Expelled Transalpine Redemptorists Play 'Dirty Pool' - Really?

CathNews published an article on Monday 25th November with the headline "Expelled Transalpine Redemptorists Play 'Dirty Pool'. (Here)

Why did they not ask us what happened? This is what happened:

The building was indeed going to be bought by a Trust to be called "The Friends of Old St Alban's".
However, for legal and canonical reasons the building was bought in the name of 'Transalpine Redemtorists'. The Deed of Purchase was signed: Transalpine Redemptorists. Presumably the authority who signed the deed for the Anglican group saw that Transalpine Redemptorists were the purchasers. That is the name of the purchasers written in ink on the Deed that they signed. 

CathNews did not accurately report the Anglican statement which is: “At no point in our dealings with the lawyer was there information provided that identified that the effective owner would turn out to be the Alpine Redemptorists.” (Here) Quite correct. We are the Transalpine Redemptorists, not the Alpine Redemptorists.

Looking further:
The Anglican statement seems to affirm that they were ready to discriminate against our religious minority. It seems to imply that they would refuse to sell the building because of our identity and religious beliefs?

It sounds as though the Right Reverend Dr Peter Carrell would have been ready to interfere with New Zealanders' rights.
The 1990 Bill of Rights Act is in place to help ensure all people in New Zealand are treated fairly and equally? It "affirms the right of minorities to be free from discrimination."
In NZ it is illegal to refuse a sale because of a buyer's personal characteristics, e.g.: age, employment status, ethical belief, religious belief, political opinion. The Human Rights Act 1993 prohibits discrimination based on religious and ethical belief in the provision of "land, housing and accommodation".

The Anglicans "deconsecrated" the church and it became a building to be sold on the open market. If it had been bought as a workshop, an AirBnB rental, a hall or left to fall apart by a developer, the Right Reverend Dr Peter Carrell would not have spoken out. ....... Except...... if he had known that the "Alpine (sic) Redemptorists" were buying the building! Really? Was it so bad?

 

Poor Jesus Christ when Anglicans and Catholics gang up against selling a building to people who want to pray! Who want to kneel quietly and say their rosary or assist at a private Mass! Poor Jesus Christ when authority would boycott people who buy land to plant roses in memory of their departed parents and friends!   

Who were playing the 'Dirty Pool'?
Was it the Transalpine Redemptorists who using their own name bought a building?
Or was it the sellers who 'if they had known' were ready to discriminate against our minority because of our religious beliefs and devotions? 

Poor CathNews, you spewer of calumny and detraction!
Poor Jesus Christ!

Poor Sweet Jesus Christ our Redeemer.

Sin against the Holy Spirit to depose priests at personal discretion

" It is a sin against the Holy Spirit, who, through the sacrament of Holy Orders, has appointed bishops and priests as pastors of the Church of God (Acts 20:28), to depose them, or even secularize them, purely at personal discretion, without a canonical process. Objective criteria for disciplinary measures against bishops and priests are apostasy, schism, heresy, moral misconduct, a grossly unspiritual lifestyle, and obvious incapacity for office. This is especially true for the selection of future bishops when the candidate, appointed without careful examination, does not “have a firm grasp of the word that is trustworthy in accordance with the teaching (sana doctrina)” (Titus 1:9)."

 -Gerhard Cardinal Muller,

 22 November 2024 Here

No Crime - Only Punishment.

 Corpus delicti  (Latin for "body of the crime"), in Western law, is the principle that a crime must be proved to have occurred before a person can be convicted of committing that crime. For example, a person cannot be tried for theft unless it can be proven that property has been stolen. 

We have not been accused of breaking any law. But the local experts in canon law sentence priests and monks who have not broken the law. 

Canon 1321§1 was violated. It states: "No one can be punished for an external violation of a law or precept unless it is gravely imputable by reason of malice or culpability".
Before a punishment a warning is required by Canon 1339§3: "The fact that there has been a warning or correction must always be proven...". There were no canonical warnings, just sudden sentences.

General Precept requiring our departure for no crime committed. 

Since there was no corpus delicti, no external violation of the law there should be no punishment. Of course there was no warning because there were no violations to be given warning about.

Therefore let us respectfully agree that to suddenly punish a whole group of priests and monks with suspension of priestly faculties and to exile them from their homeland is wrong. It might even be an abuse of power. Catholic Faith and Discipline does not punish people who have been deemed "surplus to requirements", or because they are faithful to the old Mass.

