Although the women claim to be Catholic nuns called The Daughters of The Most Holy Redeemer, the Church does not recognise them.

A Christchurch diocese spokesperson says the Sons of The Most Holy Redeemer secretly established the sisterhood without the Bishop's approval.

The Christchurch diocese confirms that the Son's order has no official Church recognition.

The Press says the Sons is the order Bishop Michael Gielan recently ousted following abuse allegations and unauthorised exorcisms.

The Daughters

Established about 10 years ago, the Daughters registered as a charity in 2017.

Although they have no status as far as the Catholic Church is concerned, over the years they have solicited hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations.

They are not nuns but seem to be a private association.

The women wear habits and the Sons refer to them as nuns.

The women live on an 8 hectare orchard, bought mortgage-free in the Son's name for $740,000 in 2023.

The property has five small sheds which the women call "cells". They use these for prayer and apparently for sleeping.

Not kosher

It is unclear exactly when the Catholic Church's Christchurch diocese became aware of the nuns' existence.

One professed Catholic nun in an approved order is wary.

Creating an order of nuns without permission "sounds suspicious to me" she says.

"I wouldn't trust them.

"This is not kosher. It's not Catholic."

A nun's life is a spiritual calling she says.

There are important support networks within her own order and with other orders of nuns she says.

She finds it concerning that the Daughters are isolated from the Church and operating without authority.

"People can't set things up willy nilly ... [for] the safety of the people, their wellbeing and the Church's wellbeing" she said.

Religious orders and societies were once able to be created simply with the approval of a bishop.

In in 2020 Pope Francis changed this.

Since then the Holy See must give permission.

Who's responsible?

The Press was interested in the women's welfare and had a number of questions for the Christchurch diocese.

These included:

• Does the diocese have any responsibility to look after the women?
• Has the diocese made any enquiries about them or undertaken welfare checks prior to the Vatican investigation?
• How was the group able to fly under the radar despite being a registered charity and posting photos of its activity online?

So far The Press reports there has been no response from the diocese's communications team.

Source

• The Press

Legal action could be pending, a lay community member says.

The Congregation of The Sons of The Most Holy Redeemer says they have grave concerns about "the calculated mischaracterisation" of their Christchurch community.

Gielen made the call to expel the Congregation's professed members last weekend after a Vatican investigation into alleged abuse and unauthorised exorcisms.

However Mark, a prominent Catholic and regular (English) mass-goer, supports Gielen's action though he is disappointed with diocesan communications that will not answer simple questions - such as:

• What authority does the diocese have over the property's use?
• What steps will the diocese be able to take to ensure the group no longer operates?
• What will happen on Sunday? Will the congregation turn up at St Alban's church?
• What sanctions are available to the diocese should the group ignore Bishop Gielen's instruction?

Mark does not understand why the diocese is not speaking and he cannot fathom why the diocese has not published the report.

"Could do better...even the Greens have come to the party" is how he describes the Christchurch diocese's communication.

"I accept some parts of the Vatican report may need redacting, but old-style communications don't really cut it in a Church that is going synodal."

CathNews has also asked if other New Zealand Catholic bishops will support Gielen's stance and deny The Sons of The Most Holy Redeemer access to exercise sacred ministry in their dioceses.

At the time of publication, Catholic Communications confirmed that only the Bishop of Dunedin, Michael Dooley, said he would not let them into the Dunedin diocese.

The bishops of Palmerston North and Auckland, John Adams and Steve Lowe, were away. Wellington Archbishop Paul Martin and Hamilton Bishop Richard Laurenson had not replied to Catholic Communications at the time of publication.

Community witness

In a recent homily, Pope Francis reflected on the strength of community witnessing in the name of evangelisation.

"Let us pause a moment on this image: the disciples are sent together, ... We do not proclaim the Gospel alone, no: it is proclaimed together, as a community" said Francis.

Mark says "The way this is being handled reflects on all of us".

"We've been through enough. I hope we've learnt some communication lessons along the way."

Earlier this year Pope Francis thanked the media for their work.

"In a certain sense, being a journalist is choosing to touch with your hands the wounds of society and of the world" said the Pope. "This is an occasion for me to thank you."

Source

• The Press
• Diocese of Christchurch
• Homilies of Pope Francis
• NCR