The community was founded as the Transalpine Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer on 2 August 1988 by the Redemptorist priest Michael Mary Sim as a traditional Redemptorist religious community affiliated with the Society of Saint Pius X.
Originally based at the Monastery of the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary on the Isle of Sheppey, Kent, they moved to the Mother of Perpetual Succour Monastery in Joinville, Haute-Marne, France, in 1994, until they bought the island of Papa Stronsay on 31 May 1999.[1] There they established the Golgotha Monastery, and have published The Catholic monthly since 1982. They promote a Redemptorist Purgatorian Confraternity.[2] In July 2007 the institute established a second monastery in Christchurch, New Zealand.[3]
In June 2008, the community petitioned the Holy See for reconciliation and this was accepted by Pope Benedict XVI who declared them to be in "canonical good standing" within the Catholic Church.[4] The motu proprioSummorum Pontificum was the main incentive which caused the community to reconsider their position.[5] Most of the members accepted the move, while a remnant continue to be affiliated with the SSPX. They changed their official name to The Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer (FSSR), and made alterations to their religious habit in order to more clearly differentiate themselves from that of the Redemptorists.[6] However, they were not canonically established as a religious institute and thus their faculties for celebrating Mass were for some years restricted to the islands of Papa Stronsay and Stronsay.[7]
On 15 August 2012, the community of fifteen was granted canonical recognition as a clerical institute of diocesan right by Hugh Gilbert, Bishop of Aberdeen.[8] In June 2013, the congregation celebrated the ordination in Rome of two of its members.[9] During 2017 another small community was established at Kakahu by the Christchurch monastery.
In 2023, a New Zealand journalistic investigation suggested[11] abuse within the community, including multiple exorcisms being conducted on children without the approval of the local Bishop. Shortly after, Michael Gielen, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Christchurch suspended all exorcisms in the Diocese.[12][13] The Rector Major of the order responded to all the accusations and denied them. He specifically stressed that no exorcisms without the approval of the bishop were performed, that none of two involved minors, and that certain allegations concerned a priest who was not a member of their community.[14]
The Bishop of Christchurch announced on 13 July 2024 that priests of the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer — also known as the Transalpine Redemptorists — would no longer be allowed to minister in the Diocese of Christchurch.[15]
