Congregation of the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer , Transalpine Redemptorists
Held in Papa Stronsay, Scotland
St. Therese of the Child Jesus, 3rd October – St. Gerard Majella, 16th October, 2025
Dear Faithful,
*Live Jesus our love and Mary our hope!*
It is with a heavy heart and great sadness that we write to you. What unites us is our great love for our Holy Mother, the Catholic Church and Bride of Jesus Christ, for whom the martyrs shed their blood and the saints gave their lives. It is this love that compels us to express a truth that is difficult, yet essential. (Lk. 12:4-9)
Like you, we have cherished great hope for many years. We believed it was possible to live as faithful children of the Tradition within the structures of the modern Church. We believed that the old and beautiful traditions of our Faith, particularly the Latin Mass of all time, would be rightfully restored to us. This gave us hope, especially during the time of Benedict XVI. We confidently expected that we would be able to freely practice the Faith of our Fathers in the Church. We were gravely mistaken.
Through years of trials and experience, we have come to the unfortunate conclusion that the Traditional Catholic Faith, the Faith of all times and of the saints, is incompatible with the new, modern Church, the fruit of the Second Vatican Council. They simply cannot coexist in one body.
Since we deeply cherish and honor the Traditional Latin Mass and cannot abandon the Holy Mass of the centuries and of the saints, this new Church does not want us. Because of our fidelity, we have been considered stubborn, difficult, and rebellious; maligned and misrepresented in unending acrimony.
This letter appeals to all who sense that something is profoundly wrong in the Church or who believe that the new Church and the unchanging Faith can peacefully coexist. Alas! Our experience clearly shows this to be impossible. Surely this new Church would shock all the holy Popes who declared time and again that Religious Indifferentism is a grave evil, absolutely incompatible with the Catholic Faith.
We declare that we will not be complicit by silence in this ongoing destruction of the Church. We must speak out, and what better time than now? After 17 years as a community within the structures of the Church, we have been continually isolated and harassed. In recent years, the Bishop of Christchurch has treated us as the offscouring or scum of the earth. Through numerous decrees and recourse to Rome, he has sought to expel our monks from the diocese. He seeks to perpetually exile fifteen local vocations from their families and homeland.
We declare now: higher duty forbids it. So long as there is but one soul that asks us for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the Sacraments, or spiritual help, with God’s grace we will not desert it. The Good Shepherd urges us to lay down our lives for His sheep and keep the hungry wolf at bay. It is our duty in charity, in theology, and by Canon Law.
Why? Because the chain of command has been broken. Authority in the Church is ministerial (serving Our Lord), not absolute (doing whatever it pleases): it binds us because it is itself bound to Christ, to the deposit of the Faith, to the constant Magisterium. When a superior departs from his own obedience to Christ the King, his command is no longer the arm of Christ but the gesture of a man. (S.T., IIa IIæ, q. 104, a. 5) These churchmen disobey God. Having shattered the chain of God’s command, they attempt to invoke religious obedience for matters that deplete the Church and take away the Holy Mass. *Tolle Missam, Tolle Ecclesiam* – Take away the Mass, you destroy the Church (Luther). No! We must obey God before man.
Therefore, cleaving with all our strength to our deep communion with our Holy Mother the Church, our duty before our Lord Jesus Christ and toward souls demands that:
- We repudiate *Amoris Laetitia* for permitting Holy Communion to couples living in sin.
- We repudiate *Traditionis Custodes* for its persecution of the Mass and Catholics.
- We repudiate *Fiducia Supplicans* for permitting the blessing of same-sex couples.
- We repudiate “The Document on Human Fraternity” for stating that God wills all religions.
- We repudiate the false theology of “sister churches” and “partial communion.”
- We repudiate the false shepherds who triumphantly processed the Pachamama idol in St. Peter’s.
- We repudiate Francis for apologizing for the heroic Catholic who threw that idol into the Tiber.
- We repudiate the scourge of religious indifference in New Zealand and throughout the Church.
- We repudiate the New Zealand Bishops’ acts of closing churches and denying the sacraments in cowardly submission to the Covid-19 oppression.
- We repudiate the Bishop of Christchurch receiving his ashes on Ash Wednesday from the Anglican bishop of Christchurch.
- We repudiate the corruption of children and the scandal given to the innocent through evil catechetical programs.
- We repudiate Francis teaching that all religions are as different languages and asking, “Is my God more important than yours?”
- We repudiate the silence of those bishops who failed to speak out against that betrayal of the Faith.
- We repudiate the Synodal Church as distinct from the Divinely constituted Catholic Church.
- We repudiate the ongoing destruction and humiliation of our Holy Mother the Church.
- We repudiate those who attack or undermine the Church in her dogma, morals, sacraments, or discipline with a new cult of man.
To all who read this: How long will this nonsense continue?
Whatever the cost, with the Apostle we must say: *Anathema!*
*“But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach a gospel to you besides that which we have preached to you, let him be anathema. As we said before, so now I say again: If any one preach to you a gospel, besides that which you have received, let him be anathema.”* (Gal. 1:8-9)
Do not remain silent! Defend the Faith of our Fathers!
*“Although all nations obey King Antiochus, so as to depart every man from the law of his father and consent to his commandments: I and my sons and my brethren will obey the law of our fathers.”* (1 Maccabees 2:19-20)
*“On the contrary, it is written (Acts 5:29): We ought to obey God rather than men. Now sometimes the things commanded by a superior are against God. Therefore, superiors are not to be obeyed in all things.”* — St. Thomas Aquinas (S.T., IIa IIæ, q. 104, a. 5)
*Expecta Dominum, Viriliter Age et Confortetur cor tuum.*
*Expect the Lord, Do Manfully, and let thy Heart Take Courage.* (Ps 26:14)
*Gaude, Maria Virgo… Rejoice, O Virgin Mary; thou alone hast crushed all heresies in the whole world.*
Golgotha Monastery Island, Papa Stronsay, off Stronsay, KW17 2AR, Orkney Islands, Scotland, UK.
https://papastronsay.com/resources/documents/2025%20Open%20Letter.pdf