Bishops and nuns can be friends, but in Texas... .
[ 11 min. read ]
The latest news has hit the airwaves.
The nuns of the Most Holy Trinity Monastery in Arlington, Texas, issued a defiant three-page statement Wednesday (see below) in which they said that Bishop Olson does not have the authority to close off their monastery and that their chapel remains open to the public. - NCRegister
Oh dear. The monastery is open to the lay faithful; not so much to the Bishop.
Bishop Olson may have forgotten that it is never a wise course to go up against a group of nuns, especially Texas nuns. Just sayin'.
STATEMENT BY THE REVEREND MOTHER PRIORESS AND CHAPTERMONASTERY OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITYDISCALCED CARMELITE NUNS
5801 MT. CARMEL DRIVE
ARLINGTON, TEXAS 76017
August 18, 2023
+Praised be Jesus Christ: now and forever!In recent months our Monastery in general and our Mother Prioress in particular have been subjected to unprecedented interference, intimidation, aggression, private and public humiliation and spiritual manipulation as the direct result of the attitudes and ambitions of the current Bishop of Fort Worth in respect of our Reverend Mother Prioress, ourselves and of our property. We have been caught off-guard. Since our foundation our relations with our bishop have always been cordial and filial. Each Bishop has always had our loving trust. We never imagined that our relations with the Bishop could be any different.But our filial trust has been abused by the personal and public behaviors of a man who, in the pursuit of his unspecified personal ends, does not fear to shout at nuns or to humiliate them in private and in public when they protest that their rights have been ignored, who does not hesitate to violate their sacred enclosure through his officials, and whose actions in respect of personal property and privacy are more than seriously questionable.
It is worrying that a bishop would expose someone's sins in a public manner, in various public forums. Bishop Olson publicly narrated Reverend Mother Gerlach's sins. An indefensible act on his part. Yes, Mother Gerlach did disclose her failings to the Bishop, but did not do so in the confessional. Broadcasting another's sins is a particularly cruel thing to do to someone who had a reasonable expectation that her comments would not find a way into the press. Imagine a sensitive conversation you've had with a priest or deacon finding its way into a Sunday sermon and you are then named in that homily.
In respect of the calumnies that have been published, the Chapter takes this opportunity to express its complete confidence in the personal and moral integrity of its Mother Prioress and in her leadership.We are Carmelite nuns: prayer and penance are the substance of our life, not politics and power-plays. We cannot afford to invest our spiritual or material resources in vain disputes with authorities whose agendas are utterly foreign to ours and whose means to influence the outcomes of our appeals are beyond anything we can match.
Which hunt?
The nuns have identified an important consideration - a power imbalance - and they are not mincing words. We live in an era, however, when many claiming a victim status abuse opportunities to accuse others of a misuse of power and then also claim a fear of reprisal as a weapon to attack a legitimate use of authority, authority that exposes their own (at times grievous) misbehaviour.
A sense of hierarchy is missing in many corners of the Church. Bishops and priests are our spiritual fathers. That a few of those fathers have acted very badly, often ruining people's lives by committing unspeakable sins, has to many minds rid responsible members of the hierarchy of their spiritual and moral authority. Abusus non usum. Misuse does not remove use. Just because something is misused doesn't mean it can't be used correctly (by others). Misuse of authority by one (or even several) does not diminish the authority (or reputation) of another. Imagine for a moment that a member of your family commits a horrific crime, and your entire family is attacked in the media for merely living in the same house as your criminal sibling or parent. Your reputation is attacked and you cannot walk into a store without people sneering or mumbling a curse at you. You are guilty by association. The world does not understand God's justice, the same justice, charity and mercy we are called to embody as disciples of Jesus.
"Bishop Olson was given full authority over the matter by the Vatican’s Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life" (NCReg). A question could be - Has Bishop Olson exercised the authority given to him by Christ, by virtue of his episcopal ordination (consecration), in a prudent manner? The nuns think not.
Our duty before God is to ensure that this Carmel is a tranquil house of prayer in which every nun and novice can live her vocation in peace and integrity, for the salvation of her soul to the glory of Almighty God and for the edification of His people.
The Chapter seems to be saying they want a "safe space". The defiant tone of the letter tends to render its concerns and calls for respect a little hollow. Perhaps a hint of woke "safetyism" and fragility has entered the cloister through a ghostwriter? We would all do well to remember that the cloister is there to protect a space for prayer. The cloister is also a buttress against dark powers that have been known to skirt physical defences by playing to people's egos and fears. No physical wall can protect a heart and mind drawing satisfaction from the subtle manipulations of a fallen spirit. Vigilance is required, especially by those hoping to please God and avoid the self righteousness of the pharisee obsessed with his own virtue.
You.Shall.Not.Pass.
Therefore, because the salvation of our souls is our first duty before Almighty God, in order to protect the integrity of our monastic life and vocation from the grave dangers that the continued abuse to which we are being subjected threaten, we hereby state that, in conscience, we no longer recognize the authority of, and can have no further relations with, the current Bishop of Fort Worth or his officials, and forbid him or any of his officials or representatives to enter our monastery property or to have any contact or relations with the monastery or any of its nuns or novices. No one who abuses us as has the current Bishop of Fort Worth, has any right to our cooperation or obedience.
By denying the Bishop' authority, the nuns have stepped onto thin ice. Their appeal to conscience is here a very weak argument. Consciences must be properly formed according to Catholic teaching. To deny a legitimate successor of the Apostles his right to exercise authority and judgement in a matter that has also been acknowledged by the Holy See is more the sign of an appropriation by the nuns of an authority that does not belong to them. That kind of action is very close to the non serviam of the devil.
A word from the Vatican.
