FRK Advocates has done it’s best to reassemble the timeline of events surrounding the suspension of Father Richard Kirkham. We have sourced information from the internet, media stories, Bishop Olson’s own words and statements to the media, and from personal accounts from the laity. The following information is our best effort of what we believe to be true.
December 28, 2014 – Bishop Olson announces that he will be erecting a new parish in the Prosper, Frisco, and Little Elm area of Denton County. He also announces at this time that Fr. Richard Kirkham will be the first pastor of the new parish, effective February 2, 2015. Article from the North Texas Catholic.
February 2, 2015 – Saint Martin de Porres is established and Father Richard Kirkham is named as the Pastor.
June 2015 – All Masses are moved to St. Martin de Porres Catholic School building on King Road.
July 1, 2015 – Holy Cross
Catholic School changes name to St. Martin de Porres Catholic School and Father
Richard becomes pastor over both the church and school.
January 7, 2017 – Father Richard hosts a ceremony with parishioners at the future church site where he blesses the site and we bury a container filled with special intentions and prayers under where the altar will be in the new church. Gallery Here
July 2017 – Father Richard begins New Parishioner Welcome Receptions to meet new and future parishioners and shows them progress on our new church site.
October 14, 2017 – The dome and cross are installed on our new church building. As always, Father Richard was there overseeing the entire process. Gallery Here
November 3, 2017 – St. Martin de Porres has a ceremony dedicating their new school building in Prosper, TX. Mass is held in the school chapel. Gallery Here
December 11, 2017 – Final
Mass is celebrated at the King Road location
December 16, 2017 – First Mass celebrated and the altar is dedicated at the new site of St. Martin de Porres in Prosper, TX. Gallery Here
January 20, 2018 – SMdP Hosts a Ribbon cutting ceremony for the Prosper Chamber of Commerce for the new Church and School. Gallery Here
April 28, 2018 – SMdP celebrates the first First Communion Mass at our new church with Father Richard Kirkham as the celebrant. Gallery Here
Unknown Date – Father Richard writes a letter of fraternal correction to a priest who he was friends with who he felt was misbehaving. In the letter, (information was taken from Dallas Morning News story released on a future date) Father Richard tells this other priest that he is reporting him and to prepare himself for the consequences of his bad behavior. We do not know the date of this letter because the Bishop has not shared it with our parish members, despite our requests. He did share the letter with the Ft. Worth Star Telegram.
June 3, 2018 – Father Richard celebrates his last Masses at Saint Martin de Porres. During his homily, he reflects on his time as a priest and how he is approaching his 7 year anniversary. He talks about how blessed he is to have such a wonderful parish and how much he is looking forward to his future with the parish. He receives a standing ovation from many parishioners.
June 4, 2018 – On his 7 Year Anniversary as a priest, Father Richard Kirkham is allegedly forced to resign his position as Pastor of Saint Martin de Porres, under extreme duress. The Bishop then orders him sent to St. Luke’s Institute. (Description of what St. Luke’s Institute from the Catholic Citizens blog – it does not sound like a very good place for priests.)
June 5, 2018 – The allegedly misbehaving priest that Fr. Richard had written the letter to is assigned to a new parish by the Dallas Diocese. According to an article in the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram – “Annette Gonzales Taylor, spokesperson for the Dallas diocese, said the transfer was “totally separate and had nothing to do with the letter.”
June 8, 2018 – Stephen Knobbe (parishioner of Saint Martin de Porres) met with Bishop Olson and Monsignor Hart to discuss Fr. Kirkham’s resignation. Bishop Olson stated that Fr. Kirkham resigned for “personal reasons”. Mr. Knobbe pleaded with the Bishop Olson not to accept the resignation. Olson stated “he would never force a priest to do a job that he did not want to do,” so he accepted Fr. Kirkham’s resignation and would not change his mind. Mr. Knobbe told the bishop that no one would believe that Fr. Richard resigned for ‘not wanting the job’. After the meeting, Mr. Knobbe contacted Fr. Richard and asked, “Do you want to be the pastor of St. Martin de Porres?” Fr. Richard said YES! Mr. Knobbe told Fr. Richard to rescind his letter of resignation. Mr. Knobbe then contacted civil attorney John Walsh to represent Fr. Richard.
June 9, 2018 – The Walsh Group, who is representing Father Richard, writes a powerful letter (found here) to Bishop Olson rescinding Father’s resignation. This letter goes into detail behind how Father Richard was allegedly forced to resign. We encourage you to read this document in its entirety, as it is VERY enlightening to this whole ordeal.
June 9 & 10, 2018 – Monsignor Hart is the celebrant for all weekend Masses at Saint Martin de Porres. At the end of each Mass, he announces thatFather Richard has resigned his position as Pastor of St. Martin de Porres, and, due to his further actions, has been suspended as a priest. No further explanation is given and speculation and rumors run rampant. Several parishioners inquired with him further after Mass and he did not provide further information.
