Seven Carmelite nuns from the convent in Arlington, Texas - who recently joined the Priestly Society of Pius X - have been dismissed from religious life on paper.
Mother Marie of the Incarnation, prioress of the Carmel of the Most Holy Trinity and president of the Association of Christ the King, made the announcement in a letter to the Diocese of Fort Worth on Monday. The Vatican put Mother Marie in charge of the Arlington convent on paper, but she never set a foot inside.
The bitter feud between the nuns and the Fort Worth Diocese, led by Bishop Michael Olson, has lasted more than a year and even involved civil courts.
Mother Marie of the Incarnation has now written: "Our only wish is for the dismissed members of the Carmel to repent, so that the monastic property can once again be rightly called a monastery, inhabited by Discalced Carmelite nuns, in good canonical standing with the Church of Rome."
The Arlington nuns own a vast and extremely valuable property. Only a few weeks ago, they entrusted it to a lay-led legal entity. It is questionable whether this belated gift will be upheld in court if challenged.
Despite the mistakes made by the Arlington nuns, including an admitted phone-sex affair by the superior, this latest move also appears to be the result of a complete failure of the bishop.
As a RN who has worked with a lot of people after anesthesia, I can tell you that the superior's comments to the bishop, when he met her as she arrived at the convent after day surgery, could not be presented in a court of law. If her supposed phone conversation happened at a similar framework, the same would be true. I have seen anesthesia turn the kindest people into monsters, and also seen the opposite. That is why they must have signed consent that they will not drive or sign any legal paperwork for 24 hours. And I have witnesed the effect lasting as many as 3 days. I believe this information should have been used by the legal team, because it could have exonerated the superior of legal guilt, if any.
The information I have is that, when the bishop met her, he waited for her return to her convent from a day surgery. If I am wrong, I apologize. Still, I believe the 'phone incident' should also be assessed as to it's timing. She says she 'didn't know why she said what she did'. If she had returned from a medical treatment just before that phone call, her remarks should not be taken seriously. And the same would be true if she was taking medications such as benzodiazepines, which are notorious for their undesired affects, which can last for days. If she had no medication in the days prior to the bishop's visit, or during and after her medical treatments, that information shold be sought.
I would not be so quick as to say "good riddance" or "keep warm and well fed" or "raca/fool"... What do these saints have in common? Saint Paul of Tarsus "killer of Christians" Saint Mary Magdalene "ex-harlot" Saint Camillus de Lellis. Saint Matthew. Saint Dismas, the Good Thief who stole heaven from Our Blessed Lord on the Cross Saint Augustine "...there (in the gutter) but for the grace of God, go I." Saint Pelagia Saint Mary of Egypt They all led dissolute lives and converted so as to be with God in Heaven when they died... When you point the finger at someone else, three are pointing back at you. Also, the Church, whether clerical, consecrated life, or lay, is no better than you and I. The least, sinful traditional Carmelite, or traditional Catholic for that matter, is worth more in the eyes of God than the most virtuous modernist heretical Catholic bishop, or knowingly modernist Catholic, or Protestant. With a Pope St. Pius V being my first preference, as a last preference, I'd rather have a Pope Alexander VI, who kept his shameful sinful life secret, free from public scandal, but who was an orthodox Catholic in all his papal decisions, than a Pope Francis, a pertinacious heretic, who simulates the "appearance of piety, but denies the virtue, thereof" (II Timothy III, 5), and is hell-bent upon destroying the Catholic Church. Only God sees the hearts of men...so let's let Him be the Judge.
My point is that we are too quick to dismiss others, especially sinners, with "good riddance". Society, and especially secular government, does not believe that a person can change ie. reform or convert by God's grace. Yet this reality of "change by the grace of God" is at the heart of Christian doctrine, belief, and practice. In my opinion, we should be more tolerant of others, especially repentant sinners, and show them mercy as Our Lord did. In fact, "sinners" are the reason He was came among us, and died on the Cross. "The Church is a hospital, and only sinners may enter." Also, "love the sinner, hate the sin."
