Rebel order of Orkney monks to consecrate new bishop without Pope's permission

An order of Catholic monks in Orkney is due to consecrate a bishop this weekend without the blessing of the Pope.

The diocese of Aberdeen has warned the monks they are breaking the unity of the Church. The Order is already being investigated by the Vatican.

The Sons of the Holy Redeemer own the island of Papa Stronsay which is home to their Golgotha monastery.

The order's superior, Father Michael Mary, will be consecrated as a bishop in a four-hour long ceremony which will be streamed online on Saturday.

The monks are a Transalpine Redemptorist community of Catholic traditionalists who deny the legitimacy of Pope Leo XIV and his predecessors for the last 60 years.

The order is part of the diocese of Aberdeen, which has already condemned the consecration as an "act of schism".

In a pastoral letter to all parishes in the diocese, the Bishop of Aberdeen, the Rt Rev Hugh Gilbert, described the event as "spiritual suicide" for those who take part.

The ceremony is attracting international attention through the Order's online following among traditionalist Catholics across the world, especially in the Americas.

"Father Michael Mary is being consecrated as a bishop without a Papal mandate. This is incredibly significant within the Catholic Church because all bishops should have the approval of the Pope," said Luke Coppen, senior commentator with US Catholic website, The Pillar.

"The lack of this permission means the ceremony will constitute a formal break with the communion of the Catholic Church."

Coppen believes the order is willing to break with the Diocese of Aberdeen and the Vatican to secure its own long-term future.

He told BBC Radio Scotland's Around Orkney: "I think the community is seeking to perpetuate itself in the coming decades and it's very hard to do that without a bishop.

"Bishops play the important role of ordaining priests and confirming young Catholics in the faith.

"A bishop also gives them an independent source of continuity outside of Rome, because Rome is looking very carefully at this community and I think will not approve further ordinations within it."

Father Michael Mary is an inspirational figure among conservative traditionalists who want to overturn the changes to Catholic worship implemented following the Second Vatican Council 60 years ago.

In a recent blog, the 73-year-old monk described the present-day Catholic Church as a "new religion" intent on "the obliteration of the Latin Mass, the Catechism and the Sacraments of the True Church."

Stephen Kokx, editor-in-chief of Integrity magazine, and an American Catholic traditionalist commentator, has interviewed Father Michael Mary and other members of the order.

He believes the monks have an important role as a thorn in the side of "the squatters who currently occupy positions of influence in the Vatican".

Speaking of the likely sanctions the monks are now facing from the Vatican, he said: "If they are excommunicated, they should consider it a mark of honour."

The monastery suffered tragedy in April when 24-year-old Justin Evans, also known as Brother Ignatius, went missing. His body was later recovered from the sea.