- The Vatican has approved a new Discalced Carmelite monastery in the Diocese of Fort Worth to replace the Arlington Carmelite community that broke with Bishop Michael Olson and joined the Society of St. Pius X.
- The new monastery, the Carmel of Jesus Crucified, will be built near Muenster, Texas, with six nuns and three women discerning religious life expected to join; fundraising and planning are underway.
- The Arlington monastery was declared “extinct” by the Vatican after a prolonged dispute involving allegations against its superior, refusal to recognize Bishop Olson’s authority, and an illegitimate election for prioress.
- Bishop Olson expressed gratitude for the Vatican’s support and asked the faithful to pray for the new community as it begins its mission of contemplative life in the diocese.
A new Carmelite monastery will soon be established in the Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas, to replace the group of Carmelite nuns that feuded with local Bishop Michael Olson and joined the Society of St. Pius X.
Bishop Olson announced the plan in a Dec. 2 letter to the faithful of the diocese, saying that the Vatican’s decision to approve the Discalced Carmelite monastery is “a moment of extraordinary grace for our local Church.” The bishop said that the nuns will support the mission of the Church “through hidden sacrifice and profound fidelity” within their new monastery — the Carmel of Jesus Crucified — creating a place “where the beauty of contemplative life radiates outward into the world.”
According to The Dallas Morning News, the diocese has begun fundraising to start construction, having already received the building site as a donation. The monastery will be outside of Muenster in Cooke County, about 90 miles away from Arlington, Texas, where the first Carmelite monastery is located. Currently, six nuns and three women discerning religious life are set to eventually move into the new monastery.
As CatholicVote previously reported, conflict between the Arlington monastery and Bishop Olson began in 2023 after the bishop launched a diocesan investigation into claims that the superior, Mother Teresa Agnes Gerlach, violated her vow of chastity with a priest. Legal and canonical action ensued, and the case went in and out of civil court, with the court ultimately ruling that it could not decide a religious matter. The monastery additionally refused to recognize Bishop Olson’s authority after the Vatican appointed him as the pontifical commissary of the convent.
CatholicVote also reported that the nuns held an illegitimate election for the office of prioress in 2024, choosing to acknowledge Mother Teresa Agnes as prioress instead of Mother Marie of the Incarnation, who had been appointed as Prioress by the Vatican in April. The nuns also announced in September 2024 that they had joined the Society of St. Pius X, a traditionalist group whose liturgies the Vatican considers canonically irregular. In December 2024, the Vatican officially declared the Arlington monastery “extinct.”
In his letter, Bishop Olson said that he is “deeply grateful” to the Vatican for supporting the new monastery.
“I ask all the faithful of the Diocese to join me in prayer for these nuns as they begin this new chapter in their vocation,” he said. “May their vocation bring forth many graces including priestly and religious vocations, holy and happy marriages, and faithful discipleship.”
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