Carmelite Nuns - CathNews New Zealand

Texan Carmelite nuns seek pastoral care from suspended priests

Ronan — Mon, 22 Jul 2024 06:09:48 +0000

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 disclosed, are members of the Society of St John, a religious institute that was suppressed because of abuse complaints. One of the priests visiting the Carmelites has been suspended from ministry since 2012.

Both priests and the Society of St John were listed in a grand jury investigation into abuse in six Pennsylvania dioceses.

Bitter dispute

The Carmelite community has been in a bitter public dispute with the bishop since April 2023.

The dispute began when Olson investigated allegations that the prioress, Reverend Mother Teresa Agnes Gerlach, violated her vows.

The situation escalated throughout 2023, with the nuns appealing to the Vatican and filing a lawsuit (since dismissed) against the bishop.

Despite the Carmelite nuns' protests, Bishop Olson has maintained the allegations against their superior.

The Arlington Carmelites have rejected a Vatican order directive putting their community under the jurisdiction of a national Carmelite Association. They said it is "in effect a hostile takeover that we cannot in conscience accept".

Bishop Olson says that until the sisters accept the appointment of Mother Marie of the Incarnation as rightful superior "I cannot grant permission or authority to any priest of the Diocese of Fort Worth or any other diocese or religious institute to celebrate the sacraments".

Initially, the Vatican appointed Bishop Olson as the papal representative overseeing the convent but later transferred management to the president of the Carmelite Association "Christ the King".

In June, the Vatican dismissed the nuns' complaints against Olson's measures, except for the dismissal of the prioress from the order.

The sisters continue to reject the instructions of the Vatican Dicastery for Religious and refuse to recognise the association president's leadership.

Sources

Katholisch

CathNews New Zealand

Texan Carmelite nuns seek pastoral care from suspended priests

Vatican reinstates Carmelite nun after bishop's dismissal in Texas over affair with priest

Ronan — Thu, 30 May 2024 05:53:29 +0000

The 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.

Gerlach had previously served as the prioress of the Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity in Arlington. At the time of the dismissal, Olson said that the investigation had found her "guilty of having violated the Sixth Commandment of the Decalogue and her vow of chastity with a priest from outside the Diocese of Fort Worth."

In a statement on Wednesday, Olson said that the Vatican's Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life "informed me that it overturned the decree dismissing Mother Teresa Agnes" from the Arlington monastery.

Vatican reinstates Carmelite nun after bishop's dismissal in Texas over affair with priest

Nuns withdraw application for injunction against bishop

Ronan — Thu, 02 May 2024 05:50:39 +0000

The 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 district court of Tarrant County (US state of Texas).

He did not give any reasons for the sisters' partial withdrawal. The Carmelite nuns wanted to enforce in court that neither the locally responsible diocesan bishop of Fort Worth, Michael Olson, nor the new superior appointed by the Vatican dicastery for religious orders, Mother Marie of the Incarnation, was not allowed to enter the convent.

Nuns withdraw application for injunction against bishop

Lockdown destroys nuns' business

denisohagan — Mon, 11 May 2020 08:01:32 +0000

Not even those living a monastic life are immune to the effects of coronavirus.

The Carmelite sisters may live in a "permanent sort of lockdown" but the Covid-19 pandemic has reached behind the monastery's high concrete wall to impact their daily life.

"We are very much in the same boat as everyone else right now in terms of adjusting to a new normal with its unprecedented realities and uncertainties," says Sister Catherine of Christ.

Most of the nuns' regular work at the Christchurch Carmelite convent has ceased.

The main source of income is the production of altar breads for many parishes in the diocese of Christchurch.

Other major works include the restoration of statues and various other forms of artwork - making cards and banners and painting candles for Baptisms and Weddings.

But now they are not making any altar breads.

Nor are the 13 sisters taking orders for other religious items to be made by hand.

"By our vow of poverty and trust in God's providence, this is not something we are worrying about," says Sister Catherine.

"It's amazing how quickly the human person can adapt."

"What we thought impossible and unimaginable a couple of months ago is now becoming a matter of right, how can we make this work with what we have?"

Like many other New Zealanders, the Carmelite nuns are diversifying to survive during the pandemic lockdown.

"One example is that the flour that is not being used for altar bread making is now being used to make our daily bread."

Christchurch Carmel was founded in February 1933, when seven sisters from Sydney Carmel sailed across the sea to begin the first contemplative monastery in New Zealand.

The monastery is situated on 2.4 hectares in Halswell, around 15 minutes from the city centre

Source

Lockdown destroys nuns' business

Spanish Carmelite nuns join Me Too movement

Juliet Palmer — Thu, 03 May 2018 08:08:19 +0000

Spanish Carmelite nuns have added their support to the Me Too movement.

The international movement against sexual harassment and assault has spread rapidly since last October. It is used to show the widespread prevalence of sexual assault and harassment.

The Carmelite nuns published a post committing their support to Me Too last week. This followed a court acquitting five men of rape charges for an attack on a young woman during a festival in Pamplona, Spain, in 2016.

The men (known as the Wolf Pack) filmed seven short videos of the attack. They then left their victim alone and naked in an alley. The videos were used as evidence in court.

The police who worked the case testified that the videos are "revolting" and that the victim didn't participate willingly.

However, the judge held that since she "kept her eyes closed" and had a "passive attitude," no violence was involved.

According to Spanish law, the charge of sexual abuse differs from rape in that it doesn't involve violence or intimidation.

The defence alleged the victim felt intimidated and unwillingly became submissive.

The trial sparked a Spanish version of the "Me Too" movement.

Although the nuns cannot leave the cloister, they joined the national protests about the judge's decision via social media.

They say they are showing solidarity with the victim and "with every woman who has to think twice before going through a dark street alone or before they go home on their own."

Source

Spanish Carmelite nuns join Me Too movement