POPE BACKS SICK NUN-BASHING BISHOP

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Bishop Olson's backer Francis, who calls traditionalists like Carmelite nuns 'backwardists'

It's almost as horrible as the awarding of damehood to the most despised and despicable Prime Minister in the history of New Zealand.

Trinity Sunday - ironically enough - brought fresh tidings in the strange case of the wheelchair-bound Discalced Carmelite Mother Superior of the Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity in Arlington, Texas, whose bishop's dismissal for an alleged affair with a unnamed priest has been upheld by the Vatican.

Mother Superior Teresa Agnes (Gerlach) of Jesus Crucified had filed a $1m lawsuit accusing Bishop Michael Olson of Fort Worth of storming into the monastery, 'interrogating' the nuns and confiscating phones and other devices they use to run the convent. 

• This 'adulterous' contemplative nun uses a catheter, a feeding tube, an IV drip and a wheelchair
• This bishop's grounds for his accusation of adultery are the nun's incoherent 'confession' under interrogation while in opioid-induced delirium after surgery 
• The bishop violated the nun's rule of life by entering her monastery with diocesan officials and a forensic technician
• He confiscated her property, stole the monastery's financial records and her personal information
• He's "been trying everything", says the nun's lawyer, since he was appointed bishop, to get hold of the monastery's donor list 
• He has refused her and her nuns weekday Mass and Confession
• He has not named the putative adulterous priest
• He was promptly assured of the Vatican's backing, in the person of an anti-monasticism cardinal
• a canon lawyer initially accepted by the diocese to represent the nuns was then rejected under spurious pretexts
• Canon law requires a bishop to investigate any priest alleged to commit canonical crimes in their diocese but this bishop just says, "he's not from here"
• The bishop threatened to dismiss "any nun" who interfered with his investigation 
• The bishop just might have bitten off more than he can chew

Bishop Olson informed the Carmelite nuns that their lawsuit had 'incited hatred and animosity against me' and thus he found priests to say Mass at the convent 'cannot be conveniently provided.'

  

Bishop Michael Olson, whose feelings cannot be 'conveniently' hurt

And on Wednesday Bishop Olson  was named as 'Pontifical Commissary' with 'full governing powers' over the Discalced Carmelite Nuns in Arlington by the Prefect of the Congregation for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, Cardinal João Braz de Aviz. 

This is the prelate who in 2018 informed 300 cloistered nuns that "Nostalgia is a no go" and "Names such as superior and inferior are doing us harm", in a speech entitled "Listening to the Lord of Peter in the Church so as to update a millenary contemplative consecrated life." 

You'd wonder why a man with the hubris to want to 'update' the contemplative consecrated life of the Church was ever entrusted with the power to do so - but of course, this prelate was appointed by 'the Lord of Peter in the Church', Pope Francis. Makes sense, does it not?

Cardinal Joao Braz de Aviz: for the lowdown go to https://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/cloistered-nuns-from-quaerere-deum-to-aggiornamehnto

The Mother Superior's suit is now amended to accuse the bishop and the diocese of defamation and theft of personal property and asks for at least $1 million in monetary relief.

According to the suit, Olson forced Reverend Mother Teresa Agnes Gerlach to turn over her computer, iPad and cell phone which are property of the monastery. 

While the Diocese of Fort Worth has since returned these items, the suit states that they made a mirror forensic image of the devices, keeping the information on them, and refusing to return that information. 

"The information the Defendants hold is the private property of the Plaintiffs," the petition reads. "It contains private correspondence, private documents, extensive medical records (a violation of the HIPPA laws), the financial information of the Plaintiffs, including but not limited to donor lists, the Defendants did not have prior access to."

The suit argues this is the private property of Gerlach and the monastery and that none of it is relevant to the canonical investigation which the Diocese of Fort Worth has said is now concluded. 

