- A Texas bishop publicly accused a nun in Arlington of breaking her chastity vow.
- The nun and her sisters sued Bishop Michael Olson and the Fort Worth Diocese for $1 million.
- Olson is now accusing the nuns of pushing a false narrative and "inciting hatred and animosity against me."
A Texas bishop who publicly accused a nun of breaking her chastity vow is now complaining that the nun and her Sisters are "inciting hatred and animosity" against him by filing a lawsuit and drumming up media coverage, according to a letter obtained by Insider.
The nuns have sued Bishop Michael Olson and the Fort Worth Diocese for $1 million, alleging Olson invaded their privacy when he showed up to their monastery in April and interrogated them for hours, confiscated their phones and computers, spied on their texts, and made copies of the content on those devices.
Olson and the Fort Worth Diocese issued a statement on May 16 publicly accusing Reverend Mother Superior Teresa Agnes Gerlach of having "violated her vow of chastity with a priest," and announcing an ecclesiastical investigation. In Catholicism, both nuns and priests take vows to remain celibate, but the Diocese did not name the priest allegedly involved.
The Discalced Carmelite Nuns of Arlington have vehemently denied Olson's allegations regarding the chastity vow, and their attorney, Matthew Bobo, told Insider that Gerlach is in extremely poor health, uses a wheelchair and feeding tube, and likely has not even encountered more than four or five men in the last 25 years.
Olson also shut down the monastery to parishioners and canceled their daily Mass and Confession — a move that has been "devastating" to the nuns, who are accustomed to practicing their faith every day, Bobo told Insider on Tuesday.
In a letter dated May 26, Olson refused to reinstate daily Mass and Confession, accusing the nuns of propagating "a false narrative relative to the pending investigation, which has led to local, national, and international media coverage and has incited hatred and animosity against me."
In response to Olson's letter, Bobo told Insider the media coverage is Olson's own fault.
"It's ironic. Number one, he's the one that chose to put this out in the public forum and not the Sisters," Bobo said. "And two, assume for a second there's some validity to this allegation — what does closing the monastery and preventing people from having Mass and Confession have to do with that?"
A representative of the Fort Worth Diocese declined to comment to Insider on the contents of Olson's letter.
Olson's May 26 letter noted that there is "no obligation" to provide a daily Mass, and that Mass and Confessions "cannot be conveniently provided for the members of the Monastery."
The letter also indicated that the daily Mass and Confessions would continue to be withheld until the nuns complete or withdraw their lawsuit, and "cease this behavior which is contrary to and unbecoming of their religious state and demonstrate love for and obedience to Holy Church."
Bobo said the nuns at the Arlington monastery live a quiet, cloistered life of contemplative prayer, and withholding daily Mass and Confessions is nothing short of punishment for them and the monastery's parishioners.
"Spiritually, they can't get what they need — how they practice their faith has been taken from them," he said. "Only a priest can take Confession or perform Mass. It's not like they can do that themselves. Spiritually and emotionally, that's extremely traumatic for them."