Week of June 11 – At some point during the week, Father Richard checks out of St. Luke’s to return to Texas. He arrives back in Texas to discover the locks have been changed and all of his possessions are locked inside his house (the rectory). He is threatened with arrest if he is to attempt to gain entry to recover any of his possessions. A parishioner of Saint Martin de Porres, who is also a real estate attorney, offers his services. He files an emergency writ of re-entry and the sheriff has to show up to help get Father back into his residence and to his possessions. (Writ of re-entry found here)
June 15, 2018 – FRK Advocates is formed by a group of concerned parishioners and they release their first email asking for people to write letters to Bishop Olson explaining what Father Richard means to our families and to our young parish.
June 18, 2018 – ‘Father Richard Kirkham – May God Be Praised’ Facebook Group Created. There are currently over 550 members from many different parishes across the Ft. Worth Diocese (and across the country) who are praying for Father Richard.
June 18, 2018 – 7:00 AM Daily Rosary begins outside of the church and school to pray for the lifting of Father Richard’s suspension. (Daily rosaries continue to this day both in the morning and evening through our Facebook support group.)
June 19, 2018 – Those who emailed Bishop Olson with their concerns report back that they are all receiving the same form letter as a response from Bishop Olson. In the letter, Bishop Olson states that ‘my paternal care for him (Father Richard) as his bishop and for you (parishioners) as your bishop will not permit me (Bishop Olson) to share the details surrounding his resignation and subsequent suspension without his consent’. Full copy of letter here
However, my paternal care for him [Father Richard Kirkham] as his bishop (and for your as your bishop) will not permit me to share the details surrounding his resignation and subsequent suspension without his consent.
from Bishop Olson’s written response to those parishioners who sent letters requesting further explanation into the suspension of Father Kirkham.
June 27, 2018 – The Finance Council of St. Martin de Porres, made up of eight long-time parishioners, writes a letter to Bishop Michael Olson expressing their concern for how things have been handled with Father Richard and how it is negatively affecting weekly tithing and Mass attendance. They request a meeting with Bishop Olson to discuss the developments. They have still received NO response from BishopOlson to this date. The copy of the letter can be found here.
Since the abrupt announcement of his [Father Kirkham’s] departure, Sunday Mass attendance has plummeted and a funereal quality has replaced the former vibrant hospitality. We continue to learn of parishioners who have decided not to contribute to our Sunday collections as they have in the past, and of those are still considering or have already acted to cancel their pledge payments, even some going to the extent of requesting a refund of payments already made to the capital campaign. … As the only official leadership group in the parish, we respectfully request an audience with you at your earliest convenience so that we might learn answers to the pervasive questions directly from you, and so that we can assist in regaining the excellent momentum that our parish has so recently enjoyed.
excerpts from the letter to bishop olson on 6/27/2018 from the parish finance council – bishop Olson has still given no response to this letter
June 28, 2018 – Bishop Olson releases a statement (seen here) regarding Cardinal McCarrick and writes that he has zero tolerance for sexual abuse. This quote also appears in the statement – “Our seminarians, priests, deacons, and religious and lay staff are taught to recognize and to report boundary violations without fear of retribution, no matter the status of the perpetrator. “
June 30, 2018 – Bishop Olson celebrates Mass at St. Martin de Porres and reads a prepared statement at the end of Mass stating that the matter between Fr. Richard and himself is between and ‘employee and employer’ and the ‘ethics prevent him from commenting more directly on the situation’. Full transcript here
Thus, the current issue is an internal and Canonical and spiritual matter between a priest and his bishop, but is also similar to a matter between an employee and his employer. The ethics of both prevent me from commenting more directly on his situation.
Bishop Olson – addressing the parishioners of Saint Martin de Porres on June 30 regarding Fr. Richard Kirkham’s suspension/resignation.
July 30, 2018 – Bishop Olson appears on EWTN (seen here) to discuss the letter he had released regarding Cardinal McCarrick.
August 3, 2018 – The Fort Worth Star-Telegram posts an article (found here) titled “Bishop asks DFW priest to resign after he wrote intimidating, sex-fueled letter”. There are statements in this article from Bishop Olson that seem to contradict his previous statements to parishioners that he WOULD NOT SHARE the details of Father Richard’s suspension due to his paternal care for him as his bishop.
August 3, 2018 – NBC 5 also runs a story (found here) on live TV. It covers mostly the same information as the Star-Telegram article, but also includes a statement claiming to be the reason that Father Richard was asked to resign — “The Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth says Kirkham was asked to resign because he did not follow proper procedures for reporting suspicions of sexual abuse.” This is the first time we hear that this was the reason behind asking Father Richard to resign.
The Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth says Kirkham was asked to resign because he did not follow proper procedures for reporting suspicions of sexual abuse.
reported by nbc 5 dallas Ft. worth 8/3/2018
August 6, 2018 – FRK Advocates releases the letter (found here– already listed under the June 9th date) from civil attorney John Walsh to members of the Parish and the Facebook group. Many parishioners and Facebook group members are stunned by the new revelations.
August 8, 2018 – The Fort Worth Star-Telegram runs a follow-up article (found here) that includes quotes from the letter from John Walsh (civil attorney) had written to Bishop Olson rescinding his resignation.
