A sedevacantist group of monks in Scotland hosted an illicit consecration of a “bishop” on July 25 in spite of repeated warnings that doing so would constitute a schismatic act and a break from the Catholic Church.
The Transalpine Redemptorists, or the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer, livestreamed the counterfeit ceremony from their monastery on Papa Stronsay, an island that forms part of the Orkney archipelago in Scotland.
Aberdeen Bishop Hugh Gilbert had warned in a pastoral letter on July 18 that the consecration would constitute an “act of schism” that would “place those engaged in it outside the Catholic Church.”
The ceremony was performed by Bishops Rodrigo Ribeiro da Silva, Fernando Altamira and Pierre Roy. Gilbert referred to the three as “unauthorized bishops from the Americas.” The ersatz consecration was done on Father Michael Mary, a priest of the order and its rector.
The Transalpine Redemptorists earlier in 2026 publicly denied the legitimacy of the modern papacy. In May they released a sedevacantist statement declaring that they would give “no juridical recognition” to Pope Leo XIV and other popes who have “departed” from the faith in the decades since the Second Vatican Council.
The three bishops that performed the nominal consecration are reportedly sedevacantist as well.
Bishop Gilbert had previously warned of the consecration ceremony in June, noting that the event “would be celebrated without a papal mandate” and would be “unlawful and a grave act of disobedience.”
Even before the several controversies in 2026, the Transalpine Redemptorists had been involved in disputes regarding canonical violations.
In August 2025 the Vatican allowed the Diocese of Christchurch to ban the order from public ministry in that diocese amid allegations of unauthorized exorcisms.
Christchurch Bishop Michael Gielen had said in July 2024 that the community had been subject to an apostolic visitation by Australian Bishop Robert McGuckin.
The bishop had removed the ministry faculties of the members after the Vatican’s recommendation and also asked the group “to leave the Christchurch Diocese.”
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