Priest brings security to Mass at Fort Worth monastery ensnared in battle with nuns
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What we know about the The Fort Worth Catholic Diocese’s dispute with a Carmelite nun
Arlington police have begun investigating a dispute between the Fort Worth Catholic Diocese and a reverend mother who says she was wrongly accused of “sexual misconduct” with a priest.
The diocese, meanwhile, told the Star-Telegram it has alerted police of “serious concerns” of marijuana and edibles inside the Arlington monastery of Carmelite nuns. The Fort Worth bishop says the nun admitted to the “transgression” of breaking her chastity vow with a priest during interviews with the vicar general of the Fort Worth Catholic Diocese and another sister from her order over several days in April.
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The Fort Worth Catholic Diocese, embroiled in a legal battle over chastity vow allegations against the reverend mother, sent its head of security to accompany the priest who was to deliver Mass on Sunday.
The priest and his security arrived at 7:30 a.m. to the Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity in Arlington to say Mass for the order of cloistered nuns. The Fort Worth Catholic Diocese on Monday said the priest was turned away.
But an attorney representing the Reverend Mother Teresa Gerlach, who is appealing her dismissal from the Discalced Carmelite order, tells a different story.
Matthew Bobo, who is representing Gerlach and sister Francis Therese in a lawsuit against the diocese and Bishop Michael Olson, said the nuns welcomed the priest inside but wouldn’t allow the security guard to enter the monastery. The priest left without saying Mass, according to Bobo.
The Sunday morning incident was the latest development in the highly unusual turmoil surrounding the order, whose nuns typically remain out of the public eye.
The nuns are embroiled in a secular legal fight and a canonical battle against Olson, the bishop, as well as the diocese. The controversy stems from an April investigation into a report that the Gerlach broke her chastity vows with a priest from outside of the diocese.
Gerlach, who uses a wheelchair and has a feeding tube, denies the allegations.
Last week, the Vatican weighed in with a decree giving Olson governing authority over the monastery.
On Monday, a spokesman for the diocese told the Star-Telegram in a text message, “A priest did go to the monastery to say Mass Sunday as the Bishop said would occur. The priest was denied access so he could not say Mass for the nuns. He was accompanied by the diocesan director of security. A priest will be at the monastery on Wednesday, June 7, for daily Mass.”
In follow-up questions, the diocese said the security director accompanied the priest as an altar server who assists the priest during Mass.
‘Ecclesiastical investigation into sexual misconduct’
According to court documents, Olson and other diocesan officials went to the monastery on April 24 with a “forensic” technology expert.
Olson “demanded” that the reverend mother turn over her laptop, iPad and cell phone, and told Gerlach and Sister Francis Therese that they could not handle the administrative duties of the monastery.
The lawsuit alleges that Olson violated the reverend mother’s civil and canonical rights by telling her where she could sit and eat, and she was not allowed in her private bedroom despite needing constant medical care. She uses her iPad to communicate.
On April 25, the reverend mother underwent surgery, and when she returned to the monastery, she and other sisters were subjected to more questions and interrogation. Olson raised his voice, according to the lawsuit.
“The Bishop threw a temper tantrum, and in an agitated and raised voice yelled that the Monastery was shut down, no Mass would be celebrated, he then slammed the door and left the Monastery, traumatizing the Sisters,” Gerlach said in her affidavit.
Attorneys for the diocese said in a motion to dismiss the suit that Gerlach admitted to violating her chastity vows and that secular courts did not have jurisdiction over ecclesiastical matters and investigations.
“The focal point of this entire dispute is an ecclesiastical investigation into sexual misconduct in violation of the Sixth Commandment — considered ‘grave misconduct’ within the Catholic Church,” wrote the attorneys with Kelly Hart & Hallman in Fort Worth.
Bobo argued that Gerlach confessed under duress because she was recovering from surgery and was on pain medication, including fentanyl.
Bobo also wrote an open letter to Bishop Olson asking him to answer questions about who reported the alleged chastity vow violation and who was the priest from outside of the diocese.
“Your Excellency: You have repeatedly and publicly accused the Reverend Mother Superior Teresa Agnes Gerlach of violating her vow of chastity with a priest. What is the specific allegation you have found the Reverend Mother guilty of? Because you have defamed Mother Superior publicly now on multiple occasions, please do provide the specifics,” Bobo wrote.
The diocese on Monday told the Star-Telegram that it has already provided Gerlach with the specific findings of the bishiop’s investigation.
This story was originally published June 5, 2023 at 4:56 PM.
