The Discalced Carmelite Nuns of Arlington, Texas, who have been embroiled in legal battles with Bishop Michael F. Olson of Fort Worth for more than a year, are very close to schism, according to a recent statement from the Bishop.
In the latest development in a series of actions that disregard Church authority, the Carmelite nuns of the Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity announced on September 14 that they re-elected Mother Teresa Agnes Gerlach of Jesus Crucified as Prioress for three more years.
CatholicVote previously reported that Mother Teresa Agnes was investigated by Bishop Olson in 2023 for allegedly breaking her vow of chastity with a priest, an investigation that prompted the nuns to file several lawsuits against the Bishop.
According to Bishop Olson’s September 17 statement, the nuns were not allowed to hold the election given that the Vatican appointed Mother Marie of the Incarnation as Prioress in April 2024.
“Having consulted with the Reverend Mother Marie of the Incarnation, the legitimate superior of the Carmel of the Most Holy Trinity in Arlington, Texas … I am duty bound to inform the faithful of the Diocese of Fort Worth that the attempted elections were illicit and invalid as they were not conducted in accord with ecclesiastical law and the Constitutions of the Order of Discalced Carmelites,” Bishop Olson wrote, adding:
Sadly, the deliberate and contumacious actions of Mother Teresa Agnes and the other members of the Community have taken them further down the path of disobedience to and disunity with the Church and with their own religious Order that they began to embark on so many months ago. Their rejection of their legitimate superiors – Mother Marie of the Incarnation, O.C.D., and me as their diocesan bishop – is scandalous and is permeated with the odor of schism.
Bishop Olson said he is working with the Vatican and Mother Marie to properly respond to “this manifestly disordered situation.”
He additionally warned the faithful of the Diocese not to participate in the Sacraments at the monastery nor to donate to the nuns, calling instead for Catholics to pray and sacrifice “for the nuns, for the restoration of order at the Arlington Carmel, and for the return to sober obedience and union with the Church by the members of the Community.”
In their September 14 statement, the nuns additionally indicated that they have joined the Society of Saint Pius X, a traditionalist group whose liturgies are not recognized as valid by the Vatican. Bishop Olson did not address the nuns’ decision to associate with the Society in his statement.