On May 16, the suit states, the diocese chose to go outside the "supposedly confidential ecclesiastical process" and make the matter public by releasing a statement that Gerlach had violated her vows of chastity with a priest from outside the Fort Worth diocese and had committed sins against the Sixth Commandment, as well as committing grave misconduct. 

"These statements were voluntarily put out in the public forum and are patently false and defamatory," the petition argues. 

Due to these charges, the petition is asking for a declaration from the court that the copied information from the monastery's devices should be returned and that the diocese doesn't have the authority to seize their property, nor the authority to access their private technology or accounts, nor that they have ownership over any of the monastery's assets. 

The suit also argues Olson and the diocese intentionally intruded on the monastery's solitude and seclusion, and that they wrongfully exercised dominion and control over the monastery's property.

This follows a statement from the Diocese of Fort Worth that Gerlach had been dismissed from the monastery, which Matthew Bobo, one of the lawyers representing the monastery, called "absolutely unjust and unconscionable in the light of moral, canonical and natural law." 

Gerlach was dismissed following a decree from Vatican City, which Bobo  has also disputed. 

Bobo said the decree issued is restricted to only the governing function of the Catholic Church. He said it has no authority over the law of Texas whatsoever, and that it should not affect the civil lawsuit filed by the monastery. 

"The unjust, illegal and immoral actions taken by Bishop Michael Olson in this matter have been explicitly outlined in the past few weeks, and the decree issued by the Catholic Church from Vatican City changes none of the facts of the case," Bobo said. "We will continue to press on representing the sisters according to the law of the State of Texas, to which Bishop Michael Olson is subject."

Bobo also raised issued with the decree itself, in that the case number and year  were neither correct nor associated with the case, in that the sister's monastery was incorrectly referred to as the Monastery of Saint Joseph of the Discalced Carmelite Nuns, and in that the nuns' canon lawyer has not received the decree, which is required by canon law. https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/arlington-monastery-amended-lawsuit-against-fort-worth-bishop-catholic-diocese-fort-worth-theft-personal-property-defamation/287-e3cebf1f-cd04-47e8-bb46-a9d8e051462e

 

The nuns in 2014 with the previous incumbent, Bishop Vann - seemingly not a greedy man

The nuns had contested Olson's authority over them, saying that as a Catholic religious order they answer directly to Pope Francis -- but the new Vatican decree naming Olson as 'Pontifical Commissary' deals a blow to that position. 

The decree grants Olson authority to appoint nuns to key authority roles in the Arlington monastery, and also retroactively approves 'all the administrative and legal acts' he has already carried out in the matter. 

At the heart of the dispute lies the allegation that Gerlach violated her vow of chastity with a priest, although the specific details of that claim remain shrouded in mystery.

 

Mother Superior Teresa Agnes of Jesus Crucified Gerlach, accused by her bishop of adultery

Gerlach, 45, has severe health issues that require a full-time caregiver, feeding tube, and IV drip for 10 hours a day, as well as confining her to a wheelchair, her attorney has said.

She has lived a cloistered religious life in the all-female monastery for 25 years, under the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.

The Diocese of Fort Worth has repeatedly claimed, including in a public statement on Wednesday, that Gerlach admitted to violating her vow of chastity.

But Bobo has slammed that assertion as false, saying that the Mother Superior never admitted to such a violation, and that she is not even aware of the specific nature of the allegation she faces.

'The bishop just decided to lob this bombshell out there, and for the life of us, we don't even know what the specifics of the allegation are. But I can absolutely tell you, she's never had sex with a priest,' Bobo told DailyMail.com last week.

Catholic news outlet The Pillar shed some light on the mystery, citing sources who said the allegation against Gerlach may stem from vague statements she made in December 2022, while she was heavily medicated following a hospital procedure.

A person close to the matter told the outlet that while Gerlach was 'in-and-out of lucidity,' she made tearful, incoherent remarks to the nun who serves as her caregiver and the diocesan vicar general, saying she had committed some sin against the Sixth Commandment.  