August 9, 2018 – The Dallas Morning News publishes an article (found here) about Father Richard’s resignation and suspension. Quotes from the article — In his letter, Walsh alleged that Kirkham had signed his resignation letter under “extreme duress.” And “Instead of admonishing the priest from <<redacted>> , your office decided to force Father Kirkham to resign his position as Pastor of St. Martin de Porres,” the attorney wrote. “In doing this, your office made the accusation that Father Kirkham was mentally unstable, which prompted a request by your office that Father Kirkham travel to Virginia to undergo a week-long examination of his mental status.”
August 26, 2018 – The other priest to whom Father Richard had written the letter of fraternal correction takes a leave of absence ‘due to stress’. (As reported to FRK Advocates by members of that parish.)
September 8, 2018 – FRK Advocates launches a petition with an open letter asking for Bishop Olson to reinstate Father Richard.
September 19, 2018 – Bishop Olson writes an opinion piece (found here) about how the Ft. Worth Diocese is taking steps to ensure there is no abuse in the Ft. Worth Diocese.
September 27, 2018 – The Pastor of Saint Martin de Porres (Fr. Stephen Hauck) sends a letter to all parishioners clarifying that FRK Advocates is not a parish or school group and that FRK Advocates does not speak for the school or parish. He states that some members of the parish have come to him and expressed their desire for the FRK Advocates to be ceased. FRK Advocates agrees that we are not sanctioned or an official part of the parish or school. Many of our group are active parishioners of Saint Martin de Porres and love the wonderful community that Father Richard has built before his suspension. We are blessed to have Father Stephen, who continues to build upon that success.
Week of October 8, 2018 – FRK Advocates requests a meeting with Bishop Olson to deliver the petition to reinstate Father Richard, which has over 600 signatures (both on-line and physical) from laity across the Diocese.
October 12, 2018 – FRK Advocates receives a response from Msgr. Hart on behalf of Bishop Olson denying our request for ameeting. “We will not meet with you or the group you represent without the support of our current pastor, Fr. Stephen Hauck. Any such meeting will need to be with his permission and at his request.” FRK Advocates did not think it appropriate or fair to involve Fr. Stephen in this matter and did not pursue to have a meeting set up through him.
October 13, 2018 – Bishop Olson has Father Tim from Immaculate Conception read a letter in Saturday and Sunday Masses apologizing for FRK Advocates having an informational meeting at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Denton (as reported to us by parishioners of ICC). Father Tim was not involved and had did not have any knowledge of this meeting that took place.
October 18, 2018 – With no way for FRK Advocates to deliver the petition and signatures to Bishop Olson in person, we sent copies delivered via certified mail to Bishop Olson’s office. Copies were also sent to His Eminence Archbishop Christophe Pierre (Nuncio), His Eminence Daniel Cardinal Dinard, His Eminence Cardinal Marc Ouellet, and His Eminence Cardinal Kevin Joseph (at the Vatican).
October 19, & October 22, 2018 – Letters delivered to Bishop Olson & Archbishop Pierre on 10/19 and delivered to addressees in Rome on 10/22. (More details here)
October 29, 2018 – The court sides with Father Richard Kirkham in the eviction case brought by Bishop Olson. The court decides that Father Richard has the right to the property until after Father Richard’s active case with the Congregation of the Clergy in Rome has been decided. (attorney’s argument which the court sided with here)
November 1st, 2018 – Our FRK Rosary group is asked to no longer live stream our daily morning Rosary while on Church property. Many people in our group who cannot physically come to the chapel pray daily along with the live stream every morning. Going forward, all Rosary prayer intentions while on church property must be silent and the morning Rosary will be led by either the deacon or the pastor.
November 30, 2018 – Father Jack McKone (former pastor of Sacred Heart) sends a letter to all parishioners of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Wichita Falls. In the letter, Father McKone speaks out harshly against FRK Advocates and refers to it as a “disturbing” and “separatist movement”. He goes on to warn those who are considering joining the movement, that doing so would constitute a mortal sin that would endanger their immortal souls. (Other priests have assured us that this is not the case and the Catechism of the Catholic Church actually says it is the duty of the laity to speak out.)
December 7, 2018 – Rocco Palmo, a well-known Catholic blogger who is considered to be a Vatican insider, tweeted: While Fort Worth paper spotlights new petition seeking Vatican probe of +Olson following years of contentious moves, Whispers ops relay that outspoken Texas prelate has spent this week in Rome, reportedly due to fallout of clashes with his priests.
While Fort Worth paper spotlights new petition seeking Vatican probe of +Olson following years of contentious moves (https://t.co/EHKUeGjuvP ), Whispers ops relay that outspoken Texas prelate has spent this week in Rome, reportedly due to fallout of clashes with his priests.
December 10, 2018 – FRK Member, Steve Knobbe, writes a heartfelt letter in response to Fr. Jack McKone calling Fr. Jack’s letter “heartbreaking” and asks Fr. Jack to lead a daily Rosary at Sacred Heart praying for truth, transparency, and direction until purity has settled in the souls of Catholics throughout our diocese? The full letter can be found here.
December 14, 2018 – Bishop Olson releases a video making many claims about FRK Advocates. All parishes and schools in the diocese (as far as we know) email this video directly to parishioners. The video can be viewed here.
