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Christchurch diocese has a little known apparently illicit order of nuns living in plain sight and appealing for donations for their work.
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.
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