Convent dispute: Carmelite nuns expelled from order

The Carmelite nuns of the Arlington convent (USA) are no longer nuns. Due to their refusal to recognise the authority of the competent ecclesiastical authorities, they were dismissed from the religious order by operation of law, the superior of the convent appointed by the Vatican announced on Monday (local time). The letter from Mother Marie of the Incarnation, published by the local diocese of Fort Worth, states that the nuns have broken communion with the Church. Three reasons are given for this: They had not recognised the authority of the Vatican dicastery for religious orders, the local bishop and their religious superior.

The disobedience was exacerbated after the sisters placed themselves under the authority of the Society of St Pius X in mid-September, a traditionalist community without canonical status that is not in full communion with the Church. They had also attempted to convert the convent into a civil legal form in order to retain control over the order's assets. According to canon law, the assets of religious orders are church property. The members of the order are therefore not free to dispose of them and, in particular, cannot easily transfer them to non-ecclesiastical legal entities such as the foundation that has now been established.

Expulsion for manifest apostasy

According to Mother Marie, the dismissal from the religious order is based on the provision of canon law that religious are deemed to have been dismissed from the order without further ado if they have "manifestly fallen away from the Catholic faith". "It is therefore with great regret that I declare today, 28 October 2024, that the nuns of the Convent of the Most Holy Trinity are no longer members of the Order of Discalced Carmelites," said the Superior.

The dispute over the convent and its former superior Mother Teresa Agnes has been smouldering for over a year. Mother Teresa Agnes is said to have admitted a breach of her vow of chastity. As a result, the local diocesan bishop of Fort Worth investigated the matter and had the Carmel searched. The dispute came to light in May last year after the sisters went public to protest against the bishop's actions. The Vatican largely rejected the sisters' complaints, but placed the convent under the authority of Sister Marie of the Incarnation, president of the relevant Carmelite religious order, instead of Bishop Michael Olson. (KNA)