December 15, 2018 – Bishop Olson releases a Pastoral Letter to accompany his video. He refers to the 1,500+ people across the Ft. Worth diocese who signed the recent petition as “a handful of such dissatisfied people”.
December 17, 2018 – The Ft. Worth Star Telegram features the Bishop’s response to the petition for investigation as their Sunday paper front page story. The headline is ‘I’M NOT A DICTATOR’.
December 19, 2018 – The Church Militant publishes an article titled BISHOP OLSON: ‘I AM NOT A DICTATOR’. The article includes quotes from Stephen Knobbe and Jack Walsh refuting many of statements issued by Bishop Olson about FRK Advocates and Father Kirkham.
May 28, 2019 – Philip Gray, Canon Lawyer and President of the St. Joseph Foundation, met with members of FRK Advocates (and many other groups across the Ft. Worth Diocese). He explained the process given to us by the Church (called Come una madre amorevole) to remove a Bishop.
May 28, 2019 – Members of FRK Advocates and other laity across the Ft. Worth Diocese begin signing mandates allowing Philip Gray to represent them and pursue the removal of Bishop Olson through the process given to us by the Church.
May 29, 2019 – KFDX in Wichita Falls hears about Philip Gray being in town and does a brief interview with him about the laity’s efforts to pursue the Church’s process to remove Bishop Olson. The original story has been TAKEN DOWN, here is a link to a cached version of the story.
June 12, 2019 – The Ft. Worth Star-Telegram runs their article on the front page of their print newspaper. It is titled ‘Process begun to request removal of bishop’.
June 12, 2019 – The Dallas Morning News runs an article in their print newspaper in the Metro Section (Page 2B) titled, ‘Petition to remove bishop in the works’.
June 12, 2019 – Several national news publications pick up Nichole Manna’s story from the Ft. Worth Star Telegram and publish it to their newspaper/website. So far, the following publications have posted the story:
June 21 – 27, 2019 – Three separate letters to the editor are published in the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram. These letters are critical of and in disagreement with Cynthia’s opinion piece. One of the letters is from Philip Gray.
July 1, 2019 – The Ft. Worth Diocese releases a statement saying “The Congregation for Clergy at the Vatican in a decree dated June 7, 2019 has ruled that Father Richard Kirkham’s resignation of June 4, 2018, as pastor of St. Martin de Porres in Prosper is valid.” They also mention that Fr. Kirkham’s suspension has been lifted, and it seems to gloss over the fact that they ruled Fr. Kirkham was improperly suspended for over a year. They also do not mention that the decree states that Fr. Kirkham has the option to have his forced resignation reviewed through a judicial process at the Vatican.
July 1, 2019 – The Ft. Worth Star Telegram publishes another article covering the statement released by the Ft. Worth Diocese. The headline is “Vatican says resignation of Father Kirkham from St. Martin de Porres is valid“.
July 2, 2019 – Father David Deibel, who is the Canon Lawyer for Fr. Kirkham, provides a more detailed explanation of what the ruling from the Vatican means for Father Kirkham.
In an eight page decision, the Congregation for the Clergy, which is a dicastery of the Holy See, concluded that Fr. Kirkham’s suspension was both invalidly inflicted and procedurally improper. Although the Congregation for Clergy declined to overturn Bishop Olson’s forced resignation of Fr. Kirkham, it stated that a judicial process would have to make that determination. Needless to say, Fr. Kirkham is considering pursuing this course of action as the Congregation duly noted he has the right to do. The Congregation for Clergy also took cognizance of Fr. Kirkham’s right under Texas civil law to his place of domicile (residence).
Fr. David Deibel, Canon Lawyer June 2, 2019
June 5, 2019 – The Ft. Worth Star-Telegram publishes an article with an update about San Mateo. In the article, it says that San Mateo could possible open back up as a chapel of ease. it states that there is currently mold remediation being done followed by renovations estimated to cost $200,000. It further states that vandals damaged the inside of the church last year. Why was this church allowed to fall into such a state of disrepair?
July 12, 2019 – Philip Gray, Canon Lawyer, agrees to represent the parishioners of St. Martin de Porres who are seeking the return of Farther Richard Kirkham to his role as pastor. This case will be in addition to his case to have Bishop Olson removed from the Ft. Worth Diocese. This mandate is separate from the removal mandate and can be found here.
