Gerlach has before and since the court proceeding denied allegations of misconduct — a lawyer for Gerlach says she has serious physical ailments and was suffering from the effects of medications designed to control seizures when she spoke with the bishop that day and that she underwent surgery the day after the interview.
June 30, 2023: A judge dismisses the nuns’ lawsuit, saying the court lacks jurisdiction.
Aug. 18, 2023: Gerlach announces that the Carmelite Monastery of Arlington is no longer under the authority of Olson and forbids him from coming onto the property.
Aug. 19, 2023: Olson issues a statement saying that Gerlach may have incurred “latae sententiae excommunication” — which canon law defines as automatic excommunication “upon the commission of an offense” (Canon 1314) — for what he calls her “scandalous and schismatic actions.”
According to the bishop, the statement Gerlach issued the previous day “publicly rejected my authority as diocesan bishop and pontifical commissary.” The bishop’s statement says the other nuns might have incurred the same type of excommunication, “depending on their complicity” in Gerlach’s actions; the bishop declares the monastery “closed to public access.”
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April 18, 2024: Olson announces that Mother Marie of the Incarnation, a Discalced Carmelite who is president of the Discalced Carmelite Association of Christ the King but who does not live at the Carmelite monastery in Arlington, is now the “lawful superior” of the monastery; the announcement is accompanied by a decree from the Vatican dicastery that oversees religious orders.
May 22, 2024: Olson announces that the Vatican has overturned his decree dismissing Gerlach from the Carmelites on the grounds that she did not abuse her authority as head of the monastery because she had no authority over the priest who Olson says took part in illicit sexual activity with Gerlach; the Vatican on April 30 also issues a decree upholding the bishop’s investigation and another decree upholding the bishop’s suspension of Gerlach as prioress.
Sept. 14, 2024: The Discalced Carmelite Nuns of Arlington announce a formal association with the Society of St. Pius X, which will supply a priest for the nuns’ spiritual needs. (The Society of St. Pius X is a canonically irregular traditionalist Catholic association.) The nuns also announce that they reelected Gerlach as their prioress in August.
Sept. 17, 2024: Olson announces that the Carmelite nuns’ actions are “scandalous” and “permeated with the odor of schism,” and he warns Catholics not to partake of sacraments at the monastery or give money to the nuns.
Oct. 28, 2024: Olson announces that the prioress he appointed as what he calls the “legitimate superior” of the Arlington monastery, Mother Marie of the Incarnation, has dismissed the seven women of the monastery from the Order of Discalced Carmelites, returning them to lay status.
Oct. 30, 2024: The Discalced Carmelite Nuns of Arlington post a statement on the monastery’s website saying that “any ‘dismissal’ declared by Mother Marie of the Association of Christ the King is a moot point” because of the monastery’s association with the Society of St. Pius X. The nuns say their religious vows were “professed to God” and “cannot be dismissed or taken away.” They also say that they pray for Pope Francis and Olson every day and that “any claim that we have departed from the Catholic faith is ridiculous.”
Oct. 31, 2024: Olson announces that the Society of St. Pius X is “not in full communion or good standing with the Catholic Church” and that sacraments offered by the society under ordinary circumstances are valid but illicit.
Dec. 2, 2024: Olson announces that the Holy See’s Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life has suppressed the Carmelite Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity as of Nov. 28.
