The head of Fort Worth’s Catholic church again urged members not to worship with a group of secluded Arlington nuns at the center of a bitter feud with the diocese.
In a statement published Sept. 24, Bishop Michael Olson wrote that fellow Catholics should not participate in sacraments such as Mass or provide financial support to the monastery. Olson said members should only pray for the “restoration of order” at the monastery and for the nuns to return to “sober obedience.”
This is the bishop’s second such plea in the past week.
“Mindful of the salvation of souls, as your bishop I must plead with you, the faithful of the Diocese of Fort Worth that for the good of your souls you do not participate in any sacraments that may be offered at the Monastery as such participation will associate you with the scandalous disobedience and disunity of the members of the Arlington Carmel,” Olson wrote.
Earlier this month, the Arlington nuns reopened the monastery to the public for private prayer and daily Mass in Latin. The nuns also announced they were associating with the Society of St. Pius X, a breakaway traditionalist Catholic group, and said they reelected the Rev. Mother Teresa Agnes Gerlach for a three-year term.
It is not clear whether the monastery is drawing large numbers. On a recent morning, roughly a dozen people attended a somber Mass. The nuns, who are cloistered and have little contact with the outside world, sat behind a thick screen. Only their whispered prayers could be heard.
A sign hanging in the lobby of the monastery read: Carmelite Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity, Daily Mass, 7:30 a.m., All welcome, God is love.
“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 wrote in a Sept. 14 statement.
The extraordinarily public 18-month fight between the nuns and Olson has played out in dueling statements, civil court and outrageous headlines. It began in April 2023 when the bishop accused Gerlach, the monastery’s head nun, of violating her vow of chastity with a priest.
In response, the reverend mother and monastery filed a civil lawsuit against the bishop and diocese, accusing Olson of invading the sisters’ privacy and overstepping his authority.
A nearly six-hour court proceeding included explosive testimony from diocese officials, references to “sexting” and drug use, and audio of a 40-minute conversation between Olson and the former head nun. A Texas state judge ruled that civil court did not have jurisdiction to decide the church matter.
Gerlach admitted to breaking her vow of chastity on two occasions, but at another point in the conversation, she said she only spoke to the priest by phone. She had been hospitalized in November 2022 for seizures and was taking pain medication as a result, her attorney, Matthew Bobo, has previously said. Gerlach, who is in poor health, uses a wheelchair and feeding tube.
Earlier this year, the Vatican weighed in and placed the nuns under new authority, an association of Carmelite nuns. But the Arlington nuns said the decree amounted to a hostile takeover.
Before last year, the nuns had little interaction with the Fort Worth diocese. They live and work on 72 wooded acres in Arlington, spending their days praying, cooking, cleaning and caring for the grounds, rarely leaving the premises.
