ARLINGTON, Texas — The ongoing feud between Fort Worth Bishop Michael Olson and the sisters with Discalced Carmelite Nuns in Arlington will avoid another chapter in a courtroom.
A Tuesday afternoon temporary restraining order hearing has been canceled, according to an attorney with the sisters. Attorney Mathew Bobo told WFAA they have explored other avenues not requiring the court’s intervention.
On April 22, the nuns, Reverend Mother Teresa Agnes Gerlach, Sister Francis Therese and Sister Joseph Marie filed the order with the Tarrant County 67th District Court against Olson, the Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth and the Association of the Christ the King in the U.S. The order alleges that the defendants are attempting to “take the corporation’s confidential information” and “unlawfully usurp corporate authority in an attempt to take over management and assets of the corporation.”
“We are afraid…that they are focused on wresting control of the Corporation away from us,” read a statement from the sisters.
In a public statement issued earlier this month by Olson, he said the Association of Christ the King in the United States of America had been entrusted with direct oversight and governance responsibility for the Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity in Arlington.
The Carmelite Nuns of the monastery posted a statement online in response to the new governance. They say they were not made aware of the decision until later on Thursday.
The nuns claim that the change of oversight is a "hostile takeover" that they can't accept.
"This outside authority could easily disperse us, impose its agenda in respect of our daily observance and dispose of our assets—even of the monastery itself—as it wishes, contrary to our vows and to the intentions of those who founded our community and our benefactors," the nuns shared in their statement.
Last year, Gerlach was accused of violating one of her religious vows, as Olson had testified that she told him she had broken her vow of chastity with a priest from outside the diocese.
The feud spanned several months last year. The nuns filed a civil suit against the Bishop claiming theft, defamation and abuse of power. Their case was dismissed by a district judge on June 30 after the judge ruled the court had no jurisdiction over the matter.
Police launched their own investigations into the monastery and the bishop last June following weeks of civil disputes between Olson and the nuns.
