After hearing more than five hours of legal arguments and testimony Tuesday in the contentious civil case involving Fort Worth Bishop Michael Olson and an order of nuns in Arlington, 67th District Court Judge Don Cosby declined to issue a ruling.
Cosby said he will consider the arguments made by attorneys for the nuns and the bishop and issue a ruling as early as next week.
Attorneys for the bishop argued that the judge should dismiss the case because the dispute centers on a matter involving the Catholic Church and not civil court.
The nuns filed a $1 million lawsuit against Olson, charging that he overstepped his authority and invaded their privacy by confiscating a cellphone and other electronic devices belonging to Rev. Mother Teresa Agnes Gerlach and making a copy of all the information.
The nuns further charge that the bishop also defamed them 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.
The nuns’ attorney, Matthew Bobo, told Cosby that the judge has jurisdiction in the matter due to issues of personal property rights and other civil matters.
The lawsuit is the result of an investigation by Olson of a report that Gerlach violated her vow of chastity and the Sixth Commandment.
Testimony and an approximately 40-minute audio recording of Olson’s meeting with Gerlach that was played in the packed courtroom focused on details about the purported nature of the relationship between Gerlach and a priest from the Transalpine Redemptorists community near Billings, Montana.
Catholic-focused online news site The Pillar reported some conflicting information about the priest and his religious affiliation that did not come out at the hearing.
Olson testified that he went to the nuns’ 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, testified that he learned of the relationship between Gerlach and the Montana priest last December, when Gerlach confided in him in a non-confessional setting.
Wallis testified that she repeated to him that she broke her vow of chastity to him on two other occasions, including on Dec. 24, when he was at the monastery to lead Christmas Eve Mass.
Wallis testified that he was required to report the transgression but said Gerlach said 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 she is guilty of the allegations and that he dismissed her from the Order of Discalced Carmelites. She has the right to appeal the ruling.
He also testified that he rejected the attorneys she 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.
Yet, he testified that he would not return the data, which the lawsuit seeks, because it might be needed for further investigation, possibly of the priest, who he stated 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, has sided with the nuns in the dispute and continues to maintain that the valuable property is the end game. Johnson is also the granddaughter of legendary publisher and civic leader Amon G. Carter.
“The bishop has 1.3 million people in his diocese but he has to pick on one nun,” Johnson said after the hearing.
Meanwhile, a lay-led petition is being circulated in an effort to have Olson removed as bishop.
