A notice on the Diocese website says a petition to have the Sons' removal of priestly faculties overturned was denied.

However a canon lawyer representing the Sons says, after lodging an appeal to the Holy See, the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life has suspended the decree requiring members of the Order to leave the Diocese within 90 days.

Why the u-turn on the diktat?

Just why the Vatican has chosen to go back on its original (and unexplained) order that Gielen expel the conservative group Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer (aka Transalpine Redemptorists, FSSR) has not been disclosed.

Julia du Fresne suggests in her "Canto Fermo" blog that it could be because the Sons have proposed taking court action against Gielen for expelling them.

The Dicastery for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life will review both the Sons' expulsion and its illicit female branch - despite the Daughters of the Most Holy Redeemer stating they are not nuns, but merely a private association.

Fr Michael Mary FSSR says the Dicasteries will review the case against the Sons and Daughters.

In the meantime, the priests remain suspended and their Masses will remain private until the review is completed.

Vatican review

du Fresne attached to her blog a letter which Fr Anthony Mary FSSR wrote to the Sons' supporters about the Vatican's u-turn. In it he had said:

"I have just heard from the Dicastery in Rome that they have suspended our expulsion from the diocese until they have properly reviewed the case.

"The Daughters' expulsion from the diocese and suppression of their community has also been suspended until the case is properly reviewed.

"As expected, the priests remain suspended and their Masses remain private until after the case is reviewed.

"That is to be expected because it would be a very negative and confrontational thing to force a bishop to return us our faculties. This is not so difficult to live with either.

"The term 'private Mass' does not refer to Mass with neither a server nor a congregation, but rather to an unscheduled Mass, regardless of the number of faithful present and regardless of the degree of solemnity (a High Mass can still be a private Mass).

"We have a priest present for Confessions, and the others of us, while in the diocese of Christchurch, offer our Masses privately.

"I suppose the Bishop of Christchurch is not going to tell people that his case against us and our expulsion have been suspended by Rome. But we will be able to tell anyone who asks. Please pass the news around."

Source

• Christchurch Diocese
• Canto Fermo
• Christchurch Diocese

When the Vatican was investigating Catholic priests and brothers from The Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer about abuse and unauthorised exorcisms, it found Canterbury-based women known as the Daughters of the Holy Redeemer to be operating as an illicit order of nuns.

They share a leader with the Sons.

Christchurch Catholic bishop Michael Gielen has asked the Sons to leave the diocese and the Daughters to disband.

We're not nuns!

In a kind of peek-a-boo with reality, the Daughters insist that to some people they are not nuns, yet they call themselves nuns on a Givealittle page.

Founded in 2014, they registered as a charity in 2017. Since then, The Press reports that they have collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations for work and living expenses.

They say they don't need church recognition to solicit donations, claiming donors know their "unofficial" status.

In a published statement to supporters, the women said they did not seek official recognition as nuns because they did not want Church authorities to interfere with their activities.

While supporters might call them nuns, the Daughters stated they are officially a private association of women who had made private vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.

They said they felt "deeply shocked and scandalised" by the church's action against them and that former Christchurch bishops knew about the group.

At the same time, they said "a nun is a nun, officially recognised or not" and "a rose by any name would smell as sweet [sic]".

Not without support

Given that neither the Church nor the Sons are able to help the women, religion expert Peter Lineham was concerned the women were effectively "stranded".

However a spokesperson for the Sons said community members had been volunteering to help the Daughters with property maintenance and other needs.

He said their support would continue while the Sons appealed Gielen's request.

Source

• The Press

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