ARLINGTON, Texas — After turning away the Vatican-appointed representative chosen to lead their monastery, a group of Arlington nuns announced on their website they had re-elected Mother Teresa Agnes Gerlach as their superior.
However, Fort Worth Bishop Michael Olson, who has been in a feud with the monastery for more than a year, called this election invalid in a statement online.
In a statement published Saturday, the Discalced Carmelite Nuns of the Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity stated it had completed the final steps necessary for the monastery to be associated with the Society of Saint Pius X, a group which has been the subject of controversy for decades and has no canonical status in the Catholic Church.
"Given our formal association with the Society, our triennial elections were held here at the monastery in August, presided over by a representative sent by the Superior General," the statement reads. "Mother Teresa Agnes was re-elected Prioress for a three-year term and confirmed in Office with supplied jurisdiction from the Society."
In his statement, Olson called these elections "illicit and invalid" due to not being conducted in accord with ecclesiastical law as well as the Constitutions of the Order of Discalced Carmelites.
Olson further stated that Mother Marie of the Incarnation, whom he appointed in April earlier this year to lead the monastery, remained the legitimate superior.
"Given our formal association with the Society, our triennial elections were held here at the monastery in August, presided over by a representative sent by the Superior General. Mother Teresa Agnes was re-elected Prioress for a three-year term and confirmed in Office with supplied jurisdiction from the Society," Olson wrote. "Given our formal association with the Society, our triennial elections were held here at the monastery in August, presided over by a representative sent by the Superior General. Mother Teresa Agnes was re-elected Prioress for a three-year term and confirmed in Office with supplied jurisdiction from the Society."
Olson said he is in talks with the Holy See, the central governing body of the Catholic Church, about the appropriate steps going forward to address this issue. He also pleaded with followers of the diocese to not participate in any sacraments at the monastery or offer them financial support, as doing so, he said, would associate them with the "scandalous disobedience and disunity" of the nuns.
"Rather, I invite the faithful of the Diocese of Fort Worth to join me in prayer and sacrifice for the nuns, for the restoration of order at the Arlington Carmel, and for the return to sober obedience and union with the Church by the members of the Community," Olson concluded.
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 in June 2023 after the judge ruled the court had no jurisdiction over the matter.
A second civil suit was filed against the diocese and Olson by the monastery, but was dismissed in May after the nuns filed a request for dismissal.
