Alison Girone
CV NEWS FEED // The priest involved with the alleged violation of a chastity vow taken by the superior of the Carmelite Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity in Arlington, Texas, has reportedly retired for medical reasons.
Catholic News Agency reported in 2023 that the priest was identified by a spokesperson for the Diocese of Raleigh, North Carolina, as Fr. Philip Johnson. The scandal surrounding Mother Teresa Agnes Gerlach’s violation of her chastity vow grew, eventually leading to the monastery’s feud with local Bishop Michael Olson of Fort Worth.
According to local outlet WFAA, a Dallas affiliate of ABC, the Diocese of Raleigh announced that Fr. Johnson, “a priest in good standing,” was retiring in July 2024 and had been “granted retirement for medical reasons with full faculties to exercise priestly ministry as his health permits.”
CatholicVote previously reported that Gerlach told Bishop Olson about the affair with Fr. Johnson in early 2023, which prompted a diocesan investigation that caused the monastery to reject Bishop Olson’s authority. The nuns alleged that the Bishop “illegally seized monastery property, copied private information from the monastery, attempted to cut the monastery off from the sacraments by forbidding Mass, sought to influence monastery supporters, attempted to bully nuns and other actions.”
The nuns filed several lawsuits in both civil and canonical courts. In 2024, the Vatican named Mother Marie of the Incarnation, the former president of the Carmelite Association of Christ the King (USA), as the new superior. However, the monastery also declined to recognize her as the legitimate superior.
CatholicVote reported in September that the nuns’ next step was to join “the Society of Saint Pius X, a traditionalist group whose liturgies are not recognized as valid by the Vatican.” They also held their own, illicit elections and chose Gerlach to serve as their superior for three more years, an action which Bishop Olson said is putting the monastery well on the way to causing a schism.
On October 28, the Diocese of Fort Worth released a statement containing a letter from Mother Marie of the Incarnation that announced that the nuns have been dismissed from Catholic religious life and returned to the lay state.
