FORT WORTH, Texas -- Whether you are a Catholic or not, you almost certainly know about the very public, very hostile dispute between Fort Worth Catholic Bishop Michael Olson and an order of cloistered Carmelite nuns in Arlington, Texas.
The showdown between Olson and the sisters of the Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity has been plastered all over the news, with every successive headline a little more salacious than the previous one.
Sex, nuns and rock and roll.
And drugs, apparently.
It’s bizarre and deeply sad.
It began with a complaint filed by the sisters’ attorney in early May. They alleged that just days before, the bishop trespassed, stole electronic devices from the mother superior, and exceeded his legal and canonical authority over the sisters, imposing his will over their quiet and prayerful lives.
The allegations were shocking but also highly dubious and lacking in context.
Still, the lawsuit was effectively inside baseball and sat almost two weeks, unnoticed by the public.
That was until an email from the Carmelite ladies’ auxiliary, recounting the claims of the nuns’ complaint and lobbying for their legal fund, was circulated widely throughout the Catholic community and beyond. It felt like an effort to up the ante.
That it did.
The ensuing three weeks have consisted of a volley of recriminations between the two sides: The diocese alleged sexual impropriety by the abbess (which has since resulted in her dismissal from the order), and of illegal drug use in the monastery. The nuns and their counsel filed a criminal complaint against the bishop and accused his office of staging photos that purportedly illustrated illegal drug use by one or more of the nuns.
Rome is involved, and is, I suspect, not amused.
One can only imagine the delight with which those who revel in deriding the Catholic Church and her faithful are devouring every unseemly detail.
But for Catholics, watching their bishop and the Carmelites battle in such a public way is heartbreaking and deeply confusing.
During his decade at the helm of the Fort Worth Diocese, Olson has developed a reputation for cracking down on sexual misconduct within his ranks.
While many a milquetoast bishop have turned a blind eye to rot within the church, Olson has made it his mission to stand strong against it, in whatever form it takes. For that, Fort Worth Catholics are fortunate.
If that is, indeed, what is happening now, his removal of Reverend Mother Teresa Gerlach, while appearing harsh, exhibits a kind of benevolence for her and the sisters and a profound love of the Church.
However, this narrative was undermined early by salacious and incomplete information released by the diocese, including details (namely photographs of drug paraphernalia) that appeared to belie the claim that the dispute is ecclesiastical in nature.
Unfortunately, those statements fed an insatiable media appetite and gave the nun’s attorney ever more opportunities to lob accusations in the direction of the bishop.
Having missed an early chance to keep the media at bay, Catholics needed to hear directly from their bishop, who to his credit, sought to remedy this urgency last weekend.
In a video release to the faithful, Olson filled in details and addressed outstanding concerns and refuted allegations that have been the source of much consternation for weeks.
For many Catholics I know, this was much needed, albeit long overdue, and has helped calm the waters.
Understandable concern for the nuns remains, of course; they also hold a special place in the hearts of local Catholics, including Olson, to be sure.
Through the years, their prayers have sustained many. And their care has been a generational work of mercy for families in the Fort Worth community.
But they have retained a legal counsel whose scorched-earth approach seems to serve mostly himself and is intentionally further dividing a community already deeply wounded by the dispute. It’s worth wondering if the sisters, cloistered as they are, are even aware of the trouble their legal counsel is causing. I expect not.
The bishop’s message has been helpful in bringing some clarity to the situation and some understanding to the community, but with a lawsuit and criminal complaints lingering, a quick and clean resolution isn’t likely.
Still, a resolution that is gracious and just to all parties, most especially the church, is possible.
But that will require less media attention, less acrimony, more prayer and more restraint from everyone involved, including lay Catholics, who should repress the desire to speculate as they watch this all unfold.
The secular world doesn’t have the church’s interest at heart, but as Catholics, it should always be our priority.
