Sunday, November 27, 2011

Trouble up North

The Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer, who are based at their monastery of Golgotha on the island of Papa Stronsay in the Orkneys, have documentation on their blog which appears to show that they have been deprived of a share of a legacy by the Society of St Pius X.

The will of the late Mrs Kingon-Rousse of Herne Bay stated:

7. SUBJECT TO the payment of my debts funeral and testamentary expenses and the aforementioned legacies I give all the remainder of my estate not otherwise effectively disposed of by this Will or any codicil hereto to the Society of St. Pius X in Great Britain and request that one half of such residue of my estate be used for the benefit of the London Branch of the Society operating from St. George's House 125 Arthur Road London SW19 7DR who service Saints John Fisher & Thomas More Church Herne and for the remaining half share to be utilised for the benefit of Father Michael Mary and the community of Redemptorists at Golgotha Monastery Island Papa Stronsay Orkney Isles KW17 2AR. And I further request that Father Michael Mary put aside the sum of TWO THOUSAND POUNDS (£2, 000.00) for mass offerings to be used for the repose of the soul of myself and my family by birth or marriage and for the benefit of every holy soul in purgatory AND I declare that the receipt of the Treasurer or other competent officer for the time being of the Society of St. Pius X in Great Britain appearing to my Executor shall be a sufficient receipt to my Executor in respect of this residuary bequest



The Sons have received the £2,000 for Mass stipends, but not the rest. A strange story.



But all is made clear in the latest edition of the SSPX Newsletter (December 2011):



'Let it be know that this good lady's wishes to support the traditional Redemptorists were certainly taken into consideration when, after consultation with the General House, and following legal advice, a good deal more than the original sum of money was used to purchase St Columba's House on Stronsay for the benefit of the faithful Redemptorists who remained following the 2008 split, as well as the local faithful.'



I am very happy to put this statement from Fr Paul Morgan, Superior of the SSPX in Great Britain, before a wider audience.


The Sons conclude their post with the words: 'we resign ourselves to this injustice.'



In the meantime, the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer, a community which voted in 2008 to seek canonical regularisation from Rome, and have received it, are in serious need of money. You can send donations to them directly, and join the mailing list of the Friends of Papa Stronsay. If you have not done so,



take out a subscription to their quarterly newspaper, The Catholic,



buy their annual Wall Calendar!



Yes the LMS does one too, so buy that as well! One for your kitchen, one for the sitting room - obviously! And buy a few more to give your friends for Christmas!

4 comments:

  1. Ioannes Patricius1:19 pm

    I suppose its things like this that show that we do need solicitors after all. Sigh! Back to the grindstone!

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  2. Ioannes Patricius1:23 pm

    Unfortunately they're right - that gift is not binding :(  in simple terms, they're lucky they got what they got - Fr Morgan was not obliged to give them that. And as he was not obliged to in law, it must be that he was obliged not to in conscience which I guess is sovereign. Sad times.

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  3. Tom Esteban8:05 pm

    Thank you for this post. As a 'friend' of the Sons who is discerning a vocation with them I was disheartened by what had happened in this situation. Nevertheless, what is done is done, and the Sons have graciously moved on.

    A Blessed Advent to you Dr. Shaw, and all LMS members.

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  4. What a singularly unjust and mean-minded act by Fr Paul Morgan. Notice how he interpolates his own words 'traditional' and 'faithful' to change the clear meaning and intention of the testator. It's the kind of reasoning employed by an MP fiddling his expenses - strictly speaking within the regulations, perhaps, but held in contempt by all fair-minded Christians.

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