July 19, 2019 – Bishop Michael Olson releases another ‘pastoral letter’ and mentions specifically the cases of San Mateo Mission and Fr. Richard Kirkham. He reasserts that San Mateo is a ‘chapel-of-ease‘. He also states that he asked Fr. Kirkham to resign for ‘serious personnel reasons‘ (the reason for his forced resignation appears to keep changing with every statement from Bishop Olson). The Bishop also accuses FRK Advocates (‘a group of hurt and disappointed parishioners’) of not waiting for the appeal to be decided who then ‘began to disrupt life in that parish and elsewhere in the diocese, thus bringing discord where there should be peace.‘ He also goes on to state: ‘Both appeals have now been decided by the appropriate office in Rome, and in both cases, my decisions were upheld by the Holy See…’ See the full letter here
July 20, 2019 – Father Timothy Thompson, pastor of Immaculate Conception Church in Denton in the Ft. Worth Diocese, sends a letter to all the volunteer ministers in the parish. In the letter, Fr. Thompson states: ‘As you may have seen in a recent email from the parish, Fr. Richard’s case was heard by the Congregation of the Clergy and they ruled that Fr. Richard’s resignation from the parish was valid and that he had to leave the rectory. The Congregation also lifted Fr. Richard’s suspension, giving him a chance to serve in the Church. How that works out is a discussion between the bishop and Fr. Richard.‘ He goes on to say that ministers will no longer be able to participate if they continue wearing blue support ribbons: ‘We are not only serving Immaculate Conception but the Church of Fort Worth and the universal Church. If you do not believe that you can do that, then your work will have to be suspended. You cannot wear ribbons or any other insignia that implies defiance of the bishop. Some have chosen to not serve until they feel that justice has been done; I can respect that. But you cannot have it both ways, serving while publicly defying the bishop.’
January 20, 2020 – Members of FRK Advocates continue their daily Rosaries for Father Kirkham and for the Diocese and continue to support the movement to remove Bishop Michael Olson from the Ft. Worth Diocese.
January 22, 2020 – Church Militant releases an article titled “TX BISHOP WANTED TO TORTURE AND MURDER PRIEST” after obtaining 1,800 pages of court documents in a defamation lawsuit filed by Fr. Richard Kirkham, against Bishop Olson. In the file is a deposition of Diane Cluley, a woman who has been described as Olson’s “surrogate mother,” who took Olson under her wing when he was a young seminarian.
Church Militant obtained 1,800 pages of court documents in a defamation lawsuit filed by Fr. Richard Kirkham, a Fort Worth priest, against Olson. In the file is a deposition of one Diane Cluley, a 90-year-old woman who has been described as Olson’s “surrogate mother,” who took Olson under her wing when he was a young seminarian.
January 22, 2020 (Evening) – Claiming to be speaking for Bishop Olson, his attorney, Michael D. Anderson, emailed a threatening letter (found here) to a young parishioner and FRK Advocate, claiming she “operates” the FRK Advocates’ website. His assertion is wrong. Then, he threatened her with a defamation lawsuit by Bishop Olson, because in his words, “Today, you posted a transcript of two statements given by Dianne Cluley. You state as fact on the FRK Advocates website that the Cluley statements are part of a public filing in Denton County. That is absolutely false, and you know it.” Next, without any explanation or identification of what he claims to be “verifiable false statements” contained within SWORN documents, attorney Anderson asserts: “Even worse, you are well aware that Ms. Cluley’s statements contain a number of verifiably false statements regarding Bishop Olson.”
January 23, 2020 – The Fort Worth Star Telegram releases an article titled “Obsessed with his power’: Acquaintance describes a spiteful Fort Worth Bishop Olson”. In the article Dianne Cluley, who she ‘began to consider Bishop Olson to be son’, is quoted saying “He (Bishop Olson) ruined their (particular priests) lives,” she said. “They were called by God, that’s why they have these vocations. I’m 90 and I’m not going to go down easy. I’m not going to die and leave this place the way it is. I refuse.” Also in the article, Bishop Olson’s attorney, Michael Anderson, claims that the statements by Dianne Clulely are “just false and salacious” a the FRK Advocates are “taking advantage of an elderly woman.”
January 28, 2020 – Father Kirkham decides to end his defamation suit against Bishop Olson. In the notice of Non-Suit, it states that he has decided to end the suit because ‘In recent discussions between the patties, Bishop Olson acknowledged and admitted that Fr. Kirkham’s resignation had nothing to do with the safe environment of children’.
January 28, 2020 – Bishop Olson releases another ‘pastoral letter’ (found here) ‘regarding Father Richard Kirkham’s resignation and his subsequent attempts to tarnish my ministry in the Fort Worth Diocese…‘
January 28, 2020 – The Ft. Worth Dioceses releases a statement (found here) titled Father Richard Kirkham Drops Two ‘Baseless’ Lawsuits. No where mentioned in this statement was Father Kirkham’s decision to drop the defamation lawsuit after Bishop Olson ‘acknowledged and admitted that Fr. Kirkham’s resignation had nothing to do with the safe environment of children’ (based on the Non-suit document filed by Father Kirkham’s civil attorney) after it was
January 28, 2020 – The Ft. Worth Dioceses releases a statement (found here) titled Father Richard Kirkham Drops Two ‘Baseless’ Lawsuits. No where mentioned in this statement was Father Kirkham’s decision to drop the defamation lawsuit after Bishop Olson ‘acknowledged and admitted that Fr. Kirkham’s resignation had nothing to do with the safe environment of children’ (based on the Non-suit document filed by Father Kirkham’s civil attorney) after it was
March 26, 2020 – Church Militant releases an article/video titledHanging by a Thread. In it, they claim that ‘Reports from sources in the diocese of Fort Worth are that Bp. Michael Olson fears his episcopal life is hanging by a thread.’
