Arlington nuns fight Catholic Church control

A cloistered order of Carmelite nuns in Arlington spend most of their time secluded from the general public, even throughout mass. They do not grant media interviews, they usually commit their lives to prayer.

• However they’re now on the heart of a publicized dispute with the Fort Price bishop they declare is abusing his energy.

Why it issues: The Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity is preventing what it calls a “hostile takeover” by the group the Vatican has appointed to manipulate them.

• The nuns are working to take care of their group’s independence inside the Catholic Church, the place the best degree of governance is nearly solely male. They wrote they “are not ‘things’ to be traded or given away in back-room deals.”

The massive image: The battle has garnered nationwide consideration partly because of claims of damaged vows of chastity, abuse of energy and allegations of drug use.

• The Carmelite order has been locked in a authorized and church dispute with Fort Price Bishop Michael Olson for over a 12 months, stemming from his allegations that Reverend Mom Teresa Agnes Gerlach of the cloister broke her vow of chastity. She has denied it.
• The order says the bishop overstepped his bounds and interrogated the prioress whereas she was “medically unfit.” The nuns not acknowledge the bishop as having authority over them.

The newest: The Arlington order filed a request for a brief restraining order final week, in search of to ban Olson, the Catholic Diocese of Fort Price and the Carmelite Affiliation of Christ the King from getting into the monastery.

• The nuns allege that their monastery is a separate entity from the diocese and that the Vatican didn’t talk straight with the nuns in regards to the appointment of the affiliation as their new governor.

Driving the information: The Vatican wrote a letter appointing the brand new governor as a result of Gerlach’s tenure expired in January.

• However the Arlington order would not imagine they should elect a brand new prioress as a result of the Vatican has not resolved their grievance in regards to the bishop’s authority.
• “It is our understanding that while matters are under appeal, nothing is to be changed and the status quo is to be preserved,” the order wrote of their on-line assertion.

What they’re saying: The nuns declare in a request for a restraining order that the Fort Price diocese is “trying to utilize a religious back door” to achieve management of the monastery and its property, per the Fort Price Report.

• They are saying their spiritual career would not deny them the best to “justice according to the law.”

The opposite facet: The diocese calls the monastery’s statements “sad and troubling,” per a web-based assertion.

• “This is an internal church matter that the former prioress continues to attempt to exploit in the civil court — in which it has no standing.”

Flashback: The order was established in 1958 with only a handful of nuns. The group moved to Arlington after they got 56 acres.

• They devoted their Arlington chapel in 1985.

Catch up quick: Gerlach was present process most cancers therapy in 2022 when she befriended a priest in Montana who additionally had most cancers. She confided in one other nun after which a senior priest on the Fort Price diocese that she feared that they had change into too shut, per Texas Month-to-month.

• Father Jonathan Wallis, who’s now vicar basic on the diocese, advised the bishop in regards to the dialog.
• Olson later questioned Gerlach and confiscated units from the monastery. He advised her she can be placed on administrative go away throughout a canonical investigation of the matter, per the Star-Telegram.
• Olson then made the allegations public, alleging Gerlach had advised him she was “sexting” with a priest on the telephone. She denied it.
• Gerlach and one other sister sued Olson, alleging he had stolen info and private units from the monastery. Gerlach additionally claimed the bishop defamed her and invaded her privateness.

Context: Gerlach had undergone a medical process earlier than one of many bishop’s visits to the monastery in April 2023 and was groggy from anesthesia and painkillers. He insisted on questioning her anyway.

• The diocese additionally publicly claimed there was drug use on the monastery, which a lawyer for the order has denied.

The underside line: Within the order’s newest courtroom submitting, Gerlach says the group appointed by the Vatican to supervise the nuns would have management over the monastery’s belongings, that means they may take away the nuns from their dwelling, per CBS Texas.

• “I pray they be stopped,” the reverend mom wrote.

What’s subsequent: A listening to on the restraining order is scheduled Tuesday.