Arlington nuns file restraining order against Catholic officials
Arlington nuns embroiled in a bitter feud with the Fort Worth diocese are seeking a restraining order against a slew of Catholic officials.
In court documents filed Monday in Tarrant County, the nuns asked a judge to grant a temporary restraining order against Bishop Michael Olson, the Fort Worth diocese and an association of Carmelite nuns. The nuns want to bar the officials from entering the monastery and taking action on the monastery’s behalf.
This comes days after the Vatican issued a decree placing the Arlington nuns under the authority of an outside religious association. The nuns rejected that plan, saying the Vatican issued the decree without their knowledge or consent and that it could threaten individual nuns, the integrity of the monastery and its assets.
Matthew Bobo, the nuns’ attorney, accused Olson of trying to take over the monastery “under the guise of some religious backdoor” in court hearing is set for Tuesday.
This is the latest escalation in a yearlong dispute between the nuns and Olson — who leads the Fort Worth diocese — that riveted the public with scandalous headlines and sharp accusations. It began in April 2023 when the bishop accused the monastery’s head nun, the Reverend Mother Teresa Agnes Gerlach, of violating her vow of chastity with a priest.
In response, the reverend mother and monastery filed a civil lawsuit against the bishop and diocese, accusing Olson of invading the sisters’ privacy and overstepping his authority. The nuns say Olson and other diocese leaders stormed into the monastery, interrogated the nuns for hours, seized their computers and a phone, and blocked priests from conducting Mass for them.
A nearly six-hour court proceeding included explosive testimony from diocese officials, references to “sexting” and drug use, and audio of a 40-minute conversation between Olson and the former head nun. filings. A
With church bells ringing in the background, Gerlach admitted to breaking her vow of chastity on two occasions, but at another point in the conversation, she said she only spoke to the priest by phone.
“I was not in my right mind,” she said at one point. “Even a nun can fall.”
A Texas state judge ruled that civil court did not have jurisdiction to decide the church matter.
Diocese officials also released photographs that appeared to show cannabis and marijuana products inside the monastery, which Olson said he obtained from a maintenance worker at the monastery. Bobo denied the allegations of drug use, calling them “ridiculous” and “without merit.”
Gerlach had been hospitalized in November 2022 for seizures and was taking pain medication as a result, Bobo said at the time. Gerlach, who is in poor health, uses a wheelchair and feeding tube.
In June, the Vatican weighed in and granted authority over the nuns to Olson, who attempted to dismiss Gerlach a day later. The nuns, however, refused to recognize Olson’s authority, and in August Olson warned they could face excommunication if they continued to do so.
As part of the latest decree, the Vatican ordered the nuns to withdraw their statement refusing to recognize the authority of Olson, who said in a statement that he would work closely with the association. The nuns said they want Olson to “repent for his abuse” and to issue private and public apologies to the nuns.
Before last year, the nuns had little interaction with the Fort Worth diocese. Members of an order called the Discalced Carmelite Nuns, the nuns have lived in Tarrant County since 1958.
They live and work on 72 wooded acres in Arlington, spending their days praying, cooking, cleaning and caring for the grounds. Although their number fluctuates, nine nuns live and work there now: the reverend mother, six sisters and two nuns in training.
Save for medical care, the nuns rarely, if ever, leave the premises.