There have been some new developments in the ongoing controversy surrounding the Carmelite nuns in Arlington, Texas.
Earlier this week, a decree dated April 30 from the Vatican’s Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life (DICLSAL) was made public. The decree states that the Dicastery, decided in favor of Mother Teresa Agnes Gerlach in here appeal of Fort Worth Bishop Michael Olson, based on errors in process and execution of her dismissal from the Carmelite order.
These errors include the bishop’s failure to “prove that these acts were perpetrated by the exertion of force or violence, or by her abusing her ecclesiastical authority as prioress.” Olson claimed that as Prioress, Mother Teresa Agnes, she abused her “unique privilege of having access to electronic means of communication, which allowed her to establish contact with her accomplice.” But given that she had no authority over her accomplice, this could not be construed as an abuse of authority. Further, she was not granted the full fifteen days to respond to a canonical warning, which invalidates her dismissal.
Also this week, In a letter dated May 22, Bishop Olson published a statement responding to DICSAL’s decision to uphold his decisions of “placing Mother Teresa Agnes on a leave of absence following her admissions of grievous misconduct, and admonishing the members of the Monastery that obstruction of the investigation could result in the imposition of penalties.”
Between the two letters, it appears that the Vatican has decided to allow Mother Teresa Agnes to remain in the Carmelite order, but not as prioress. The governance and oversight of the monastery was delegated to the President of the Association of Christ the King, Mother Marie of the Incarnation, a member of the Carmel in Lake Elmo, Minnesota.
Mother Marie of the Incarnation also issued a statement on May 22, however, which showed that the drama is still ongoing. She wrote:
Today, in obedience to the Decree of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, I visited the Arlington Carmel and attempted to present to each Sister the letters which the Dicastery had directed me to give to each individually. Unfortunately, I was rejected and not granted admittance.
The Pillar reported that they were told by the Diocese of Fort Worth that Mother Marie was turned away twice by the Arlington Carmel:
On Thursday, May 23, a representative from the Fort Worth diocese told The Pillar that Mother Marie of the Incarnation was again turned away by the nuns living in the monastery — refused admittance to the monastery over which the Vatican says she is superior.
Mother Marie of the Incarnation has said she needs to enter the monastery in order to fulfill her Vatican appointment, including the delivery of letters from the Vatican to each nun in the monastery.
According to a Fort Worth diocesan official, a priest of the diocese was also turned away when he arrived with Mother Marie of the Incarnation on Thursday.
A diocesan spokesman said the priest had planned to offer Mass according to the liturgical missal of 1962 — the Traditional Latin Mass preferred by the nuns of the monastery — but he was not admitted because he was accompanying Mother Marie of the Incarnation.
Along with the May 22 statement, Mother Marie also shared another statement that was prepared for publication on April 20, which was withheld due to the lawsuit that the Arlington Nuns eventually dropped. This statement displays hope about finding a way forward, which unfortunately may have been too optimistic:
I know that the Sisters, cooperating generously with the grace of God, are themselves the best resource for the renewal that will deepen their community’s peace and stability after a tumultuous year. Their professed desire is to be faithful to the vocation given them by God, in His mercy. The Nuns wish to live fully the Carmelite traditions, praying as Saint Teresa herself prayed and following her inspired teaching, so as to arrive at union with God, for the benefit of Holy Church and for the salvation of countless souls. Their intention in joining the Association of Christ the King was precisely so that they might continue to pursue and attain these ends, in the company of our member monasteries, with whom they feel an affinity. We are grateful, therefore, to be able to assist them in fulfilling their holy desires, by accepting and laboring to carry out the Decree of 18 April, by which the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life has entrusted the Carmel of Arlington to the Association of Christ the King.
Finally, the Arlington Carmelites updated their website yesterday with a new statement, demanding an apology from Bishop Olson and expressing disappointment with the Vatican’s handling of their situation. The sisters assert, “We are profoundly disappointed that, in the place of the dialogue about which they speak so much, the relevant persons have once again chosen to resort to unproven narratives and attempted public humiliation to achieve their ends.”
The statement confirms that Mother Marie attempted to visit the monastery twice:
On Wednesday May 22, 2024, without any notice or warning, the President of the Carmelite Association of Christ the King, accompanied by another nun, attempted to enter Arlington Carmel in spite of the prohibition on her from so doing made in our statement of April 20, 2024. The next day she violated this prohibition again.
It seems that despite withdrawing their request for a restraining order, the Arlington nuns have maintained their refusal to allow representatives of the Diocese of Fort Worth or the Christ the King Association (of which their community is a member) from setting foot on monastery property. One imagines that Mother Marie’s difficulties in carrying out her new assignment must be extremely distressing for her.
They end this new statement with an appeal to Pope Francis’s words on dignity and respect for women, and they also invoke the directive of their foundress, St. Teresa of Avila, “that each monastery remain autonomous in its self-governance and life, including the election of its superiors from among its own members.”
The 15 percent of Carmelite monasteries that follow the 1990 Constitutions are autonomous in the sense that they independent of each other, and that they are not under the authority of the Discalced Carmelite Father General (those that follow the 1991 Constitutions are under his authority). It is a requirement of the 2018 Vatican Instruction Cor Orans, that all monastic communities of women religious are required to join a federation or association, which is defined as “a structure of communion among monasteries of the same Institute erected by the Holy See so that monasteries which share the same charism do not remain isolated but keep it faithfully and, giving each other mutual fraternal help, live the indispensable value of communion” (no. 86). These are to be “made up of several autonomous monasteries that have affinity of spirit and traditions” (no. 87). Conceptually, the Carmelite Association is a collaborative structure, rather than a governing body, although some traditionalist monasteries have nevertheless resisted this requirement.
Sister Gabriela of the Incarnation, OCDS, recently wrote on how the concept of autonomy applies in the context of Carmelite nuns under the 1990 Constitutions. “‘Autonomous’ does not mean ‘independent,’” she points out. “It means that the community has enough nuns in solemn profession for a valid Chapter (the minimum is six solemnly professed nuns), that it has adequate personnel within the community for government, formation and finances, without needing anyone from outside to come in and manage those areas.”
Strictly speaking, for 1990 Carmelites, the direct superior of each nun in the monastery is the prioress, and the direct superior of each prioress is the pope. In practice, however, DICSAL acts on the pope’s behalf. The Holy See therefore certainly has the ability, canonically speaking, to name a new superior — in this case Bishop Olson, and later Mother Marie.
The Arlington Carmelites, however, have refused to back down.
Image: YouTube screenshot of Arlington Carmel Gate.
Mike Lewis is the founding managing editor of Where Peter Is. He and Jeannie Gaffigan co-host Field Hospital, a U.S. Catholic podcast.
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