The head bishop of Fort Worth’s Catholic church has pleaded for members not to worship with a group of Arlington nuns amid an 18-month feud.
Bishop Michael Olson published a statement on September 24 urging Catholics not to participate in any sacraments offered at the Arlington Monastery or offer any financial support.
Olson said that participating in the sacraments would “associate you with the scandalous disobedience and disunity of the members of the Arlington Carmel.”
The fight between Olson and the nuns at the Arlington Carmel began in April 2023 when Olson accused Mother Teresa Agnes (Gerlach), the monastery’s head nun, of breaking her vow of chastity, in part by “sexting” a priest.
Olson’s statement is his second in the past week. On September 17, he informed his followers that Gerlach had been re-elected Prioress for a three-year term. Olson said the actions of Gerlach and the other members of the Community have “taken them further down the path of disobedience to and disunity with the Church and with their own religious Order that they began to embark on so many months ago.”
In May of 2023, the nuns filed a $1 million lawsuit against Olson and the Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth, claiming he “forced himself” into the nun’s “peaceful community,” interrogated them, and “threw a temper tantrum and in an agitated and raised voice yelled that the monastery was shut down and no mass would be celebrated.”
The court document alleges that Olson took a computer, iPad, and phone from Gerlach and monitored her texts. The nuns said that they were unable to manage the financial operation of the monastery without the phone.
Nearly a year later, in April of this year, Gerlach, Sister Francis Therese, and Sister Joseph Marie sought a temporary restraining order against Olson. Tarrant County Judge Don Cosby granted the request one month later.
“In the past year, since April 2023, our monastery has suffered continued attack and abuse from Michael Olson … in an ugly attempt to seize control of our governance, finances and life, including an unannounced interrogation of [Gerlach] while she was in a medically unfit state, the publication of a recording of the said interrogation which, as medical evidence clearly shows, is of no legal value whatsoever … the illegal seizure of the personal property of the monastery and copying of private information from the said property,” began a statement released by the nuns in April.
The statement goes on to say that Olson attempted to bully nuns in an effort to divide the Community and interfere with the celebration of sacraments, including Mass.
The nuns’ lawsuit against Olson was dropped shortly after as the Vatican responded to the feud in four decrees. The Vatican agreed with Olson’s investigation into the nun’s monetary after placing Gerlach on a leave of absence. However, the Vatican also overturned Olson’s dismissal of Gerlach from the Carmelite Order.
Earlier in September, the Arlington nuns reopened their chapel to the public for private prayer and daily Mass.
“We are very happy to be able to share our life of prayer and the riches of the Church’s traditional liturgy with others,” the nuns said in an announcement. “Our chapel is open for private prayer and the faithful are welcome to join us in assisting at daily Holy Mass celebrated in Latin, according to the traditional Roman rite.”
