ARLINGTON (CBSNewsTexas.com) – An Arlington nun at the center of a scandal was found guilty of violating her vow of chastity with a priest from outside the Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth.
Later, the Reverend Mother Teresa Agnes Gerlach was deposed after the Vatican sided with the investigation of Fort Worth Bishop Michael Olson.
Through his lawyer, Gerlach has done so denied the public accusation violated a vow of chastity. He also denies admitting to Bishop Michael Olson that he violated the Bible’s sixth commandment, something state attorneys for the diocese said in response to a Gerlach lawsuit.
The Diocese issued a statement on June 1, which read in part:
Following the conclusion of an investigation initiated on May 24, 2023, the Most Reverend Michael F. Olson, Bishop of the Diocese of Fort Worth and Pontifical Commissioner of the Arlington, Texas Monastery, found Reverend Mother Teresa Agnes (Gerlach ) of Jesus crucified. , OCD (née Lisa Marie Gerlach), prioress of the monastery, guilty of violating the sixth commandment of the Decalogue and her vow of chastity with a priest outside the Diocese of Fort Worth. Therefore, as pontifical commissioner of the monastery in Arlington, Texas, and as bishop of the Diocese of Fort Worth, Bishop Olson dismissed Mother Teresa Agnes from the order of the Discalced Carmelites.
Earlier this week, Bishop Olson sent a letter to the order of nunsaccusing a lawsuit they filed of inciting “hatred and animosity” against him, international media attention and hindering their power to investigate the Reverend Mother.
The letter denied a request from Holy Trinity Monastery to allow priests to visit and resume daily Mass and confession.
Normal daily activities at the monastery have been canceled since last month and will not resume, Olson wrote, until the nuns “stop this behavior … and demonstrate love and obedience to the Holy Church and its saints shepherds…” and until the demand. is completed or withdrawn.
The letter cited church rules that Mass should only be made available when it can be “conveniently done” and that serious sins should only be confessed once a year.
Olson prevented priests from visiting the 10 nuns in late April after accusing Gerlach of adultery. The Diocese copied data from computers and a phone earlier this month, before agreeing to return the devices.
The nuns filed a civil suit after Olson denied her options for representation within the church’s legal process, instead appointing someone of her own choosing. They argue that the organization is not subject to the local bishop, but answers directly to the Vatican.
An organization that has supported the nuns for decades has publicly backed them in the dispute.
The Women’s Auxiliary of the Discalced Carmelite Nuns told CBS News Texas, “We strongly advocate for daily Mass to return to the monastery for our nuns and community.”
At least 50 people a day attended mass at the monastery, the group said in a written statement. The group, which has more than 225 members, helps with groceries, holiday meals and general fundraising for the nuns.
The group’s outgoing president, Natalie Strand, said she never thought she would have to advocate for nuns the way she is now.
“But in the face of injustice, I am proud to stand publicly behind them, to use my voice to support and defend them, to join them and others in prayer, and I will continue to do exactly that this,” he wrote in an email. .
Gerlach has thirty days to appeal the decision before the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.
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