After a string of controversies and disagreements with their local Fort Worth bishop, a group of Carmelite nuns in Arlington, Texas, announced on Saturday that they are associating with the Society of St Pius X (SSPX). This traditionalist group is not in full communion with the Catholic Church and has a canonically irregular status. After Read more
Posts Tagged ‘Bishop Michael Olson’
Carmelite nuns affiliate with Society of St Pius X after feud with bishop
Thursday, September 19th, 2024Texan Carmelite nuns seek pastoral care from suspended priests
Monday, July 22nd, 2024
A community of Carmelite nuns in Arlington, Texas have permitted two priests to celebrate Mass in their convent despite the priests being suspended on suspicion of abuse. Bishop Michael Olson of the Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas revealed that the priests have been serving as chaplains to the nuns without authorisation. The priests, the bishop Read more
Vatican reinstates Carmelite nun after bishop’s dismissal in Texas over affair with priest
Thursday, May 30th, 2024The Holy See has reinstated a Carmelite mother superior nearly a year after the bishop of Fort Worth, Texas, dismissed her after alleged inappropriate conduct with a priest. Bishop Michael Olson issued a decree on June 1, 2023, dismissing Reverend Mother Teresa Agnes Gerlach from religious life following a nearly six-week-long investigation into the affair. Read more
Vatican overturns Texas bishop’s dismissal of Carmelite nun but backs his investigation
Monday, May 27th, 2024The Vatican has overturned a Texas bishop’s dismissal of a Carmelite nun from her order after she was accused of breaking her vow of chastity with a priest, weighing in on a power struggle and scandal that drew national attention. The Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life found in favour Read more
Nuns withdraw application for injunction against bishop
Thursday, May 2nd, 2024The Carmelite nuns of Arlington have withdrawn their application for a temporary restraining order against their bishop and their superior, who was appointed by the Vatican. In an interview with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram newspaper (Tuesday), their lawyer, Matthew Bobo, said that there was no need for the hearing originally scheduled for Tuesday in the Read more
Carmelite nuns reject new Vatican decree
Monday, April 22nd, 2024The Carmelite nuns who sued the Bishop of Fort Worth last year have fiercely rejected a new decree from Vatican City that they be governed by an association of monasteries, calling the decision a hostile takeover. “We are not things to be traded or given away in backroom deals,” the nuns wrote in a four-page Read more
Carmelite nuns abandon appeal plans against Texas bishop
Thursday, August 3rd, 2023
A group of Carmelite nuns involved in a lawsuit against a Texas bishop has decided not to pursue initial plans to appeal the dismissal of their case and instead are putting their faith in a Vatican canonical investigation. The nuns’ legal representative, Matthew Bobo, confirmed this development in a statement released on Monday. The decision Read more
Bishop Olson ‘grateful’ after Texas court dismisses nuns’ lawsuit
Monday, July 3rd, 2023A judge in Texas has ruled that a district court does not have jurisdiction to hear a lawsuit brought by a monastery of Carmelite nuns against Bishop Michael Olson of the Diocese of Fort Worth. The decision, handed down on Friday, June 30, ruled that the nuns’ suit is “dismissed for want of subject-matter jurisdiction.” Read more
Bishop Olson will ‘not be drawn’ into public debate on Carmelite monastery
Thursday, June 15th, 2023On Sunday evening, Bishop Michael Olson of Fort Worth released a video message addressing his interventions at the Carmelite monastery in Arlington, Texas. Saying he would not be drawn into public discussion of the matter, the bishop attempted to refute accounts that the convent’s superior had been heavily medicated when allegedly admitting to sexual sins Read more
Bitter dispute between diocese and Carmelite nuns escalates amid allegations of drug use
Monday, June 12th, 2023
A bitter dispute between the Diocese of Fort Worth and a Carmelite monastery in Texas has reached new heights as charges and counter-charges of illegal activity, including drug use, have been made. The latest salvo in this protracted legal and public relations battle came from the diocese itself on Wednesday. The diocese released photographs purporting Read more