We must hope that the bishop was simply badly advised by his canon lawyers and that soon matters will be favourably resolved so that the peace of Christ may rejoice in the hearts of all.

Wilderness of Mt St Joseph's Kakahu.

No monk or priest is surplus to requirements.

There should be no forced exile from whanau and New Zealand.

Separated apart - Why are we still here?

Why are we still here?

We are still here because we want to stay here as long as we can. We are peacefully resisting eviction from our monastery. Our monastery is our home and it connects us with the families and people who have need of the Traditional Latin Mass. We are here especially for them. It is a good thing that we own our monastery and oratory; it is a help to remaining here. And we will try our best not to be evicted because we are committed to being here for the good of souls.

Expulsion of the Carthusians by the Government in 1903

Eviction is a pretty horrible experience for anybody. In our time it does not happen very often that priests and monks are evicted from their homes. It happened in April 1903 when the French Government closed monasteries. Today the religious authorities want our eviction.

Eviction - Invasion - 'Booting Out' the Jesuits in 1880

As candidates for eviction we soon learn that we were to be avoided by decent people, and that we had been separated by authority. We felt that we were now to be viewed as bad Catholics and held in contempt. Those who plotted our eviction would now be satisfied and could say: "Good riddance!" "Can't wait for them to go!" "Get out of town." "We don't want to know you."

 Our ostracization was public: "Bishop Michael would like to remind the faithful that any public Masses those priests celebrate are illicit – that is, outside the rules of the Church." 

Now we were no longer counted as brethren and respected clergy. We were separated off as "... those priests...". We are separated-out to be ostracized, not by the NZ Government, but by the leading religious men who, for others, would protest that all men should be held as innocent until proven guilty of some crime.

But priests and monks who worship God in the Latin Mass are separated into a different class of people. We exist only in the lower of a two tier system. Before the Holy See has decided matters our presence has been taken from the Christchurch diocese website; our names have been deleted from the official list of clergy and wiped from the list of priests present as recorded in the New Zealand Clergy Directory.  

May ostracization and public separation cease. May sincere respect find its rightful place so that the Peace of Christ may rejoice in our hearts, in His kingdom of truth and justice. 

Letter from one of the Faithful - On the Threat of Losing Our Church.

 

The Oratory where is given a "rich, full and complete life of faith"

As one of the members of the Faithful associated with the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer, I would like to record some of my experiences surrounding the media reports and Apostolic Visitation. 

We have watched in stunned awe as our Priests and our community have been attacked in a truly brutal and merciless way - and we still have not been informed of what the accusations are, nor have we received any confirmations of guilt. 

Throughout the entire ordeal, beginning with the myriad of media reports which were littered with incorrect details and unproven accusations, right through the troubling and agonising Apostolic Visitation, we have listened to our priests speak from the depths of their pain, of forgiveness for our enemies and prayer for our persecutors.

        - The Retired Bishop of Toowoomba - 

During the Apostolic Visitation involving the retired Bishop of Toowoomba, many of us attempted to put forth our stories and holy experiences of the Oratory, to completely uninterested ears. There was a feeling that we were only being allowed to have meetings with the Bishop as some sort of formality, his mind already having been made up before even meeting with us.

Something is very wrong here. Completely innocent and uninvolved people, like the Brothers of the Oratory and the Daughters of the Most Holy Redeemer, have been audaciously asked to leave their homes FOR NO REASON! The innocent are being punished right along with those who are thought (but unproven) to be guilty. This is injustice after injustice.

"We do not simply go to the Latin Mass -
The Latin Mass is who we are." 

Our hearts have been broken with the threat that we might lose our church. We do not simply go to the Latin Mass - the Latin Mass is WHO WE ARE. It is so dear to us because it is deeply entrenched in our hearts and souls. The threat of it being taken away from us has caused so much pain and stress that it is indescribable.

One might ask, why is the Kaiapoi Latin Mass not an acceptable alternative? How can one single Mass replace all we have at the Oratory? The nine weekly Masses, the catechesis of children, the traditional pre-marriage preparation, the like minded community... The Oratory has not simply provided for us one Mass per week. It has given us a rich, full and complete life of faith, generously available to us at all times during the week and has even spilt over to times outside of Mass, where priests have ministered to us through the blessing of homes and land. 

How very blessed our children have been to be able to receive the correct formation and example at the Oratory, to have the privilege of sitting in a quiet and holy environment for Mass, to learn that receiving Our Lord on the tongue is the only acceptable way, to be part of the richness of Tradition and teachings of the Saints. 

