After more than a year of legal and religious disputes between Fort Worth Catholic Bishop Michael Olson and the Discalced Carmelite Nuns in Arlington, the sisters have transferred ownership of the monastery to a new foundation.

The Friends of the Discalced Carmelite Nuns of Arlington Inc. is a group made up of supporters and those who have family in the Arlington order, said Matthew Bobo, a civil attorney representing the Carmelite nuns who now serves on the foundation’s board of directors. 

Michael J. Mallick, Ben Doskocil, Rose Howe, Julie McCulloh, Thayne McCulloh, Carol Ziegler Portwood and Stephen Powell are also listed as foundation leaders. 

The foundation formed at the beginning of the year, Bobo said. The group took ownership of the property on April 30, according to Tarrant Appraisal District records. 

The 72-acre south Arlington property, currently appraised at a value of $3.8 million, has been a focal point in the ongoing tension between the nuns and Olson. Supporters of the Carmelite order have accused Olson of seeking to gain control of the monastery, which Olson and the Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth have denied. 

“Bishop (Olson) has no control over the monastery. Further, the diocese has no interest in the Arlington land, and never has,” a spokesperson for the Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth said in a statement to the Report. 

Olson has responded to the accusations in a June 2023 recorded statement on the Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth’s YouTube channel. He said the nuns’ donor list, the property and all of the assets of the Carmelite monastery belong to the monastery and are there for “the care and sustenance of the Carmelite community of nuns and for their religious mission.” 

Olson also testified during a civil court hearing on the lawsuit and restraining order filed against him that he was not pursuing control of the property. 

“We simply transferred the property from the nonprofit to the foundation to add a very ironclad and certain barrier to any claim Bishop Olson thinks he ever will have on that property,” Bobo said. 

The property was previously owned by the Discalced Carmelite Nuns’ nonprofit. The city of Arlington’s county clerk’s office has a record of deeds for the property. 

The new developments come weeks after Olson said the sisters are going “further down the path of disobedience to and disunity” with the Catholic Church and warned Catholics to stay away from the monastery or they might be accosted with the “scandalous disobedience.” 

The Arlington nuns recently affiliated themselves with the Society of Saint Pius X, a traditionalist fraternity of priests once in schism with the Vatican. In announcing their new affiliation, the nuns said the order reelected the Rev. Mother Teresa Agnes Gerlach as their leader. 

Gerlach is at the center of the conflict with Olson, who last year ordered an investigation into Gerlach over accusations she broke her chastity vow with a priest. Civil lawsuits filed by the nuns accusing Olson of illegally accessing electronic communications have since been dismissed by a judge or voluntarily dropped by the sisters. 

In April, the Vatican named Mother Marie of the Incarnation, president of the Association of Christ the King, as the “lawful superior” to “exercise full governance” over the monastery and nuns. But the nuns have sought to keep Gerlach as their leader. 

Both Olson and Marie have called the nuns’ most recent elections invalid. Leadership decisions made by the sisters were not conducted in accord with ecclesiastical law and the Constitutions of the Order of Discalced Carmelites, Olson said in his Sept. 17 statement. 

“The Association of Christ the King does not support the Arlington Carmel’s step outside the boundaries of clear communion with Rome, has not been consulted about this move, and has in no way cooperated with it,” Marie said in an Oct. 1 statement published by the diocese. 

Mallick, chairman of the foundation’s board, said in his Sept. 28 statement to the Arlington order that the foundation “stands in full support” of the sisters’ affiliation with the Society of Saint Pius X. 

Looking ahead, the foundation plans to continue financially supporting the sisters as needed, Bobo said. He wants the order to go back to living a “private, contemplative life.” 

“If we had our way, nobody would ever hear anything from the Carmelite nuns or the foundation again,” Bobo said. 

Marie said that the Association of Christ the King is consulting with the Holy See, a governing body of the Catholic Church, to identify what actions to take in response to the election and affiliation with the Society of Saint Pius X. 

Marissa Greene is a Report for America corps member, covering faith for the Fort Worth Report. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.