Fort Worth Bishop Michael Olson issued the decree on Thursday night, acting on sweeping powers the Vatican recently granted him over the Discalced Carmelite Nuns, a small religious order in Texas.
The Reverend Mother Superior Teresa Agnes Gerlach of the Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity in Arlington, Texas. / Credit: Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity Discalced Carmelite NunsWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 2, 2023 / 12:40 pm (CNA).Bishop Michael Olson of Fort Worth, Texas, issued a decree Thursday dismissing Reverend Mother Teresa Agnes Gerlach from religious life following a nearly six-week-long investigation into an alleged sexual affair involving a priest.In his decree, Olson announced he had found Gerlach, prioress of the Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity in Arlington, "guilty of having violated the sixth commandment of the Decalogue and her vow of chastity with a priest from outside the Diocese of Fort Worth."Based on this finding, as the pontifical commissary with authority over the monastery, Olson said he is dismissing Gerlach from the Order of Discalced Carmelites.According to the decree, Gerlach has 30 days to appeal the decision to the Vatican s Dicastery f