of Fr. Jean-Luc Radier, SSPX for child sex crimes
- the 2023 arrest and conviction of Fr. Arnaud Rostand, SSPX, former U.S. district superior, who confessed to abusing seven children
- the 2023 arrest and conviction of Fr. Pierre de Maillard for abusing 27 children (considered France’s "greatest serial predator")
- the 2023 arrest and conviction of Fr. Matthew Stafki, SSPX, for molesting his six-year-old niece over the course of three years
- the 2022 arrest and imprisonment of Fr. Frederic Abbet, SSPX, convicted of abusing five young boys
Many other cases of abuse have been documented.
The Transalpine Redemptorists claim they were not told of the abuse allegations against Van Der Putten at the time, calling him "an unstable nuisance." They eventually asked him to leave the island.
