Vatican backs Fort Worth bishop who accused nun of violating her vow of chastity

A Texas bishop who accused the Mother Superior of a convent of committing adultery with a priest has gained key backing from the Vatican, after she filed a $1 million lawsuit challenging his authority.

In a decree on Wednesday, the Vatican granted Forth Worth Bishop Michael Olson 'full governing powers' over the Discalced Carmelite Nuns, a small religious order that runs a monastery in Arlington. 

Last month, the nuns' leader, Mother Superior Teresa Agnes Gerlach, filed a lawsuit accusing Olson of overstepping his authority by storming into the Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity, 'interrogating' the nuns, and confiscating phones and other devices they use to run the convent.

In response, Olson issued a public statement saying his actions were part of an 'ecclesiastical investigation' into allegations that Gerlach had 'committed sins against the Sixth Commandment and violated her vow of chastity with a priest.'

The nuns had contested Olson's authority over them, saying that as a Catholic religious order they answer directly to Pope Francis -- but the new Vatican decree naming Olson as 'Pontifical Commissary' deals a blow to that position. 

In a decree on Wednesday, the Vatican granted Forth Worth Bishop Michael Olson 'full governing powers' over the Discalced Carmelite Nuns, a small religious order in Arlington

Mother Superior Teresa Agnes Gerlach filed a lawsuit accusing Olson of overstepping his authority by storming into the Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity and 'interrogating' the nuns

'As Pontifical Commissary, Bishop Olson is the Pope's representative in this matter,' the Diocese of Fort Worth said in a statement. 

The statement also repeated the claim that Gerlach has admitted to sinning against the Sixth Commandment and violating her vow of chastity, an allegation she strenuously denies. 

In the Catholic Church, the Sixth Commandment is 'Thou shalt not commit adultery' and forbids sex outside of marriage. Catholic priests and nuns are forbidden to marry and take vows of celibate chastity. 

The attorney representing the nuns in their civil suit told DailyMail.com on Wednesday that the Vatican's new decree 'has no authority whatsoever over the law in the state of Texas, nor regarding the civil lawsuit filed by the sisters'.

'The unjust, illegal and immoral actions taken by Bishop Michael Olson in this matter have been explicitly outlined in the past few weeks, and the decree issued by the Catholic Church from Vatican City changes none of the facts of the case,' said attorney Michael Bobo in a statement.

'We will continue to press on representing the sisters according to the law of the state of Texas, for which Bishop Michael Olson is subject to,' added Bobo.

Wednesday's decree was issued by the Catholic Church's Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, which oversees religious orders, including monastics such as monks and nuns.

The decree grants Olson authority to appoint nuns to key authority roles in the Arlington monastery, and also retroactively approves 'all the administrative and legal acts' he has already carried out in the matter. 

Wednesday's decree was issued by the Catholic Church's Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, which oversees religious orders

The new Vatican decree naming Olson as 'Pontifical Commissary' means that he can now act as the representative of Pope Francis (seen above) in dealing with the nuns

Bobo argued that the decree included a number of 'grave errors', including using the wrong canon case number and year in the header, and the incorrect name for the Arlington monastery.

At the heart of the dispute lies the allegation that Gerlach violated her vow of chastity with a priest, although the specific details of that claim remain shrouded in mystery.

Gerlach, 45, has severe health issues that require a full-time caregiver, feeding tube, and IV drip for 10 hours a day, as well as confining her to a wheelchair, her attorney has said.

She has lived a cloistered religious life in the all-female monastery for 25 years, under the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.

The Diocese of Fort Worth has repeatedly claimed, including in a public statement on Wednesday, that Gerlach admitted to violating her vow of chastity.

But Bobo has slammed that assertion as false, saying that the Mother Superior never admitted to such a violation, and that she is not even aware of the specific nature of the allegation she faces.

'The bishop just decided to lob this bombshell out there, and for the life of us, we don't even know what the specifics of the allegation are. But I can absolutely tell you, she's never had sex with a priest,' Bobo told DailyMail.com last week.

In a report on the case, Catholic news outlet The Pillar shed some light on the mystery, citing sources who said the allegation against Gerlach may stem from vague statements she made in December 2022, while she was heavily medicated following a hospital procedure.

