An order of Catholic monks in Orkney has consecrated a bishop 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, was consecrated as a bishop in a four-hour long ceremony which was 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.
Papa? Also there should be a metal band called Golgotha Monastery.
There are a number of places in Orkney and Shetland with “Papa” in the name. I hadn’t heard of Papa Stronsay before, but I had heard of nearby-ish Papa Westray from an old Tom Scott video: that’s where the shortest scheduled passenger flight in the world is, the two-minute flight from Papa Westray to Westray and vice versa, operated by Loganair.
Anyways, the reason why there’s so many places called “Papa” in the Northern Islands of Scotland is because of the monks. More specifically, the hermit monks in the Early Middle Ages known as the Papar. So it literally is called Papa Stronsay because it is (or more importantly was) the place with all the Fathers.
Daddy Island
There’s a Spanish death metal band called Golgotha at least.
I assumed there are already many metal bands called Golgotha. Now that I’m thinking of it maybe Golgotha Monastery would be better used by a sarcastic indie band.