(T)he “Dicastery recognized and acknowledged that Bishop Olson has been, and continues to be, entrusted with full governing responsibility for the monastery.”
The dicastery’s decree states that Olson has “full governing powers” over the monastery and its members. “This Dicastery also sanates all the administrative and legal acts already performed by the same bishop,” the decree provides, which means that all action previously taken by the bishop, whether canonically valid or not, has been retroactively approved by the Vatican. - The Pillar/May 31, 2023
Even though abuse is a highly charged word, too often used indiscriminately to the detriment of cases of actual serious infringements upon the health and well being of others, it is important that the claims of abuse are taken seriously, and that the truth is determined in a timely manner so that clarity and justice are achieved. The nuns have made serious accusations. Unfortunately, the door to communication seems jammed shut for the time being. It is difficult to image that the current impasse will be overcome even if the nuns' terms should be met.
The recent salvos between the monastery and Olson’s chancery suggest that the conflict — which began with allegations that the monastery’s superior had committed sexual misconduct — has become intractable. - The Pillar
Given the available information delivered into the public domain by both sides, listening has ceased. Listening (not just not speaking) is the fundamental activity to assist resolution. That listening has stopped, if it ever was valued among the nuns and the Bishop, and short of evicting the nuns or the bishop leaving office, this situation is likely to get more complicated before it approaches a resolution.
Back to the nun's letter.
For our own spiritual and psychological safety, and in justice, we must remain independent of this Bishop until such time as he repents of the abuse to which he has subjected us, apologizes in person to our community for it and accepts to make due public reparation. Should that day never arrive, we hope and pray that in due course his successor will be a God-given instrument of that reparation and healing which, in justice, is now due.
Patience is a virtue. However, the preceding paragraph - though claiming reliance upon Providence to supply justice - seems tinged with no little amount of hoped-for retribution, and the manner in which Bishop Olson delivered his remark that the nuns might have incurred excommunication seems to be playing loosely with a loaded canonical weapon. Passions are aflamed!
In these circumstances we must state clearly that we remain utterly faithful to the doctrine of the Catholic Church and to affirm that the Pope and the Bishop of Fort Worth, whomever they are today or whomever they may be in the future, shall always be prayed for in this monastery, most especially in the Canon of the Mass.We can, no doubt, expect much rhetoric to the contrary, maybe even sanctions, but we are breaking Communion with no one. We are simply stating that the abuse to which we have been subjected is so gravely unjust and intolerably destructive of the vocation to which we are vowed before Almighty God, that in conscience that abuse cannot be cooperated with. This is no rejection of any article of Catholic faith or morals. Rather, it is a statement that, in these particular and peculiar circumstances, in conscience before Almighty God, we cannot permit this Diocesan Bishop to continue his abusive behavior towards us any longer.
In addition, the Chapter is resolved henceforth, the better to render unto Almighty God the glory that is His due, and in order more profoundly to enter into the contemplation of His Sacred Mysteries, to celebrate the Sacred Liturgy—the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the Divine Office, the sacraments, sacramentals and other rites—according to the older forms of the Roman rite according to the traditional Discalced Carmelite usages.
We must be clear that this decision is not a reaction to the abuse that has been visited upon us, even though we expect that it will occasion even more abuse from the same source. Rather, it is a positive recognition that has developed in our community over time that: “What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful. It behooves all of us to preserve the riches which have developed in the Church’s faith and prayer, and to give them their proper place.” (Benedict XVI, 7 July 2007) We believe this to be particularly true of those whose vocation is the contemplative life, ourselves included, and believe this to be something good that we can and should do for the Church in our times.
By quoting Pope Benedict XVI, may he rest in peace, the nuns affirm that they are the guardians of a particular liturgical and spiritual patrimony that is under assault by Bishop Olson. Are we missing something? What kind of skirmish is this? Liturgical? Political? Financial? Personal? All of the above?
Our monastery chapel is and shall remain open to all who, in good faith wish to pray there or to participate in the liturgical rites we celebrate, regardless of any protestations that those who have abused us may wish to make in this respect.We rely utterly on the Providence of Almighty God, who is our sole Judge and our Consolation in this time of trial, to send us good priests to assure our liturgical and sacramental life and, through the generosity of His faithful people, to send the material alms we need to continue in fidelity to our vocation in these truly extraordinary circumstances and to form those young women who come to us in our beautiful and traditional life of prayer and sacrifice before the Lord.We apologize to any of our family and friends who may be distressed by recent events or by this statement. We have no wish to cause distress or scandal. But the fact of the matter is that if we are to be faithful to our vocation, if we are to live, we have no other choice. We beg your understanding and your prayers, and assure you all, even those who disagree with us, of our own.May the Carmelite saints and martyrs intercede for us all!+Praised be Jesus Christ: now and forever!
"Sources in Texas have told The Pillar that the Vatican is likely preparing an apostolic visitation of the monastery." Let's hope a visitation will go smoother than the recent visit of the Vatican's delegate to the Syro-Malabar community in India:
- https://atreasuretobeshared.blogspot.com/2023/08/ad-orientem-syro-malankara-and-syro.html
- https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/arlington-nuns-recognize-bishop-olson
- https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/carmelite-nuns-forbid-fort-worth-bishop-from-arlington-monastery-in-newly-released-statement/
- https://www.insider.com/texas-nuns-seek-vatican-help-chastity-vow-dispute-bishop-2023-8
- https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/inside-sources-arlington-texas-monastery-perspective-dispute-between-nuns-fort-worth-bishop/287-ee450fba-d85b-47c7-b42c-eec738b522e8
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“I Desire to Suffer, Lord, because Thou didst Suffer”: Teresa of Avila
ReplyDeletePosted by Kneel Summons
Thank you for that beautiful comment!
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