And how blessed we have been as adults to be able to assist at Holy Mass without the fear of watching Our Lord being assaulted and abused in a myriad of ways, the worst being to be touched by the unconsecrated hands of the laity and possibly being stepped on as particles of the Sacred Host fall carelessly to the ground. How joyful it has been to feel the sacred silence in our church, instead of noisy chatter of adults and busy clattering and clambering of children who are not taught to sit in quiet reverence during Mass. 

What a joy it has been to have priests who are gently and confidently in charge of the spiritual formation of their Faithful, ready to direct them and minister to them the correct way, instead of priests (however dear they are) who have been fooled into thinking that catering to the whims of their people is the way to keep them happy.

"... to sit inside that sacred church..."

How edifying it has been to sit inside that sacred church and soak in the presence of God, to watch young teenagers enter the church after Mass of their own accord in order to venerate holy images, to see little children come in with permission from their parents to kneel down before statues of Our Lady and the Saints and whisper their pure and innocent little prayers and requests to heaven. I have adored Our Lord in front of the Blessed Sacrament in many Catholic churches but I have never seen behaviour like this in any of them.

At the Oratory, we are all people who have been to other Catholic churches in the past and we are acutely aware of the stark difference between them and the Oratory. Why is this Diocese and others around the world, closing down and selling churches? Why are the churches emptying? Why are the youth not interested in going to Mass? And why is the Oratory and other authentic Latin Mass churches, overflowing with eager people - especially youth - who are falling in love with their God, their faith and with Tradition, Truth and Beauty? It truly does speak for itself. But all of this begs the question - why would anyone want to eclipse that beauty and shut it down?

How can one Kaiapoi Mass replace this beautiful world of the Oratory which we have been privileged to be a part of? It doesn't come remotely close to being able to replace it. And why should it? This is still the question on all of our minds. Why should our priests and entire religious community be asked to leave Christchurch? What on earth is this gargantuan crime they have committed which would warrant such an extreme punishment or banishment? Why should we not be allowed to be part of our beautiful church any longer? Why should our children not be able to grow up in this environment of purity, beauty, tradition and serenity with complete lack of scandal or interference in their innocence? Why?

It is no secret that there is an attempt to suppress the Latin Mass world wide. What a tragedy and a travesty and a complete attack on what is true, good and beautiful. Those who are a part of it are embroiled in one of the greatest lies to ever have been propagated within humanity.

Let it be said publicly and openly - our hearts have been broken. I have watched my adult children cry tears of grief so pained, and I have joined them in their grief. I really can't think of many things that would be worse than losing our church. The levels of stress caused to many families has been severe. We have been shamed in public along with our priests. But that humiliation is nothing compared to the threat of losing our church.

The Private Association of the Daughters of the Most Holy Redeemer

 The background is important.

In 1966 there were 486 nuns in the diocese of Christchurch. How many are left today? How many do we see? The presence of Jesus and Mary alive in the consecrated sisters or nuns has been eradicated from our streets and from our schools. The loss of the religious sisters, their prayers, services and visibility is lamentable.

Soon after we were established in Christchurch, a young woman asked us to begin a branch for women who wanted to live a life of devotion similar to our own monastic-missionary life. We could not make them publicly professed nuns, we did not have the authority. But since what they desired was to live a life of devotion consecrated to Our Lord, I agreed to recognise them as our sister branch, they would be the Daughter of the Most Holy Redeemer as we are the Sons. They could not be publicly professed nuns, but since they did not seek that degree of recognition there was no problem. They would be a Private Association of devout women living a monastic life and given to works of charity. After all, the first monks and nuns were ordinary people who offered their lives in chastity to Our Lord. 

That is a background to the Daughters of the Most Holy Redeemer. They are not the 486 nuns of 1966. They are the eight very fine people who, in this desert of worldliness, chose to live a life of devotion, prayer and service in the spirit of St Alphonsus. 

On 13/14th July 2024 the Bishop of Christchurch publicly announced through a letter read in all the churches of the diocese that he had immediately suppressed the little community: "I am suppressing the Daughters of the Most Holy Redeemer, a private association established without approval from the local Ordinary."

In the Apostolic Visitator's report from Rome it was stated that the association was formed "without the knowledge or consent of the local Ordinary..."

