ABERDEEN, Scotland (LifeSiteNews) — Bishop Hugh Gilbert, OSB, of Aberdeen, Scotland, declared Bishop Michael Mary Sim, FSSR, the founder and superior general of the Congregation of the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer, excommunicated after his illicit episcopal consecration over the weekend and over Sim’s previous statements declaring that Popes Paul VI through Leo XIV are not true popes.
In a July 25 diocesan statement, Gilbert announced that the diocese had completed its canonical proceedings against Sim and that he had found the superior general guilty of schism. The Bishop of Aberdeen emphasized that Sim is now “excommunicated, dismissed from ecclesiastical office, and prohibited from the celebration of Mass or the other sacraments.” The bishop also declared that, as a result of the consecration, all members of the Transalpine Redemptorists “have removed themselves from the communion of the Catholic Church” and urged that “the faithful of the Diocese should have no dealings with them.”
That same day, Sim, whose order had issued a declaration in May denouncing Paul VI through to Leo XIV as “papal pretenders” and condemning the reforms of the Second Vatican Council as having “brought about a major schism from the Mystical Body,” was consecrated a bishop by sedevacantist bishop Pierre Roy.
Gilbert began his announcement by underscoring Sim’s various statements claiming that Pope Leo is not the true pontiff, casting doubt on the validity of the post-conciliar rite of ordination and discussing opposition between the “old” and “new” church, among others.
“All of this is instinctively repugnant to the Catholic sense of the faith, exposes those involved to ecclesiastical penalties and, unless repudiated, separates them from the communion of the Catholic Church,” the Catholic bishop wrote.
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“On its side, the Diocese has now completed its canonical process and pronounced its judgment. Regrettably, I find Fr. Michael Mary guilty of the charges brought against him, most notably that of schism,” Gilbert stated, adding:
In accordance with the relevant canonical norms, the competent Dicasteries of the Roman Curia have been kept informed of the steps taken by the Diocese. In the event of a sincere change of heart on his part and the making of reparation, these penalties may be lifted.
Addressing the consecrations specifically, Gilbert noted that Sim did not have his permission or the proper papal mandate and stressed that this demonstrated “a clear break from the Church.”
“By means of these events, the Congregation and its now deposed Superior have removed themselves from the communion of the Catholic Church, and the faithful of the Diocese should have no dealings with them,” the bishop wrote.
“On her part the Church urgently invites those involved to repent and to return to that union which they once enjoyed. The Church, who is the Mother of us all, will welcome them warmly,” he concluded.
During his first sermon after his episcopal consecration, Bishop Michael Mary indirectly responded to the anticipated excommunication and suggested that his order and the Catholic hierarchy do not belong to the same Church.
“Here is a bishop sitting who has no mandate because there is no pope,” he said. “We tried our best, trying to fit in with those who looked like Catholics … But as at the end of the world and all kinds of fishes, we have to say they are different fish. A fish is a fish, but they are a different species. And we are often tempted to think they’re all fish.”
The bishop continued, “Whether they are guilty in their souls, nobody knows, and we do not foment against them, but we know for ourselves that we are happy to be away from their clutches, and whatever species they are, we find ourselves to be a different species. We pray for them, and I’m sure in their own ways, they’re praying for us.”
The Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer, or Transalpine Redemptorists, comprise a small community of perhaps two dozen priests and brothers who live on a remote Scottish island called Papa Stronsay (or Golgotha Monastery Island). The group was founded by Father Michael Mary Sim in 1987 under the auspices of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre and the Society of St. Pius X at the encouragement of Cardinal Édouard Gagnon. It was reconciled with the Vatican in 2012 and has operations in the U.S. and New Zealand.
However, the group gained notoriety last year when it wrote an open letter to bishops, priests, religious, and laity arguing that “the hierarchy has broken with the chain of command, which renders it human, and spiritually null.” In May, it went a step further, denouncing Popes Paul VI through Leo XIV as antipopes as well as the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, and even calling for an “Imperfect General Council” to make an authoritative declaration and resolve the crisis in the Church.
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In June, the Transalpine Redemptorists announced that its founder would be consecrated a bishop by Pierre Roy, a sedevacantist who was himself consecrated in 2024 by Rodrigo Henrique Ribeiro da Silva. Bishop Gilbert responded by calling the planned consecration a “grave act of disobedience” and asked the faithful not to attend.
Before Saturday’s consecration, Gilbert granted permission for two Redemptorist priests, Father Yousef Marie, FSSR, and Father Peter Mary, FSSR, who have disassociated with the order’s leadership, to celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) at the Church of Our Lady of the Garioch and St. John the Evangelist in the small hamlet of Fetternearm, near Aberdeen, every Sunday, expanding on his previous permission for the Latin Mass to be celebrated at the parish once a month.
In recent years and months, several monks and priests have left the island suddenly, and on April 11, a 24-year-old monk named Brother Ignatius Maria (whose birth name was Justin Evans) went missing in the middle of the night.
After a lengthy search, Br. Ignatius’ body was found in the water off Stronsay on May 6. Scottish Police have not treated the disappearance as suspicious.
The leaders of the Transalpine Redemptorists have been accused by former members of psychological manipulation, though others have said that while superiors were sometimes “quite harsh” with corrections, they believed that this came from a place of wanting to help the members “conform to the Rule and grow in Christian perfection.”
According to the local Orkney newspaper, The Press and Journal, the New Zealand branch of “the Sons” was asked in 2024 to leave the diocese in which it resided after allegations of illicit exorcisms and spiritual abuse.