Your Excellency: You have repeatedly and publicly accused the Reverend Mother Superior Teresa Agnes Gerlach of violating her vow of chastity with a priest. What is the specific allegation you have found the Reverend Mother guilty of? Because you have defamed Mother Superior publicly now on multiple occasions, please do provide the specifics.
What specific proof do you have to substantiate your unilateral decision to find her guilty and dismiss her from the Order of Carmelite Nuns? You cite Canon 695 as your rationale. Was the crime so heinous that the Reverend Mother could not be amended or restored?
Michael Podhajsky is the canon lawyer handpicked by you after your rejection of four Church canonical representatives of her choice to represent her canonical rights as a Catholic.
Does Podhajsky even know what the allegation, crime or sin is that she is being accused of? If not, then how could he possibly provide any type of defense for the Reverend Mother?
But that was never truly your intention for her to have an objective canonical representative of her choice, was it Your Excellency?
If the investigation for which the sisters were never properly advised was a true investigation and is truly concluded, then why do you remain in control of the Reverend Mother’s and the monastery’s private personal and financial information and refuse to return it to her? If the investigation is over, then why are you still punishing the lay faithful by continuing to withhold Mass and keeping the monastery closed to them?
Finally, dear Bishop, from whom did you receive a report in April of 2023 that led to your investigation? And perhaps you might also be gracious enough to tell us all how was that report obtained?
Will you, dear Bishop, father and pastor of the flock of 1 million Catholics in the Diocese of Fort Worth, in a spirit of transparency and truth resembling our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and his apostles from whom you derive your authority, answer these questions?
Or will you instead cling to earthly goods and continue to defame the Reverend Mother publicly, maintain control over her life with your little rules of men such as when and where she can walk and to whom and when she may speak?
Is this example the spirit of Pentecost? Is it the spirit that Jesus Christ left when he ascended into heaven who he promised to his apostles from whom you are ordered?
Will you maintain control over her only true earthly possessions such as hers and the monastery’s private, personal, medical and financial information? Does this information provide you access to a donor’s list of Catholics who have substantial earthly means?
The Reverend Mothers’ canon lawyers are confident that this entire process is null and void.
And regardless of the canonical process, Reverend Mother Teresa Agnes remains steadfast in her trust in the state of Texas justice system and its laws that protect the rights of all of its citizens including a cloistered nun of 25 years who entered the monastery following her graduation from Ursuline Academy in Dallas.
She is hopeful and confident that the civil law will protect her from your outrageous and illegal actions taken over the past several weeks.
Matthew Bobo is a Fort Worth attorney who represents the Discalced Carmelite Nuns of the Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity in Arlington.