A church in Arlington, Texas, was expelled by the Vatican, as mentioned in a statement from the Bishop of Fort Worth on December 2. The move follows a year-long battle with the Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth over an alleged affair between a nun and a priest.
The statement reads, in part:
"First, the women who continue to occupy the premises in Arlington are no longer nuns because they have been declared ipso facto dismissed from the Order of Discalced Carmelites for reasons of their notorious defection from the Catholic faith."
It goes on:
"They are neither nuns nor Carmelites despite their continued and public self-identification to the contrary. Second, the Holy See has suppressed the Monastery, so it exists no longer, despite any public self-identification made to the contrary by the former nuns who continue to occupy the premises."
Vatican dismisses the Texas church, citing the Reverend Mother's adultery; here's all we know
The dispute can be traced back to April 2023, when Bishop Michael Olson accused Reverend Mother Teresa Agnes Gerlach of violating her vow of chastity. He claimed she engaged in a virtual affair with Father Philip Johnson, a priest who once held a stint at the diocese in Raleigh, N.C.
However, in May 2023, Gerlach and the six acting nuns under her, as well as two in training, filed a lawsuit against the church and Bishop Olson for $1 million, as reported by Chron. They claimed their privacy was infringed upon, and emotional and physical harm was inflicted upon them. However, a judge from Tarrant County dismissed the lawsuit as a matter of the church.
Notably, in the official statement, Olson claimed the "former prioress self-reported" to him about the nature of her relationship with the priest. Gerlach is a wheelchair user and feeding tube-dependent. The following month, he dismissed her from her position, and Gerlach conceded to violating her vows, noting that the two times it occurred were over the phone.
By July, the nuns' legal representation, Matthew Bobo, contended that Gerlach was "under heavy medication from a procedure" and couldn't recount speaking to the investigators. In September, the nuns revealed that they joined forces with the Society of Saint Pius X, a priestly group of the Roman Catholic order that has extricated itself from the Vatican.
On November 28, the Vatican issued the dismissal of the Carmelite nuns, and the following day, the church was "extinct." On December 2, Bishop Olson issued a statement. Read parts of it below:
"Finally, I wish to again acknowledge the great sadness that this entire affair has brought to our local church and beyond, and to me personally. The actions of the former nuns have perpetrated a deep wound in the Body of Christ. I ask all of you to join me in praying for healing, reconciliation, and for the conversion of these women who have departed from the vowed religious life and notoriously defected from communion with the Catholic Church by their actions."
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As reported by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Matthew Bobo also issued a statement. Speaking on behalf of the board of directors for the Friends of the Discalced Carmelite Nuns of Arlington, he told The Dallas Morning News that "The nuns are safe from the efforts of Bishop Olson and continue their devotion to their life of contemplative prayer."
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