While a canonical investigation between the Arlington Carmelite nuns and Fort Worth Bishop Michael F. Olson is pending in Rome, tensions remain.
Disputes over who holds authority over the Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity have risen through a variety of statements from both the Arlington Carmel and the bishop. is a political science professor at Southern Methodist University. He is also the director for the school鈥檚 center for faith and learning. Wilson breaks down the roles of both the Bishop and Carmelite nuns to help make sense of the latest disputes.
The Rev. Mother Teresa Gerlach and the chapter of the monastery rejected Olson鈥檚 authority as bishop and going on to 鈥渇orbid him or any of his officials or representatives鈥� from entering the property, according to its Aug. 18 .
Now, Gerlach and members of the monastery may be facing excommunication, the ultimate ecclesiastical penalty in which the offender is expelled from the church. Gerlach 鈥渕ay have incurred upon herself excommunication latae sententiae,鈥� a canonical punishment for offenses such as heresy in his the following day,鈥� Olson said.
Other nuns, depending on their complicity with Gerlach, may also face the same repercussions, Olson said. Gerlach could appeal to Rome, but there will be challenges, Wilson said.
鈥淲inning an appeal to Rome, against the ecclesiastical judgment of a bishop within his own diocese is a tough thing. It's not impossible, but it's definitely an uphill battle,鈥� Wilson said.
The monastery still recognizes Gerlach as the monastery鈥檚 prioress, a type of nun who is head of a religious house or order. Though the monastery said it plans to remain independent from the bishop, it said it continues to remain faithful to the Catholic Church. However, Wilson said that it鈥檚 not at the discretion of individual Catholics or monasteries to choose which Episcopal jurisdiction to exist in.
鈥淭hey are in the Diocese of Fort Worth, and Bishop Olson is Bishop of the Diocese of Fort Worth,鈥� Wilson said. 鈥淎 prioress would defer to the bishop in the running of the diocese and the bishop would defer to the prioress in running or the monastery.鈥�
Olson dismissed Gerlach from the Order of Discalced Carmelites, alleging that she broke her chastity vow with a priest outside the diocese, according to a . Typically, another person from the religious order would be asked to take on the duties on an interim basis, Wilson said.
鈥淣ow, that becomes more difficult if the suspicion is that the entire monastery is complicit in some sort of systematic wrongdoing,鈥� Wilson said.
The is a group within the Vatican that oversees matters relating to religious orders. In May, the Dicastery Olson as the pontifical commissary of the monastery. In this role, Olson has 鈥渇ull governing responsibility for the Monastery.鈥�
鈥淭hat's kind of a specific grant of supervisory responsibility made by the Vatican, which is why this appeal to Rome is going to be particularly challenging for the monastery to win,鈥� Wilson said.
Olson said in his Aug. 19 that the Arlington Carmel remains closed to public access 鈥渦ntil such time as the Arlington Carmel publicly disavows itself of these scandalous and schismatic actions of Mother Teresa Agnes.鈥� The following week, the monastery released a declaration reiterating their rejection of Olson鈥檚 authority and refusal to accept his role as pontifical commissary.
Matthew Bobo, the civil attorney representing the Carmelite nuns, told that Olson is not welcome on the property and that he and the Arlington Carmelites would take steps to have him removed.
Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigan貌, a former ambassador for the Holy See, released a Aug. 18 in support of the nuns and asked for people to support them 鈥渨ith prayer and material help.鈥�
As the investigation between the Arlington monastery and the Fort Worth Diocese makes its way to the Vatican, Wilson said he鈥檚 hoping for some more clarity from both the nuns and the diocese.
鈥淚t seems to me that clearly, he feels that he believes that there is some sort of serious wrongdoing there at the monastery,鈥� Wilson said, 鈥渦nless they can provide some other compelling reason for why he would undertake this kind of messy public fight.鈥�
Marissa Greene is a Report for America corps member, covering faith for the Fort Worth Report. You can contact her at marissa.greene@fortworthreport.org or on Twitter at .
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