I am praying you will evaluate/assess all the irrefutably good things I have done over my tenure with CCFW and not base your final decision on one, single 30-minute meeting that was rife with confusion, miscommunication, and misunderstandings
April 20, 2022 – The Ft. Worth Star Telegram publishes an article, “Who is the bishop who wants the head of Catholic Charities Fort Worth to resign and why?”. It discusses some of his controversial personnel decisions in his past, including Fr. Richard Kirkham, and the petition by 1,500 of Catholic faithful of the Ft. Worth Diocese calling for an investigation into Olson’s action as Bishop.
March 2022 – St. Martin de Porres announces their Synod on Synodality listening session will be held on March 28. Upon hearing the news, FRK Advocates encourages their members to attend the listening session scheduled for St. Martin de Porres. There are still many members who feel hurt and ostracized by the church and this may be an opportunity to come back together.
March 24, 2022 – One of the FRK members wrote a letter to Fr. Stephen Hauck, pastor of St. Martin de Porres requesting the the Synodal listening session be given more focus and held at a more convenient time so that all those who wanted to participate could come to have their voices heard. (the listening session was scheduled on a weeknight starting at 5:00 PM and was also happening in conjunction with March Our Catholic Life Lecture Series.
March 26, 2022 – Shortly after encouraging its members to join the listening session, the St. Martin de Porres posts on the Facebook Page that the listening session has been postponed.
Saint Martin de Porres cancels their listening session.
March 28, 2022 – Father Hauck sends a response letter regarding the request to put more of a focus on the listening session. In this letter, he states that listening sessions have been arranged, BY INVITATION ONLY and that members of the FRK Advocates or Laity in Unity were not welcome to participate in the St. Martin de Porres listening sessions. He says the reason for this is because the group’s “intention to hijack this opportunity through, “Calls to Action,” and agenda driven pet projects.” This could have been a great opportunity for healing, instead it has led to further division.
May 10, 2023 – Discalced Carmelite Nuns from the Monastery of Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity in Arlington, TX file a lawsuit against Bishop Olson for $1,000,000 claiming that Bishop Olson has far overstepped his authority in attempting to investigate their order, when he has no authority to do so. The lawsuit claims that the monastery is under direct control of the Vatican and not under the authority of the Ft. Worth Diocese.
“The level of emotional trauma and infliction of psychological distress this whole episode has caused me personally and the Sisters is incomprehensible. We have never faced such moral violence and adversity. These actions are directly affecting my emotional and physical well-being as well as the that of our Sisters.”
Reverend Mother Teresa Agnes of Jesus Crucified – Affidavit
CLICK HERE TO VIEW FILING
May 19, 2023 – CBSNews runs article titled ‘Pure evil’: Nuns file lawsuit against Catholic bishop stating that Bishop Michael Olson took actions of “Pure Evil” against the Carmelite nuns of the Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity in Arlington, TX.
An affidavit from Mother Agnes says Olson demanded to return the next day and questioned four sisters for several hours. Currently in very poor health, and connected to a feeding tube, Mother Agnes says she had a surgical procedure that day, and was under anesthesia, and pain medication including fentanyl. However, she wrote Olson wanted to interrogate her after she returned from the hospital.
CBS LOCAL NEWS ‘Pure evil’: Nuns file lawsuit against Catholic bishop
May 19, 2023 – NBC runs an article titled ‘Arlington Nuns Say Fort Worth Bishop is Overstepping, File $1 Million Lawsuit’ stating that the Discalced Carmelite Nuns of Arlington claim Olson is overstepping his power by disciplining them and taking personal property from the monastery when they answer directly to the pope and not the local diocese.
The nuns also alleged Olson, “forced himself onto our peaceful community,” interrogated the sisters, and then “threw a temper tantrum and in an agitated and raised voice yelled that the monastery was shut down and no mass would be celebrated.”
May 22, 2023 – The Download program from the Church Militant covers the scandal with the Carmelite Nuns and Christine Niles covers several of the Bishop’s scandals including his forced resignation of Father Richard Kirkham. (watch clip below beginning at the 9:00 minute mark).
The Download program from the Church Militant covers the scandal with the Carmelite Nuns and Christine Niles covers several of the Bishop’s scandals including his forced resignation of Father Richard Kirkham. (Transcript below)
Well specifically, Bishop Olson, I did a spotlight on him he was actually the very first Spotlight that I aired and he is known for his double standards. Now, I don’t know what this situation is here in this case I don’t know maybe she had this relationship maybe. I don’t know and I have no doubt too that he did come in and he was very heavy-handed and used these very strong bully tactics because that’s just what he’s known for but he’s also known for a double standard. What I covered in my Spotlight was that there was a there were two priests in his diocese one of them Father Richard Kirkham and went to Father Iverson who was allegedly having an affair with a married woman in his Parish. Father Kirkham wrote a letter and met with him saying, “Hey you got to stop this.” Iverson who was apparently very close to the Bishop. I don’t know how close. They say that they were in seminary and that they would meet together behind closed doors privately. Apparently Bishop Olson punished The Whistleblower Father Kirkham and did nothing to Iverson. So again, double standard someone taking part in very scandalous behavior at his parish and yet he’s not punished. This guy is so…he’s a bad Bishop. We know that.