This announcement placed these eight fine women under an atmosphere of suspicion. Perhaps it led a lot of people to consider them as frauds! Tht is how the media framed them. They were harrassed by The Press, photographed and publicly mocked. A drone took photos from above their residence. It was such that for some weeks the Daughters did not want to appear in public and went for their food in the early morning or late at night. 

That was not the way to treat women. No father would tolerate that treatment of his daughters. 

The public announcement of their "suppression" an act of public shaming and of ostracization. In this they suffered social and mental abuse. We hope this grave injury is soon healed because these valiant women live for Christ and with Christ. Any father would be proud to have them as his daughters and they deserve well of all the Catholics who see them or meet them.

Here I demonstrate that the Bishops of Christchurch positively did have knowledge of the Daughters. In varying degrees there was consent to their presence in the diocese.

First: On 24 September 2014 Bishop Jones, Bishop of Christchurch, wrote to the Daughters to tell them that he really enjoyed reading about their holy life. Therefore he knew about them. As bishop of Christchurch on his official paper he wrote to them. He did not dismiss them. He did not consider them fraudsters. In saying that he "really enjoyed reading about (their) holy life" he gave his initial consent to the early days of their fledgling community. He said that he would take it to his consultors and be in contact with them afterwards. They were later positively visited by the Vicar General of the diocese.

The Diocesan Administrator assists at the Solemn High Mass.

The Faithful file through to salute Our Lord in the Daughters' chapel.

Second: On 4 June 2018 The Administrator of the diocese, Msgr. R. Loughlan, assisted at High Mass in our Oratory. The purpose of his presence at the Mass was a further degree of consent to the presence of the Daughters in the diocese. He was present officially. He came to witness the Blessed Sacrament being placed in the tabernacle of the Daughters' chapel. Surely that is a degree of positive official consent? 

The Administrator of the diocese was accompanied by a large number of the Faithful. They publicly processed behind the Blessed Sacrament from the Oratory to the Daughters' House. The Blessed Sacrament was publicly placed in the Daughters' house precisely so that they could live with the sacramental presence of Jesus. The Faithful, waiting outside, came in turn to the Daughters' chapel and worshipped our Lord Who had taken up His residence there. It should be noted that when the Administrator of the Diocese gave his permission for the Daughters to keep the Blessed Sacrament, it was the Administrator himself who said that he would like to be present for the ceremony. 

We must conclude, against what the report from Rome stated, that the Bishops of the diocese both knew and to some degree did show their consent to the presence of the Daughters.

Third: On 19 May 2019 Bishop Paul Martin wrote to me to acknowledge reception of the Statutes of the Association of the Daughters of the Most Holy Redeemer. Because the Statutes were still in their formation draft he asked for a copy to be sent to him when they were finalised. 

Therefore he knew of the Daughters and he had received their draft Statutes. He never expressed any reserve either at the fact of the Association nor that I, as Rector Major, had erected their Association.

The official magazine of the diocese said of them: “The decrees Bishop Gielen issued also saw the suppression of the Daughters of the Most Holy Redeemer, an association established without Church approval within which a group of women presented themselves as nuns.”  This is a  statement about devout women living what Bishop Barry Jones called a "holy life", that he was "really happy to read about". It is a statement about devout women entrusted by the diocese of Christchurch with the Blessed Sacrament, living according to a draft Rule of Catholic spirituality that Bishop Paul Martin had received and accepted for what it was. To say that they "...presented themselves as nuns"  does not do justice to the esteem in which Bishop Barry held their holy life nor does it do justice to the truth.

I hope that very soon the eight Daughters of the Most Holy Redeemer will be well received by all. The Holy See has suspended the Bishop's Decree of Suppression of the Daughters until it is more thoroughly evaluated. The measure also permitted the Daughters to remain in the Diocese after 8 October 2024, which was the date on which they were to be expelled from the territory.

Devotedly
Father Michael Mary, F.SS.R. 
 

Throwing Flowers

 

Exile for us, who have not a lasting city, and seek one that is to come [St Paul to Hebrews 13:14], is a journey begun by the very act of our births. Only the King of Heaven gave Himself up to it even at His Incarnation. Every person is born, is weaned, goes out from a home, and dies: a basic list to which a vast plethora of different variants are added in the experience of different souls.

