Sister Teresa Agnes Gerlach of Jesus Crucified, former prioress of the Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity in Arlington, Texas, and Bishop Michael F. Olson of Fort Worth, Texas, are pictured in an undated combination photo. Photo: OSV News/courtesy Matthew Bobo and Bob Roller The Carmelite nuns of Arlington do not recognise their dismissal from the order. The vows they have made to God can neither be cancelled nor taken back, writes the prioress, Mother Teresa Agnes, who is not recognised by the Vatican, in a statement published on the convent’s website on Wednesday. They have no intention of leaving the convent and giving up their religious life.
Two days earlier, the superior appointed by the Vatican, Mother Marie of the Incarnation, had announced that the sisters had been dismissed from the religious order by law. The reason she gave was the sisters’ refusal to recognise the authority of the competent ecclesiastical authorities and the apostasy this manifested.
Accusation of apostasy rejected
In their statement, the sisters reaffirm that they do not recognise Mother Marie as superior. “In view of our recent association with the Priestly Fraternity of St Pius X last August, any ‘dismissal’ pronounced by Mother Marie is futile.” The Society of St Pius X is a traditionalist community without canonical status that is not in full communion with the Catholic Church. The sisters had declared that they were submitting to the Fraternity. Instructions from the Vatican authority responsible for religious orders have not recognised the monastic community.
The sisters also emphasised that they had not fallen away from the faith: “As we pray every day for the Holy Father, Pope Francis, and our bishop, Michael Olson, any claim that we have turned away from the Catholic faith is ridiculous.” The sisters firmly believe in everything that the Catholic Church believes, teaches and proclaims as revealed by God.
The dispute over the convent and its former superior Mother Teresa Agnes has been smouldering for over a year. Mother Teresa Agnes is said to have admitted a breach of her vow of chastity. As a result, the local diocesan bishop of Fort Worth investigated the matter and had the Carmel searched. The dispute came to light in May last year after the sisters went public to protest against the bishop’s actions. The Vatican largely dismissed the sisters’ complaints, but placed the convent under the authority of Sister Marie of the Incarnation, president of the relevant Carmelite order, instead of Bishop Olson.