"…owning valuable property…..I’m afraid none of that conforms to any kind of Teresian Carmeliteness" --- Get rid of your Commie attitude then and you will cease to be afraid.
It is normal for a Carmelite monastery to own valuable property so that they can independently support themselves from its revenues. It is actually a mandatory charism of the Carmelite Order. Should the diocesan bishop own the Carmelite's valuable property? No. The charism of poverty means that everything should be owned "in common" by each Carmelite community, independent from other Carmelity monasteries,... not that the community should own nothing at all, or that the local bishop should own everything. That would be stupidity...which is why the nuns are fighting the bishop and the modernist Carmelite Order, the true Commies. Valuable Property and Commies Ex. Were the Popes wrong in owning the Papal States, valuable property, whose revenues supported the charitable works of the papacy globally? It was the Commies and Freemasons who stripped the papacy of the lands that it had owned for over 1000 years. Francis' Vatican cannot pay its bills today as a direct result of the Commies' theft of his valuable property which was given to the Church so that it could be independent of civil authorities and not subservient to them, and also so that the Church, after paying for the maintenance of the Vatican, etc., could pursue charitable works around the world as needed, and at the discretion of the Holy Father. Freemasonry's goal in stealing the Papal States from the Popes was, in the future, to bankrupt the Catholic Church so as to destroy it. Seems like the Masons and the Commies have finally achieved their goal: bankrupting the Church by depriving it of its legitimate revenues from valuable property...stolen.
Being dismissed from post-conciliar religious life by a modernist bishop is a true blessing in disguise. The Carmelites are now free to pursue their consecrated lives and religious vows as true "brides of Christ." In much the same way, Abp Vigano, defender of the Faith, was dismissed from the modernist Church by a heretical pope. This is his credential as a true Catholic bishop in light of eternity. Both the Carmelites and the Archbishop are in the minority... The Catholic Faith, however, is not democratically determined by a majority vote. There is no guarantee that the Faith will be adhered to by the majority of Catholics. Vast swathes of lands with formerly vibrant Churches like North Africa, Japan, Turkey, Iran, Iceland, and Scandinavia are virtually extinguished of the Catholic Faith. However, St. Athanasius, defender of Catholic orthodoxy, was not bothered about being in the minority. He took glory in that very fact...He famously said: "The Arian heretics have the churches, but we, the Catholics, have the Faith." Abp Lefebvre, modern day Athanasius' motto as bishop on his coat of arms was: “Tradidi quod et accepi – I delivered unto you that which I myself have received”– I Cor. XV, 3). How true the Archbishop was when he said that he had passed on to us, his spiritual sons and daughters, only what he himself had been taught, had received, not "one iota" more, not "one iota" less. St. Luke in his Holy Gospel, chapter XVIII, verse 8, quotes Our Lord, alluding to this "holy remnant" in the end times: "When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith left on the earth?" St. Paul in his Letter to the Romans XI, 5 "So it is in our time; a remnant has remained true; grace has chosen it." St. John the Apostle in his Apocalypse XII, 17: "So, in his spite against the woman, the dragon went elsewhere to make war on the remnant of her seed, the men o keep God’s commandments, and hold fast to the truth concerning Jesus." St. Jerome, Father of the Church, alludes to a "holy remnant" of the new Israel (the Church) in his commentaries. Patristics, and Holy Scripture should give us pause for reflection and prayer in reverential fear of the Lord. For indeed, are we among that "holy remnant," faithful to the unchanging Faith of our fathers, or are we are not? The choice is ours...Everything else in this life fades in importance in comparison to the answer to that question alone.
Christ told Martha that Mary had chosen the better part. Since V2 Rome has basically been against cloistered religious life, preferring the active life. I pray that this Carmel may flourish and attract many holy women. to its order.