Carmelite nuns forbid Fort Worth bishop from Arlington monastery in newly released statement
ARLINGTON (CBSNewsTexas.com) — Days after reopening the gates of their Arlington monastery to supporters, the Carmelite nuns wrote that they forbid Fort Worth Bishop Michael Olson from coming onto the property, and that they no longer recognize his authority over them.
The Reverend Mother Prioress and the chapter of Carmelite nuns posted the strongly worded statement on their website late Friday. It is one of the first direct statements they have made during the nearly four-month-long public and legal dispute with Bishop Olson.
They wrote they had been subjected to "unprecedented interference, intimidation, aggression, private and public humiliation," as a direct result of Olson's attitudes and ambitions.
They also say any of Olson's officials or representatives are forbidden from the property, and from having any contact with the monastery, nuns or novices.
"No one who abuses us as has the current Bishop of Fort Worth, has any right to our cooperation or obedience," the letter says.
In response, the Diocese of Fort Worth released the following statement:
Bishop Olson and the Diocese of Fort Worth have not been notified of this dangerously rebellious decision by the dismissed prioress and the other nuns to reject formally the authority of the Holy See to name Bishop Olson as Pontifical Commissary and acting superior of the Arlington Carmel with the associated rights and duties of oversight.
Bishop Olson asks the faithful of the Diocese of Fort Worth and all people of good will to pray for the Carmelites that they will stop their open disobedience.
Bishop Olson and the Diocese of Fort Worth stand with Pope Francis and will remain faithful to the canonical process that is currently underway.
The break between the two organizations comes as the nuns are still involved with an internal church appeal over the bishop's actions this spring. He dismissed the Reverend Mother Teresa Agnes Gerlach from her leadership position at the monastery after learning she had told two people she may have violated her vow of chastity with a priest.
The Reverend Mother and another nun filed a civil suit, alleging invasion of privacy, theft, defamation, and that the bishop was attempting to take over an independent organization.
In June, a judge decided he did not have jurisdiction to hear the dispute after diocese attorneys argued it was too tied up in religious matters for a civil court to become involved.
The nuns dropped plans to appeal that order last month to allow the internal church legal process to continue.
The bishop allowed priests to the return to the monastery, and restored daily mass for the nuns, but still forbid any parishioners from attending those services.
Friday's statement was also accompanied by a statement of support from Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, a former Vatican ambassador to the United States and, in recent years, an outspoken critic of Pope Francis.
In battling the bishop, Vigano called out what he calls a "corrupt hierarchy," and wrote that the Arlington nuns had a heroic example in a chapter of nuns who faced the guillotine after the French Revolution.
Read the entire letter from the Carmelite nuns below:
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