A person close to the matter told the outlet that while Gerlach was 'in-and-out of lucidity,' she made tearful, incoherent remarks to the nun who serves as her caregiver and the diocesan vicar general, saying she had committed some sin against the Sixth Commandment.  

 'She was crying and upset, but she didn't give any details about any of this, and we didn't really know what she was talking about,' the person said.

'And sometimes she said that it was a violation against chastity which she committed on the phone. So it didn't make a whole lot of sense,' the source added.

The person noted that since Gerlach requires a round-the-clock caregiver for her medical issues, 'the notion that she committed some secret sexual sin with a priest — even on the phone — doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.'

'It is much more likely that this whole thing was a hallucination,' the person said. 

Gerlach oversees the Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity (above) in Arlington, Texas, which sits on roughly 72 acres owned by the Discalced Carmelite Nuns religious order

Mother Superior made the extraordinary allegations in a sworn affidavit earlier this month

The diocese has not responded to DailyMail.com's request for more information about the specific nature of the sexual misconduct allegation against Gerlach.

No information has emerged about the priest involved in the alleged sexual sin, other than a diocese statement saying that he was from outside of the Diocese of Fort Worth, and that his superiors had been notified.

According to the lawsuit filed by the nuns, Olson barged into the monastery in April to investigate Gerlach's alleged sinful admissions. 

'I was stunned when Bishop Olson for all intents and purposes forced himself onto our peaceful community,' said Gerlach in a sworn affidavit.

The lawsuit states that the Carmelite nuns 'are a cloistered Order of women dedicated to a life of contemplative prayer' who attend Mass each morning, and then gather seven times a day to chant the Liturgy of the Hours. 

'The rest of their day is focused on contemplative prayer, the silent loving person to person relationship with Jesus Christ, a living prayer for the benefit of others,' the suit notes. 

Since the controversy erupted, Olson's priest have visited the convent to celebrate Mass only on Sunday, and have not heard confession from the nuns, according to Bobo.

In a May 26 letter, Olson rejected a request from the sisters to resume daily communion, a tradition the monastery had observed since it was founded in the 1950s. 

'At the present moment, daily Mass and Confessions cannot be conveniently provided for the members of Monastery; nor can the courtesy of participation at Mass at the Monastery be extended to the lay faithful,' Olson said in the letter to Sister Francis Therese, who is Gerlach's second in command. 

'This is because you and Mother Teresa Agnes (Gerlach) of Jesus Crucified, O.C.D., have lodged a civil lawsuit, together with a request for a protection order, against me and the Diocese of Fort Worth, containing a false narrative relative to the pending investigation,' said Olson.

The bishop added the situation 'has led to local, national, and international media coverage and has incited hatred and animosity against me because of my initiation of the investigation and has hindered the freedom of my ecclesiastical power to conduct that investigation.' 

The diocese alleged that Gerlach admitted to breaching her vow of chastity, and asked for the court to dismiss the nuns' suit, arguing it lacked jurisdiction

'As Pontifical Commissary, Bishop Olson (above) is the Pope's representative in this matter,' the Diocese of Fort Worth said in a statement 

The saga first emerged in a lawsuit filed by Gerlach and her convent earlier this month in Tarrant Country Court, naming Bishop Olson and the Diocese of Fort Worth as defendants. 

According to the nuns' lawsuit, Olson first entered the convent on April 24, and brought an unidentified forensic technology specialist who confiscated Gerlach's personal cellphone, iPad and laptop computer.

The suit notes that the devices were used to run the business of the monastery, and without them the nuns were unable to pay bills or operate financially. 

Bobo told DailyMail.com last week that although Gerlach's devices had been returned, the diocese retains a forensic copy of their hard drives, and demanded their return. 

'The stuff that was on that technology, has their private personal information, and has all the monastery's financial information, but most importantly, it has their donor list,' said Bobo. 

'And that is a list that the bishop has been trying to get his hands on since he became bishop,' he added. 

Bobo also noted that the monastery's roughly 72-acre property in Arlington is owned by the Discalced Carmelite Nuns religious order rather than the diocese.

'He could arguably have the monastery shut down, and then that piece of property, which is worth about $22 million, could become part of the diocese,' the attorney said. 

Diocese spokesman Pat Svacina denied Bobo's claims in a statement to DailyMail.com, saying: 'His accusations are false and unsupported.'