The person noted that since Gerlach requires a round-the-clock caregiver for her medical issues, 'the notion that she committed some secret sexual sin with a priest — even on the phone — doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.'

No information has emerged about the priest involved in the alleged sexual sin, other than a diocesan statement saying that he was from outside of the Diocese of Fort Worth, and that his superiors had been notified.

According to the lawsuit filed by the nuns, Olson barged into the monastery in April to investigate Gerlach's alleged sinful admissions. 

'I was stunned when Bishop Olson for all intents and purposes forced himself onto our peaceful community,' said Gerlach in a sworn affidavit.

The lawsuit states that the Carmelite nuns 'are a cloistered Order of women dedicated to a life of contemplative prayer' who attend Mass each morning, and then gather seven times a day to chant the Liturgy of the Hours. 

'The rest of their day is focused on contemplative prayer, the silent loving person to person relationship with Jesus Christ, a living prayer for the benefit of others,' the suit notes. 

Since the controversy erupted, Olson's priests have visited the convent to celebrate Mass only on Sunday, and have not heard confession from the nuns, according to Bobo.

In a May 26 letter, Olson rejected a request from the sisters to resume daily communion, a tradition the monastery had observed since it was founded in the 1950s. 

'At the present moment, daily Mass and Confessions cannot be conveniently provided for the members of Monastery; nor can the courtesy of participation at Mass at the Monastery be extended to the lay faithful,' Olson said in the letter to Sister Francis Therese, who is Gerlach's second in command. 

'This is because you and Mother Teresa Agnes (Gerlach) of Jesus Crucified, O.C.D., have lodged a civil lawsuit, together with a request for a protection order, against me and the Diocese of Fort Worth, containing a false narrative relative to the pending investigation,' said Olson.

The bishop added the situation 'has led to local, national, and international media coverage and has incited hatred and animosity against me because of my initiation of the investigation and has hindered the freedom of my ecclesiastical power to conduct that investigation.' 

The saga first emerged in a lawsuit filed by Gerlach and her convent earlier this month in Tarrant Country Court, naming Bishop Olson and the Diocese of Fort Worth as defendants. 

According to the nuns' lawsuit, Olson first entered the convent on April 24, and brought an unidentified forensic technology specialist who confiscated Gerlach's personal cellphone, iPad and laptop computer.

The suit notes that the devices were used to run the business of the monastery, and without them the nuns were unable to pay bills or operate financially. 

Bobo told DailyMail.com last week that although Gerlach's devices had been returned, the diocese retains a forensic copy of their hard drives, and demanded their return. 

'The stuff that was on that technology, has their private personal information, and has all the monastery's financial information, but most importantly, it has their donor list,' said Bobo. 

'And that is a list that the bishop has been trying to get his hands on since he became bishop,' he added. 

Bobo also noted that the monastery's roughly 72-acre property in Arlington is owned by the Discalced Carmelite Nuns religious order rather than the diocese.

 

The nuns off to Mass - which Bishop Olson has cancelled 

'He could arguably have the monastery shut down, and then that piece of property, which is worth about $22 million, could become part of the diocese,' the attorney said. 

Diocese spokesman Pat Svacina denied Bobo's claims in a statement to DailyMail.com, saying: 'His accusations are false and unsupported.' 

Since the controversy erupted, Olson's priests have visited the convent to celebrate Mass only on Sunday, and have not heard confession from the nuns, according to Bobo.

In a May 26 letter, Olson rejected a request from the sisters to resume daily Communion, a tradition the monastery had observed since it was founded in the 1950s. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12148497/Vatican-backs-Fort-Worth-bishop-accused-nun-violating-vow-chastity.html

 

The cloister at the Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity 

“The three Persons are distinct from one another; a sublime knowledge is infused into the soul, imbuing it with a certainty of the truth that the Three are of one substance, power, and knowledge and are one God”

 - St Teresa of Jesus