A Catholic convent in Texas has filed a $1 million lawsuit accusing a bishop of storming into the monastery in violation of church law to accuse the physically disabled Mother Superior of having a sex with a priest.
Reverend Mother Superior Teresa Agnes Gerlach, prioress of the Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity in Arlington, filed the bombshell suit against Bishop Michael Olson in Tarrant County Court.
The suit alleges that in April, Olson burst into the Carmelite convent, where the nuns spend most of their day in devotion and silent prayer, confiscating their cell phones and ‘interrogating’ Gerlach about her alleged sexual affair with a priest.
Gerlach, who has serious heath issues and uses a wheelchair, said that Olsen even grilled her on the matter immediately after a surgical procedure that required general anesthesia, while she was still under the influence of fentanyl.
‘The level of emotional trauma and infliction of psychological distress this whole episode has caused me personally and the Sisters is incomprehensible,’ said Gerlach in a sworn affidavit. ‘We have never faced such moral violence and adversity.’
Reverend Mother Superior Teresa Agnes Gerlach, prioress of the Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity in Arlington, Texas, has filed a bombshell lawsuit against the local bishop
Fort Worth Bishop Michael Olson (left) says he was investigating claims that Gerlach had ‘violated her vow of chastity with a priest’ from outside the diocese
While Gerlach’s medical issues are unspecified in the lawsuit, KTVT reporter Jason Allen notes that the nun requires a central catheter, feeding tube, an IV drip 10 up to 10 hours a day, and has another Sister acting as a full-time caregiver.
In response to the suit, the Diocese of Fort Worth issued a statement reporting allegations that Gerlach had ‘violated her vow of chastity with a priest’ from outside the diocese.
The statement said that Olson was conducting a ‘ecclesiastical investigation into the report of the grave misconduct’.
In court filings, the diocese alleged that Gerlach had admitted to the sexual liaison and asked for the lawsuit to be dismissed.
For their part, the nuns cite canon law and say that the local bishop has no authority over the Order of Carmelite Nuns, which maintains the convent on a secluded 72-acre property.
‘We are not and have never been under the control of the Bishop of the local Diocese: we answer directly to the Pope,’ said Gerlach in the affidavit.
‘I was stunned when Bishop Olson for all intents and purposes forced himself onto our peaceful community,’ she added.
According to the lawsuit, Olson first entered the convent on April 24, and brought an unidentified forensic technology specialist who confiscated Gerlach’s personal cell phone, iPad and laptop computer.
The suit notes that the devices were used to run the business of the monastery, and without them the nuns are unable to pay bills or operate financially.
Mother Superior made the extraordinary allegations in a sworn affidavit earlier this month
The suit alleges that in April, Olson burst into the Carmelite convent in Arlington, seen above, where the nuns spend most of their day in devotion and silent prayer
Olsen allegedly confiscated the nun’s cell phones, which they use to run the business of the monastery, and ‘interrogated’ Gerlach about her alleged sexual affair with a priest
Olsen then spent two hours ‘interrogating’ Sister Francis Therese, who is Gerlach’s caregiver and has been at the convent for 46 years, according to the suit.
The suit alleges that Olson returned the following day, April 25, and grilled other Sisters for hours, and demanded to interrogate Gerlach as well when she returned from a surgical procedure.
‘Although I was in significant pain, under the influence of medications and feeling very weak I felt compelled to immediately acquiesce and was subjected to more interrogation,’ said Gerlach. ‘The Bishop knew I had just come back from the hospital and had a surgical procedure.’
The Mother Superior says that the nuns then retained legal counsel, and that the bishop ‘threw a temper tantrum’ when they told him that the others Sisters would only consent to questioning if they were informed of the purpose and scope of the interviews.
In an ‘agitated and raised voice’ Olsen yelled that the convent was shut down and said no Mass would be celebrated there, and then ‘slammed the door and left’, the suit alleges.
‘They’re emotionally traumatized. They’re scared. They’re fearful,’ attorney Matthew Bobo, who is representing the nuns, told KXAS-TV.
In response to the suit, the Diocese of Fort Worth issued a statement reporting allegations that Gerlach had ‘violated her vow of chastity with a priest’
The nuns cite canon law and say that the local bishop has no authority over the Order of Carmelite Nuns, which maintains the convent (above) on a secluded 72-acre property
‘They don’t leave the monastery unless they seek medical care. They do prayer seven times a day. Most of the time it’s in silence … It’s a very private, cloistered, serene environment with very little interaction with the outside world,’ the attorney said.
‘Even when parishioners attend mass, the nuns are separated from the parishioners,’ noted Bobo. ‘And so to have, for the first time ever, a bishop come in and start issuing mandates and start ordering them to do things and threatening to interdict their monastery, threatening to kick them out of the order, it is extremely traumatizing and emotionally damaging to them.’
In a statement, the diocese said that despite Olsen’s alleged threats, priests were continuing to offer Mass for the sisters at the Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity on Sundays.
‘Please pray for the sisters at the Monastery,’ the statement added.