May 23, 2023 – The Tablet (The International Catholic News Weekly) posts an article titled ‘Texas nuns sue bishop‘. The scandal continues to spread…
May 24, 2023 – Catholic News Agency publishes an article titled “Fort Worth nun forced to use bishop-appointed canon lawyer amid dispute with diocese”. It claims that Bishop Michael Olson refused Reverend Mother Superior Teresa Agnes Gerlach to choose her own canon lawyer. Bishop Olson rejected each of the FOUR advocates that the Reverend Mother chose to represent her, and instead he has appointed one for her. The headline ‘I’M NOT A DICTATOR’ from the Fort Worth Star Telegram in 2018 sure comes to mind again in this case.
Gerlach, who serves in the Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity, sought out an independent canon lawyer to represent her in the diocesan investigation into the allegation, but Olson denied each of her suggestions, according to Bobo. Instead, the bishop appointed a different canon lawyer to represent her without her consent or approval.
“Bishop Olson denied Mother Superior’s right to independent canonical (Church law) representation with three different canon lawyers (advocates) and one procurator,” Bobo said in a statement.
May 31, 2023 – The Pillar publishes an article titled “Fort Worth bishop bans daily Mass until nuns drop lawsuit“. It claims that Bishop Olson, informed them in a letter addressed to Sr. Therese Sharp that there would be no daily Mass or confessions outside of the canonical requirements (once per year for confession) because it cannot be “conveniently provided to the Monastery”. The letter further goes on to to explain this cannot be done because “you and Mother Teresa Agnes (Gerlach) of Jesus Crucified, O.C.D., have lodged a civil lawsuit, together with a request for a protection order, against me and the Diocese of Fort Worth”. It would certainly seem that that withholding of Sacraments as a punishment to these cloistered nuns is a serious and grave matter.
The bishop has further threatened all of the nuns of the Carmel with expulsion from their order in retaliation for what he has called “obstruction” of his investigation into their superior.
May 31, 2023 – The Ft. Worth Dioceses releases a statement claiming that Bishop Olson is the Pope’s representative and that he is “entrusted with full governing responsibility for the Monastery”. The Diocese also posts this decree from the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. The nun’s civil lawyer will later point out multiple inconsistencies in this decree that brings into question of the legitimacy of this decree and whether it was even in response to this particular case (more on that below).
May 31, 2023 – WFAA publishes an article with the Headline: “Fort Worth Bishop dismisses head nun of Arlington monastery after Pope appoints him as representative” saying that the Bishop has dismissed Reverend Mother Teresa Agnes of the Discalced Carmelite Nuns monastery. Agnes’ civil attorney calls into question the legitimacy of the Decree from the Vatican pointed out that the case number and the year in the top left hand corner were neither correct or associated with case. He also points out that the monastery was incorrectly referred to as the Monastery of Saint Joseph of the Discalced Carmelite Nuns. Is there something underhanded happening here? See below for a copy of the decree and make your own judgement.
May 31, 2023 – The Pillar Publishes an article and later updates it called Updated: Vatican appoints Olson ‘commissary’ of Carmelite nuns. This article also calls into question some troubling irregularities around this decree, including the case number at the top, the naming of the Monastery of “Saint Joseph” and also who signed this decree.
Sources in Rome told The Pillar they were surprised that the decree was signed by Archbishop Jose Carballo, the dicastery’s secretary, rather than by its prefect, Cardinal João Braz de Avi, as is customary.
Archbishop Carballo has been recently involved in the closure of several cloistered monasteries in Italy, and was among the architects of Cor orans, a controversial 2018 instruction from his office, which mandated the cloistered monasteries of nuns join monastic federations, which are empowered to exercise some oversights of their member monasteries.
The lawyer (Michael Bobo) said the protocol number in the Vatican decree, 2256/2020, is “neither correct nor associated with this case.”
The protocol number, part of the Vatican’s filing system, indicates that a case concerning the monastery was first raised in 2020. While that could be true, neither the Fort Worth diocese nor the Carmelite monastery have previously mentioned it in public statements.
Bobo also noted that the decree references the Monastery of “Saint Joseph,” while the Arlington Carmel is the Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity. There are several Carmelite monasteries of St. Joseph in the U.S., but while the Vatican decree seemingly used the wrong name, it did identify that it was meant to refer to a monastery of Discalced Carmelite nuns in Arlington, Texas — there is only one such monastery in Arlington, Texas.
Nevertheless, Bobo argued that the decree’s apparent errors, combined with the fact that decree was not sent to the nuns’ canon lawyer, could call into question the decree’s validity
Bobo has suggested Olson may have had an interest in financial records of the nuns that the church does not have access to, which the Diocese has denied.
Others have suggested he (Bishop Olson) may have an interest in somehow obtaining the 50 acres of wooded land the monastery sits on in South Arlington.
Sheila Johnson said she believes Olson wants the property “desperately,” even though articles of incorporation appear to show it would likely be given to another order of nuns, if for some reason the Arlington group dissolved.
