Tarrant County Judge Don Cosby ruled late Friday afternoon that his civil court does not have jurisdiction in the case of two nuns from the Carmelite monastery in Arlington who sued Bishop Michael Olson of Fort Worth.
Also on Friday the Arlington Police Department announced its decision to end an investigation into allegations of criminal offenses made by both sides in the bitter dispute between the nuns and the bishop.
Cosby issued his ruing in the $1 million lawsuit brought by Rev. Mother Teresa Agnes Gerlach and Sister Francis Therese of the Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity in Arlington in the wake of a nearly five-hour hearing in his 67th District Court on Tuesday.
The nuns’ suit claimed Olson overstepped his authority and invaded their privacy by confiscating a cellphone and other electronic devices belonging to Gerlach and making a copy of all the information as part of his investigation into whether she broke her vow of chastity with a priest from another diocese
The lawsuit also claimed that the bishop defamed the nuns with allegations of use of illegal drugs and abuse of prescription medicine by Gerlach, who suffers from a chronic medical condition that has kept her wheelchair-bound and dependent on a feeding tube and a central catheter.
Lawyers for Olson argued that that the case was a church matter and requested a plea to the jurisdiction to have it dismissed from civil court.
The nuns’ attorney, Matthew Bobo, argued that the judge had jurisdiction in the matter due to personal property rights and other civil matters.
“After considering the plea, the evidence admitted at the hearing on the plea, arguments of counsel and applicable law, the court is of the opinion that the plea should be and is hereby granted in its entirety,” Cosby ruled.
He also dismissed the lawsuit.
“We are grateful for Judge Cosby’s ruling today in dismissing the nuns’ lawsuit. The decision vindicates our steadfast belief that this is a private Church matter that does not belong in the courts,” Olson said in a statement. “This matter will continue to proceed through an established canonical process.”
Bobo blasted the ruling.
“We are shocked, extremely disappointed and respectfully disagree with Judge Cosby’s decision,” the nuns’ lawyer said in a statement. “This decision indicates that anyone who goes into a Catholic Church in Texas can be required to turn over his mobile device, the Church can make a copy of all of its contents, keep them for an indefinite period of time, trounce private citizens’ constitutionally-protected civil liberties, and that the Catholic Church may do all of this without any practical justification whatsoever.
“And not only that, but that a Catholic Bishop may publicly defame a Catholic to the media multiple times, and Catholic priests may freely manifest Catholics’ alleged sins to the entire world without any repercussion, either from the Vatican or the civil justice system. We look forward to an appellate court reversing this decision.”
The lawsuit stemmed from Olson’s investigation of a report that Gerlach violated her vow of chastity and the Sixth Commandment.
Testimony, including a 40-minute audio recording of Olson’s meeting with Gerlach in April, revealed details about the purported nature of the relationship between Gerlach and an out-of-state priest, who was identified in the audio transcript as a priest with Transalpine Redemptorists community near Billings, Montana.
The priest has since been identified in the Catholic media as Father Philip Johnson of the Diocese of Raleigh in North Carolina.
Olson testified during Tuesday’s hearing that he went to the Arlington monastery on April 24 to confront Gerlach about the inappropriate relationship that he said he had only recently learned about.
Father Jonathan Wallis, Vicar General of the Diocese of Fort Worth, said in testimony prior to Olson’s that he (Wallis) learned of the relationship between Gerlach and the priest last December, when Gerlach confided in him in a non-confessional setting.
Wallis testified that Gerlach repeated to him on two other occasions – including on Dec. 24, when he was at the monastery to lead Christmas Eve Mass – that she broke her vow of chastity.
Wallis testified that he was required to report the transgression but said Gerlach told him she would report it herself to an umbrella association of Orders of Carmelite nuns.
He also testified that she did not provide details of how she broke her vow of chastity.
Also under questioning, he acknowledged that he waited until April to report Gerlach to Olson because he was waiting for her to self-report to her association.
In the audio recording, she acknowledged a relationship with a priest but argued under questioning by Olson that it was only “on the phone.”
She revealed in the recording that was taking medication to control seizures, which affected her judgment.
“I made a horrible mistake,” she said. “I was very confused. I was not in my right mind.”
Olson testified that his investigation determined that Gerlach was guilty of the allegations and he dismissed her from the Order of Discalced Carmelites. She has the right to appeal the ruling.
The bishop also testified that he rejected the attorneys Gerlach selected to represent her in canonical proceedings on the matter because he has “the right” to do so.
He further testified that he had not examined the data captured from Gerlach’s phone and other devices because “she confessed” to breaking her vow of chastity and violating the Six Commandment.
He said he would not return the data, which the lawsuit sought, because it might be needed for further investigation, possibly of the priest, who Olson said has been uncooperative.
Also under questioning, Olson testified that he was not seeking to take control of the monastery’s property, which has been suggested as motivation behind the dispute.
Prominent Fort Worth philanthropist Sheila Johnson, daughter of Ruth Carter Stevenson, who purchased the 72-acre property for the nuns, continues to maintain that the valuable property is the end game. Johnson is also the granddaughter of Amon Carter.
The Arlington Police Department was drawn into the dispute through complaints by the nuns regarding Olson’s confiscation of their property and allegations by the diocese of illegal drug use at the monastery.
“Following a thorough and extensive review by (Arlington Police Department) detectives, and in consultation with the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office, we have determined probable cause does not exist to file criminal charges against any of the individuals involved,” the police department said in a statemen. “The case is now considered closed.”
Meanwhile, a lay-led petition is being circulated in an effort to have Olson removed as bishop.
