Regarding the ongoing standoff between Bishop Michael Olson of Fort Worth and the Carmelite nuns in Arlington, Texas, which I reported on yesterday, it did not take long for the cloistered Carmelite community to respond to the documents from the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life (DICLSAL). And they weren’t happy.
A lengthy open letter on their website described the Vatican’s decision as “in effect a hostile takeover that we cannot in conscience accept.”
The four* documents shared on April 18 were a decree from DICLSAL on the change in governance of the Arlington Carmel, a letter to Bishop Olson informing him of the change in major superior over the nuns, a letter from Bishop Olson to the faithful, and a letter to the nuns informing them of the change and requesting that they take down a previous statement in which they vowed disobedience to Bishop Olson.
It seems the nuns saw the change in governance as little more than window dressing that did little to change their situation. Even though Mother Marie of the Incarnation — a member of the Lake Elmo, Minnesota, Carmel and the nun delegated to oversee their order — is a member of the same religious order, is under the same 1990 constitutions as they are, and is president of their own Association of Carmelite monasteries (the Association of Christ the King in the United States of America), the Arlington nuns see her and her counselors as an “outside authority” who “could easily disperse us, impose its agenda in respect of our daily observance and dispose of our assets—even of the monastery itself—as it wishes, contrary to our vows and to the intentions of those who founded our community and our benefactors.
“The letter then adds, “Accordingly, neither the President of the Association of Christ the King, nor any delegate of hers, is welcome to enter our monastery at this time.”
It seems that the crux of their objection is a refusal of any outside interference and absolute loyalty and trust in their former prioress, Mother Teresa Agnes of Jesus Crucified Gerlach, OCD, who was dismissed from the Carmelite order by Bishop Olson on June 30 of last year, but whose term as prioress was set to conclude on January 8 of this year. This latter date was invoked by DICLSAL in its letter to Bishop Olson. The Arlington nuns’ letter asserted, “the community affirms its complete confidence in the moral integrity of our Mother Prioress.”
They also wrote:
“The technical ‘problem’ of the expiration of terms of office last January that Rome uses as a motivation for their ‘solution’ can be solved in any number of other ways—including by Rome’s extension of such terms of office for a suitable period while the issues at hand are addressed equitably. It is our understanding that while matters are under appeal, nothing is to be changed and the status quo is to be preserved.”
There are a number of other assertions in the letter, including a harsh evaluation of Bishop Olson’s leadership and character, confirmation that they consider Pope Francis to be a valid pope, and how they have been nourished by pre-Vatican liturgy and prayers. The confirmation that they believe Francis is pope is likely in reference to the open support given to them by radical traditionalist factions, including the disgraced former apostolic nuncio to the United States, the sedevacantist Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano.
As we have covered before, the threat of extreme forms of traditionalism and resistance to Pope Francis is very real and not foreign to contemplative life, not even cloistered Carmelite nuns, and this is likely what Pope Francis had in mind this week when he said to a group of Carmelite nuns gathered in Rome this week, “With all my heart, I bless you, your deliberations in these days, and your communities. I bless the nuns in the monastery. I ask you, too, to continue to pray for me; for me, not against me” (emphasis added).
The nuns claim they are open to dialogue with the Vatican on these issues, but without any admission of wrongdoing on their part and under several conditions:
Nevertheless, we remain open to any initiative from higher authority that seeks to repair the damage that has been done to us and that respects the integrity of our life, vocation and monastic community. We are not ‘things’ to be traded or given away in back-room deals, but women vowed to the exclusive love and service of Almighty God, whose integrity is to be respected and protected for the good of their souls and for the good of the Church.
We are perfectly willing, as should be any monastery, to welcome in a spirit of humility Visitators whose integrity and impartiality we recognize and accept, to receive their fraternal advice with respectful docility and to consider their recommendations before God. But we are not willing to accept Visitators who themselves lack humility and docility before the reality of the integrity of our own religious life and who arrive with a pre-determined agenda, as has been seen too often in recent years.
The letter concludes with a message to the media in bold:
Media—Please note: The nuns will not respond to any media enquiries or grant interview requests. The media are kindly asked and are hereby formally instructed not to enter the Convent grounds or buildings or to attempt to contact the nuns, but to respect the silence of their life and vocation, most particularly at this time.
It seems that the nuns have dug in deeply and are closed to any outside interference, even the temporary governance of experienced nuns of the same order and Association, with similar charisms.
[Update April 22 — added letter from Bishop Olson to the faithful of the diocese of Fort Worth.]
Image: Illustrative image — Discalced Carmelites convent of Santa Teresa de Jesús in Buenos Aires. Through the grille one can view into the choir. By Gabriel Sozzi – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=37973190
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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