Today, the Diocese of Fort Worth published a PDF file containing three documents regarding the Carmelite monastery in Arlington: A statement from Bishop Michael Olson on the suppression of the monastery; a letter from Sr. Simona Brambilla, MC, secretary of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life (DICLSAL); and a Decree of Suppression signed by Cardinal João Braz de Aviz, DICLSAL’s prefect.
We reported last on the Arlington Carmel in September, when they announced their affiliation with the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), a traditionalist group that is outside full communion with the Church. Since then, the sisters were expelled from the Carmelite order and religious life, announced in an October 28 statement by their rightful superior, Mother Marie of the Incarnation, the president of the Christ the King Association. On October 30, the community posted a response on their own website, which claimed, “Given our recent acceptance for association by the Society of St Pius X last August, any ‘dismissal’ declared by Mother Marie of the Association of Christ the King is a moot point. The Vows we have professed to God cannot be dismissed or taken away. By virtue of them we belong to Him and are His.”
Later in the statement they insisted, “Please know that here we continue our vowed life of prayer and sacrifice in the Discalced Carmelite tradition for the Church and the world, and for all of you, our dear friends and benefactors, including those who may disagree or disapprove of the decisions we have had to make in the best interests of our Community.”
It is interesting that they describe their community as being “in the Discalced Carmelite tradition,” because it appears that they realize they are no longer Carmelite nuns in the traditional sense. They have no legitimate superior in the Church. They are no longer canonically recognized as members of the Carmelite order, and their continued insistence that they are nuns is explicitly contradicted by the highest authority in the Church. Instead, they’ve lent themselves out to a heterodox society that is not in full communion with the Catholic Church. And along the way, they’ve welcomed at least one credibly accused sexual predator to “minister” to them.
On November 19, Bishop Olson published a statement from the Diocese of Scranton, notifying the faithful that one of the suspended priests who was known to be ministering illicitly to the monastery, Christopher Clay, has been credibly accused of sexual abuse for a second time and is now — in addition to the restrictions already in force — prohibited from setting foot in the Diocese of Fort Worth.
Bishop Olson’s new statement published today announces the suppression of the monastery by the Vatican. He pointedly refers to Mother Teresa Agnes Gerlach as their “former prioress” and to the rest of the community as “former nuns.” He also offers some guidance to the faithful regarding the implications of the Vatican’s decree:
First, the women who continue to occupy the premises in Arlington are no longer nuns because they have been declared ipso facto dismissed from the Order of Discalced Carmelites for reasons of their notorious defection from the Catholic faith. They are neither nuns nor Carmelites despite their continued and public self-identification to the contrary.
Second, the Holy See has suppressed the Monastery, so it exists no longer, despite any public self-identification made to the contrary by the former nuns who continue to occupy the premises.
Third, the Diocese of Fort Worth has never made any claims to the property of the former Monastery, nor do we do so now.
Fourth, I repeat that any Masses and sacraments celebrated at the former Monastery are illicit and done so by priests without faculties or permission to minister in the Diocese of Fort Worth. It is gravely wrong for Catholics knowingly to assist at these Masses. Catholics do harm to the Communion of the Catholic Church by intentionally attending these ceremonies.
Finally, I wish to again acknowledge the great sadness that this entire affair has brought to our local church and beyond, and to me personally. The actions of the former nuns have perpetrated a deep wound in the Body of Christ. I ask all of you to join me in praying for healing, reconciliation, and for the conversion of these women who have departed from the vowed religious life and notoriously defected from communion with the Catholic Church by their actions.
The decree from DICLSAL recounts the recent history of the Arlington Carmel, beginning in 2020 with their petition to the Holy See to erect a new association of Discalced Carmelite nuns and to begin following the 1990 Carmelite Constitutions, rather than the 1991 Constitutions. This change in constitutions meant that the Arlington Carmelites were no longer under the jurisdiction of the Carmelite Friars, but that of their diocesan bishop, Michael Olson. The new Christ the King Association was erected and was made up of communities with similar charisms, all of whom followed the same 1990 Constitutions.
The decree then states:
WHEREFORE, the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, having carefully examined the vota of both the President of the Carmelite Association of Christ the King of the U.S.A., and the Bishop of the Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.A., finds that the community of the Discalced Carmelite Monastery of Arlington, Texas, U.S.A., is extinct, and given this finding this same Dicastery does, in accordance with Cor Orans, 67-73 (cf. can. 616), hereby,
DECREE
the SUPPRESSION of the
Discalced Carmelite Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity,
Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.A.
And with those words, the monastery is officially finished.
This morning, when I was searching for images of “cloistered nuns” to accompany Sr. Gabriela’s article about prayer, I came across this image:
This photo seems to have been taken during the visit of a Pilgrim Statue of Our Lady of Fatima to the Monastery in 2009. The bright smile of a young Sister Teresa Agnes Gerlach (first nun on the left) is unmistakable, and the other three nuns who appear in the much-circulated image from her 2021 election as prioress are easily identified as well. This is the picture of a contemplative community integrated into the life of the Church, welcoming a group of brothers and sisters from our universal Church to honor Our Lady. How much has happened in the 15 years since that photo was taken? If any of them could have foreseen then what would happen over a decade later, might they have taken a different path?
What now?
Bishop Olson has repeatedly insisted that neither he nor the diocese has any interest in taking the monastery’s property. Church law, however, stipulates what should happen to the assets of a suppressed monastery. The instruction Cor Orans states:
73 In the event of the suppression of a totally extinct monastery, when there are no surviving nuns, unless otherwise provided by the Holy See, the destination of the suppressed monastery’s assets, in compliance with canon and civil law, go to the respective higher juridical person, that is, to the Federation of monasteries or to another structure of communion among the monasteries equal to it or to the female monastic Congregation.
In this case, the Federation of monasteries is the Christ the King Association. In September, the nuns announced that they had transferred ownership of the monastery property to a lay board back in June. They did this, however, without involving their canonically appointed major superior — Mother Marie of the Incarnation.
Canonically, it’s clear that the former sisters have gone rogue and violated the laws of the Church. And there’s a strong precedent that a civil court may rule that the property should remain with the Church. But the state of Texas has ruled in favor of schismatic groups in property disputes in the recent past. The next move, it seems, belongs to the Association of Christ the King.
But rather than speculate on the next ugly chapter in this saga before it comes, let’s instead do what Cardinal Braz de Aviz invited us to do: “To pray earnestly that the hearts of those who have erred may repent and return to the unity of the truth bestowed on the Church by Our Lord, Jesus Christ.”
Image: Ron S. Google Maps.
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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