Video screengrab [Youtube/ Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth]
CV NEWS FEED // Bishop Michael Olson of Fort Worth, Texas, revealed in a Dec. 2 letter that a Carmelite monastery of nuns is now “extinct” by a Vatican decree.
“I wish to repeat that since this sad series of events began to unfold in April 2023 when the former prioress self-reported to me her grave failure against the vow of chastity with a priest, I was obliged to begin the search, in accord with Canon Law, for both justice and mercy for all involved,” Bishop Olson explained in his statement.
This former prioress admitted her breach of chastity in the civil lawsuit she filed against Bishop Olson and the Diocese of Fort Worth. The breach was recorded and filed in the public record.
A statement from Mother Marie of the Incarnation, O.C.D., the Vatican-appointed legitimate religious superior of the former nuns, clarified the disobedience that led to their expulsion from the Carmelite order. The nuns had rejected the authority of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, the authority of their Bishop, and Mother Marie’s authority as their religious superior, effectively rejecting the authority of the Order of Discalced Carmelites.
Bishop Olson stated the implications of the former nuns’ expulsion from the order:
“First, the women who continue to occupy the premises in Arlington are no longer nuns because they have been declared ipso facto dismissed from the Order of Discalced Carmelites for reasons of their notorious defection from the Catholic faith. They are neither nuns nor Carmelites despite their continued and public self-identification to the contrary.”
“Second, the Holy See has suppressed the Monastery, so it exists no longer, despite any public self-identification made to the contrary by the former nuns who continue to occupy the premises.”
“Third, the Diocese of Fort Worth has never made any claims to the property of the former Monastery, nor do we do so now.”
“Fourth, I repeat that any Masses and sacraments celebrated at the former Monastery are illicit and done so by priests without faculties or permission to minister in the Diocese of Fort Worth. It is gravely wrong for Catholics knowingly to assist at these Masses. Catholics do harm to the Communion of the Catholic Church by intentionally attending these ceremonies.”
The Bishop concluded by acknowledging the “great sadness that this entire affair has brought to our local church and beyond, and to me personally.”
“The actions of the former nuns have perpetrated a deep wound in the Body of Christ,” the Bishop said. “I ask all of you to join me in praying for healing, reconciliation, and for the conversion of these women who have departed from the vowed religious life and notoriously defected from communion with the Catholic Church by their actions.”
>>VATICAN DICASTERY INTERVENES IN TEXAS MONASTERY CASE, NUNS REJECT INTERVENTION<<
