Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 23, 2024 / 18:15 pm
In direct defiance of a Vatican decree, a Texas monastery of cloistered nuns is asking a judge to grant a restraining order against the parties the Vatican has tasked with overseeing the monastery — an association of Carmelite monasteries and Diocese of Fort Worth Bishop Michael Olson.
The request, filed by the Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity in Arlington on Monday, came just days after the Vatican issued a decree concerning the governance of the monastery. That decree entrusted the monastery to the Association of Christ the King in the United States — an association of Carmelite monasteries — and named its president, Mother Marie, as the lawful superior of the monastery.
The decree also ordered the monastery to regularize its relationship with the bishop, with whom the nuns have feuded over the past year.
If the District Court of Tarrant County grants the monastery’s request, it would prevent Olson, Mother Marie, and any representatives of the diocese or the association from entering the premises.