I count myself fortunate that my list has imbued my soul with a sort of affection for exile – so much so that I have pasted in my glasses case the text: “How shall we sing the song of the Lord in a strange land?” [Psalm 136, 4] Since my boyhood I loved to read about  exiles of various types; Solzhenitsyn’s purposely endless opening description of the variety of arrests; songs which spoke of the shackles as “bells” ringing out the progress of the advancing convoys; of Dostoevsky’s beautiful Gospel, which he received on the road to hard labour, and which he read almost constantly during that time; of St Rafał Kalinowski’s description of leaving Vilnius in convoy, when “the train departed, people moving along the heights that dominated the railway threw flowers on it as they do on graves of the dead at cemeteries”. Perhaps this seems strange reading for a boy, perhaps it was.  

On 10 July, 2024, when I, a lowly worker in our Christchurch Monastery, received a personal ukase (decree) of exile from Bishop Michael Gielen, it felt like nothing new. It echoed the above. It echoed the immigration apparatchiks (men of the system) I heard once at Heathrow as they went off duty: “Oh, what did you do with your Romanian?” “Ho, ho, I deported him.” It echoed the story related to us by a priest who as a boy was himself exiled to Siberia with his family, leaving his unburied sister in the living room laid out for her funeral. I feel as a number tattooed on an arm, a factor to be dealt with, a problem needing a final solution. It is a pity.

But the solidarity of the oppressed is a solidarity that - as love - is as strong as death.

What are the accusations against us?

 

The punishment we face is severe: removal of faculties for all our priests and expulsion from the Diocese of Christchurch, effectively forcing us out of New Zealand, destroying our good name, and publicly humiliating our members. This degree of punishment is generally reserved for the gravest offenders.

So, what accusations justify such measures? I don’t mean the claims made in the media, but the actual accusations investigated by the Vatican Apostolic Visitation, which led to these extreme penalties.

From the pulpits of the diocese, it was announced that these punishments followed the Vatican investigation of our community. Since Bishop Gielen arranged this investigation after the TV programmes, the implication is that the allegations contained in them were found to be true.

When asked for details by the media, “A spokesperson for the bishop refused to say what exactly the investigation found, but said ‘the actions speak for themselves’”, implying that the punishment itself was the justification.

The truth is, the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer have not been accused of any crime—neither by civil authorities, the Diocese of Christchurch, nor the Vatican, even after its investigation. The “recommendations” from the Vatican lack the citation of a single canonical crime committed.  The diocese of Christchurch “refused to say what exactly the investigation found,” because it didn’t find anything!

Bishop Gielen’s stated reason to us (different from what was suggested from the pulpits) was his desire to assign the Latin Mass Chaplaincy to another group, making our services no longer needed.

One of the harshest punishments possible, merely to change staff—without a single criminal accusation?

Do we even have a right to be in the diocese of Christchurch?

 

2014 Letter of Petition to Enter the Christchurch Diocese

Q.  Do we even have a right to be in the diocese of Christchurch?

This is a very basic question. 

History records that we first intruded into the Christchurch diocese in 2007. That is, we came without any invitation or authorization from the Bishop. In fact, the first Mass that we celebrated was at the Christchurch 'Rose Chapel' on Sunday the 8th July 2007.  That was the day following the Motu proprio of Pope Benedict XVI calling for communities such as ours to seek or renew full communion with the Church. It assured us that we could celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass as well as belong to the Church.

The only reason that we were considered to be "outside the Church" was that we held fast to the offering of the holy Latin Mass.

Over the months that followed that great motu proprio of the Pope, we sought to have our situation in the Church validated.

On 18 June 2008 we accomplished "reconciliation" with the Church through Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos but the actual journey was only beginning. 

From 2008 - 2013 we faced five years of constant opposition from within the Church hierarchy. We were Catholics in good standing but there were many difficulties to face. Someone wanted our monastery in Scotland to be broken up and for us all to be sent away; Faculties for Confession were extremely restricted and only the direct intervention of Pope Benedict XVI managed to gain us faculties to include the less that twelve Faithful living on the neighbouring island of Stronsay.

During this time we were in the Church but were like Catholics in Limbo: In the Church but in a painful no-man's-land. On 7 April 2010 I wrote to the Bishop of Christchurch offering to close down our Oratory in Rutland Street. Bishop Barry did not accept. He encouraged us to patience. He was a Good Shepherd, he never sought to crush us; the Oratory remained open; Christchurch diocese remained as a kindly refuge thanks to Bishop Barry, may is Name be held in our hearts!

