Nun denies allegation she violated chastity vow with priest
FORT WORTH (CBSNewsTexas.com) — A nun is strongly denying that she admitted any wrongdoing to a local bishop, in an ongoing legal battle between the two Catholic entities.
Through her attorney, Reverend Mother Teresa Agnes Gerlach denied a public allegation from the Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth that she had violated a vow of chastity with a priest.
She also denies admitting to Bishop Michael Olson that she broke the Biblical sixth commandment, something attorneys for the diocese state in a response to a lawsuit from Gerlach.
Fort Worth attorney Mathew Bobo couldn't say if the allegation could be referencing some violation that was not of a sexual nature.
"We don't even know what the allegation is," Bobo said Wednesday. "We don't know what the bishop is even referencing. We don't know where he got his source information. We don't know where any of this is coming from."
A spokesman for the diocese had no comment on the denial. A public statement posted on the organization's website last week made the initial accusation.
That statement followed a lawsuit from Gerlach and the Discalced Carmelite Nuns, accusing Olson and the diocese of violating their privacy when he began an investigation last month.
As part of that initial confrontation, the suit says Olson interrogated Gerlach and other nuns, and demanded they turn over their computers and a phone. They were later returned after the diocese made copies of all the data.
That remains a concern, Bobo said, due to financial information on the devices including lists of donors to the monastery.
"A donor list that the bishop has been trying to get his hands on ever since he became bishop," Bobo said. "Because there's a lot of people out there who support this monastery and support these nuns and don't necessarily support the diocese."
A spokesman for the diocese responded Wednesday, calling the accusations false and unfounded.
The nuns operate the monastery independently from the diocese. A document in the legal response from the church says any data copied would be used "only for the purposes of this ecclesiastical investigation, or any civil or canonical proceedings involving the parties or related to this ecclesiastical investigation."
The privacy issue is the main point of a lawsuit filed in Tarrant County. A hearing is scheduled in June.
The issues surrounding allegations of misconduct, Bobo agrees, is a church issue which should be handled internally. He said the mother is currently working with a church lawyer of her choosing to handle that process, although Olson has rejected that choice.
Bobo also raised concerns over a member of the diocesan legal team. According to a 2017 report from KELO in South Dakota, New York-based canonical attorney Justin Wachs was once the subject of sexual harassment complaints when he was a priest in the state. His attorney at the time said he disputed the allegations, but he resigned from his parish.
A spokesman for the Diocese of Fort Worth told CBS News Texas the allegations against Wachs were false.
Wachs didn't immediately respond to an email request for comment on the case.