{"id":378805,"date":"2026-04-14T10:34:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T10:34:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/378805\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T10:34:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T10:34:09","slug":"justin-evans-disappearance-inside-the-remote-monastery-on-papa-stronsay-scotland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/378805\/","title":{"rendered":"Justin Evans disappearance: Inside the remote monastery on Papa Stronsay, Scotland"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI am now appealing for anyone who may have visited the island and have any information on Justin or his whereabouts to contact us,\u201d said Inspector David Hall.<\/p>\n

\"ScottishScottish Police are searching for monk Justin Evans, who has gone missing from a remote monastery. Photo \/ Police Scotland\"PapaPapa Stronsay, a tiny island located off mainland Scotland, is home to a few dozen people \u2013 all monks.<\/p>\n

The isolated Papa Stronsay is one of 70 islands in the Orkney archipelago, located off the northeastern tip of mainland Scotland.<\/p>\n

A traditionalist Catholic order, The Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer bought the island in 1999 to form the Golgotha Monastery.<\/p>\n

The order was founded to maintain the practice of celebrating the liturgy in Latin at a time when the Roman Catholic Church was encouraging priests to use local languages, the BBC reported.<\/p>\n

The order\u2019s founder, Father Michael Mary, told the BBC in 2020 the order purchased the previously abandoned island from a local farmer for \u00a3200,000.<\/p>\n

The dozen or so monks are the only inhabitants of the low-lying island, which covers 74ha, roughly the size of the Auckland Domain.<\/p>\n

Access to windswept and largely treeless Papa Stronsay is typically by small boat from the neighbouring island of Stronsay.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer on Papa Stronsay. Photo \/ Transalpine Redemptorists<\/p>\n

Named by Vikings in the 8th century, Papa Stronsay means \u201cPriests\u2019 Island on Stronsay\u201d and monks are believed to have worshipped there as early as the 6th century.<\/p>\n

The self-sufficient order, also known as the Transalpine Redemptorists, occupy the historic ruins of the St Nicholas Chapel, which date back to the 11th century.<\/p>\n

\"JustinJustin Evans has disappeared from Papa Stronsay, which is about 74ha in size. Photo \/ Transalpine Redemptorists<\/p>\n

Brother Nicodemus told the BBC the monks\u2019 routine and lifestyle mirrors that of the priests of the early church.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe share a brotherhood with them in a very tangible way,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an entire life, an entire sacrifice, an entire mindset, an entire faith. It\u2019s everything. The centuries don\u2019t really separate us at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

The monks\u2019 typical day begins at 5am with meditation and prayer, followed by study, work and religious services, ending with evening prayers and \u201cgreat silence\u201d at 9.30pm.<\/p>\n

\"NewNew Zealand monk Justin Evans, 24, originally from Christchurch, was last seen in a white robe at Golgotha Monastery before his disappearance. Photo \/ Insula Papey Minor<\/p>\n

Evans was recently pictured reading scripture during a service marking the feast of the Presentation of the Lord, known colloquially as Candlemas, at the beginning of February.<\/p>\n

He also partook in a traditional blessing ceremony during the Feast of the Epiphany on January 6, with footage seen by the Herald capturing the New Zealander singing and waving a bell in unison with fellow monks.<\/p>\n

Footage from the order\u2019s YouTube channel shows the group participating in rituals such as the Marian procession with the statue of Our Lady of Fatima.<\/p>\n

The group is also seen catching cod and mackerel from large nets in the surrounding waters.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe monks of Papa Stronsay. Photo \/ Transalpine Redemptorists<\/p>\n

Founded in the late 1980s, the Transalpine Redemptorists have New Zealand links.<\/p>\n

The order has drawn scrutiny in recent years.<\/p>\n

The Catholic Herald reported its members were told to leave the Diocese of Christchurch in July 2024, after an investigation at the Vatican\u2019s request.<\/p>\n

The Press reported in 2023 that the investigation concerned alleged abuse and unauthorised exorcisms.<\/p>\n

The order appealed the ban, but in August last year Bishop Michael Gielen of the Diocese of Christchurch said it had been rejected, the Catholic Herald reported.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI am now appealing for anyone who may have visited the island and have any information on Justin…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":378806,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[6726,40647,54509,9770,100772,1958,42,2944,2514,17468,194,125610,168890,43,529,90,36239,180989,13913,11063,3008,1870,42901,4499,197269,223,40,38,41,39,166343,6506,1339,4741],"class_list":{"0":"post-378805","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-become","9":"tag-blustery","10":"tag-catholic","11":"tag-disappearance","12":"tag-evans","13":"tag-focus","14":"tag-headlines","15":"tag-inside","16":"tag-island","17":"tag-justin","18":"tag-kiwi","19":"tag-monastery","20":"tag-monk","21":"tag-news","22":"tag-north","23":"tag-on","24":"tag-papa","25":"tag-perched","26":"tag-remote","27":"tag-scotland","28":"tag-sea","29":"tag-search","30":"tag-secluded","31":"tag-small","32":"tag-stronsay","33":"tag-the","34":"tag-top-news","35":"tag-top-stories","36":"tag-topnews","37":"tag-topstories","38":"tag-trace","39":"tag-vanished","40":"tag-without","41":"tag-young"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=378805"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378805\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/378806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=378805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=378805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=378805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}