2012 Letter from Bishop Barry even before we were erected as a Religious Order.

Opposition to our establishment as a Religious Order still dragged on. There were many visits to Rome. Eventually, William Cardinal Levada, Prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith (the CDF), stepped in to stop the underhand political games set on sinking us. He personally, and very kindly oversaw the completion of our Constitutions, and thus opening the way for us to become a Religious Order in the Church which happened on 15 August 2013. 

Whatever the future may hold by way of persecution and opposition, or even of fatal sinking, it remains that the Congregation of the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer is the first Religious Order in the Church to be founded by New Zealanders. What a grace! This grace from God, which we are not worthy to receive, makes us ready to bear opposition of any kind, for it has been a difficult road and we are only weak men. Like St Paul we hope that we do not crack or break, for we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency may be of the power of God, and not of us. (2 Cor 4:7)

(Bear in mind that if we were to be successfully expelled from the diocese it would unjustly exclude 20 New Zealanders from living in New Zealand, from their whānau, families and culture.)

Below are the letters by which the Congregation of the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer received canonical approval to live in the Diocese of Christchurch permanently. All Religious Orders canonically estabished in a diocese, like the diocese itself, are permanent structures. They are more permanent than  the priests and monks who come and go and pass into eternity; more permanent too than the temporary bishops who also come and go and pass into eternity; as does all mortal flesh of whatever rank.

A. The answer to our first question is that we do have a right to live permanently in the diocese of Christchurch by reason of our canonical establishment in the diocese on 15 April 2014.

 

28 April 2015 Bishop Barry Jones assists at Solemn High Mass.

 

28 April 2015 Bishop Barry Jones preaching.

 

28 April 2015 Bishop Barry Jones blesses the Oratory of our Mother of Perpetual Succour.

 

Blessing the external walls.

Quoniam elegit Dominus Sion

For the Lord hath chosen Sion: he hath chosen it for his dwelling.

Haec requies mea in saeculum saeculi; 

This is my rest for ever and ever: 

here will I dwell, for I have chosen it.  

Blessing, I will bless her widow: 

I will satisfy her poor with bread. 

I will clothe her priests with salvation: 

and her saints shall rejoice with exceeding great joy. 

(Ps 131)

Introduction - Necessary to be Read

Dear Family members of the Sons,
Dear Friends of the Sons,

On 11 July 2024 I was convoked to the office of the Bishop of Christchurch.

The meeting was brief. Without any previous warning, I was given 15 documents that attempted to invoke Canon Law in relation to our community. The documents were unclear to the extreme. There is some confusion around to intentions. However it seems as though this was trying to imply that our community should leave the Christchurch diocese within 90 days. The documents were an attempt to withdraw the priests' authority to hear Confessions within the area of the diocese. A final document (different from the one below) attempted to suppress the private community of the Daughters of the Most Holy Redeemer and it ordered them to leave the diocese within 90 days.

The General Expulsion Document. No. 4/16.

This is the first time in the history of the Church in New Zealand that any religious order has been placed under expulsion decrees and precepts. These drastic measures are most unjust severe penalties. 

The Decrees and Precepts left each and all of us reeling. The Mainstream Media carried the news to New Zealand, and the Internet carried it beyond.

This blog registers our personal reflections on our experience that has culminated in, and pivoted from the decrees of the 10th July 2024.

It needs to be said that the decision to publicly defend ourselves has been slow. The reason being that we do not wish to cause ourselves further persecution. But finally we have decided that we cannot permit our reputation to be further sullied. We should not remain silent so that people, waiting to know how we feel, think that we must be guilty of some henious crimes. We also have close friends and family, and Faithful who come to Mass here, all of whom have been embarrassed and shamed. Therefore, we are bound to speak out and explain to all our friends and families just what we have been going through in this ordeal that is actually a mental persecution that has involved ostracization, shaming, calumny, bullying, threatening and even stalking.  

This is not a place for 'dialogue', there will be no 'Comments' section. 

This blog will have posts written by different people who want to tell you, our families and friends, just how it has been for them, or what we think important to note in the attempted expulsion of our community.

Peacefully, prayerfully and as well as we can, this is our offering for those who cannot understand why we are still here, still living in the Christchurch diocese; why we have appealed the Decrees and Precepts to Rome; and why we have not "shaken off the dust from our feet" and gone away. Yet, here we are! Hoping that the active Catholics in the diocese would decide to live together so that the Peace of Christ would Rejoice in our hearts.

Devotedly
Father Michael Mary, F.SS.R.
Rector Major and Superior General

13th November, 2024
Holy Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces and Rosa Mystica pray for us.