“We don’t hate the bishop,” Johnson said. “But what we do despise is his behavior, which is disreputable. It’s against his vows when he became a member of the clergy to attack, slander, demean and disrespect anyone, especially a group of sisters.“
June 1, 2023 – The Ft. Worth Dioceses releases a statement decreeing that Bishop Olson has dismissed Reverend Mother Teresa Agnes (Gerlach) of Jesus Crucified. It states: “Therefore, as Pontifical Commissary of the Monastery in Arlington, Texas, and as the Bishop of the Diocese of Fort Worth, Bishop Olson dismissed Mother Teresa Agnes from the Order of Discalced Carmelites in accord with cann. 695 §1 and699 §2 CIC.” Was this dismissal in accordance with cannon law? According to Reverend Mother’s civil lawyer, Matthew Bobo, (from an article from CNA), she was represented by a cannon lawyer of Bishop Olson’s choosing and not her own. Was the Reverend Mother fairly represented in this case or was she railroaded by Bishop Olson?
June 1, 2023 – The Ft. Worth Dioceses releases a statement decreeing that Bishop Olson will resume daily Mass on June 7 and will arrange for regular confessions for the nuns. The statement also includes: “Given the pending lawsuit, Mass will remain closed to the participation of the lay faithful for the time being.” According to an earlier article from the Pillar on May 31, Bishop Olson had supposedly sent a letter to the monastery that Daily Mass and regular access to the Sacrament of Confession would not be provided until the lawsuit was dropped. What prompted this sudden change?
June 4, 2023 – The Fort Worth Star-Telegram publishes an opinion piece titled: “Why in heaven is Fort Worth Bishop Michael Olson going after a nun in a wheelchair?“, with two different opinions from both Sarah R. Voelker and Annette Swital – neither of them are favorable to Bishop Olson. In this piece, many questions are asked of the bishop’s seemingly bizarre and one-sided actions.
“Whose spiritual life will be improved by his publicly announcing that the elected reverend mother allegedly had an affair with an unnamed priest from another diocese? What is the reason for the bishop’s reluctance to name the priest when he has had no reluctance about accusing Mother Superior Teresa Agnes Gerlach of adultery — which is hard to fathom since she is in a wheelchair, on a feeding tube and totally dependent on others for her survival.”
“I was raised a devout Catholic. I understand the pecking order. The men are in positions of power, and the women serve. But what do you do when a wolf in sheep’s clothing rises to a position of power within a religious organization? If you’re the sisters of Mount Carmel, you fight back…
…It seems the eyes of the church are selective, but God sees everything.”
June 6, 2023 – The Fort Worth Star-Telegram publishes an article titled “Priest brings security to Mass at Fort Worth monastery ensnared in battle with nuns”, stating that the Bishop sent a (likely armed) security guard along with a priest to celebrate Mass on Sunday, June 4th at the Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity. According to the article, the nuns were not comfortable with this man in their presence. The priest DID NOT celebrate Mass and the nuns were unable to fill their Sunday obligation for Mass. Why is there a need for security inside of a monastery of nothing but nuns? This seems to be another overreach by the diocese and Bishop Olson.
Matthew Bobo, who is representing Gerlach and sister Francis Therese in a lawsuit against the diocese and Bishop Michael Olson, said the nuns welcomed the priest inside but wouldn’t allow the security guard to enter the monastery. The priest left without saying Mass, according to Bobo.
June 6, 2023 – The Fort Worth Business Press publishes an article titled Commentary: Give the Carmelites a voice in dispute with Bishop Olson. The article calls into question Bishop Olson’s leadership and many of his controversial actions he has made throughout his time as the Bishop of Ft. Worth. The article also references the website bishopmichaelolson.com, which is a site calling for the removal of Bishop Michael Olson.
The Fort Worth business community deserves better. The one million Catholics of the Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth deserve better. The National Catholic Reporter got it right in calling for an investigation of Bishop Olson back in 2022, “Houston we have a problem, and it’s time to address it.”
“We are thankful that these law enforcement agencies have decided to undertake this criminal investigation and are confident that the nuns will receive justice under the law of the State of Texas that they deserve.”
June 9, 2023 – CBS Texas runs a story claiming Bishop Michael Olson has written a letter to the supporters of the legal defense fund of the Carmelite nuns that they should not be donating money and the donations should be rescinded.
He referenced a decree from the Vatican last week appointing him as the Pope’s representative in the dispute, writing that despite the Auxiliary’s best of intentions, they were “undermining my very pastoral office.”
Olson asked former president of the organization Natalie Strand to rescind the invitation for donations she sent to members in May, and to cease all effort to raise funds for the lawsuit.
Bishop Michael Olson posts video on social media (YouTube) and enters into public debate regarding the Carmelite nuns.
June 21, 2023 – WFAA runs a report titled: “Family connected to monastery land takes side in feud between Fort Worth bishop and nuns”. In the story, they claim the family who originally donated the land to the nuns and who continue to financially support the nuns give their full support to the Mother Superior and calls the accusations from Bishop Olson “utterly ridiculous and contrived”. She then goes on to suggest that Bishop Olson is interested in the property rights. This is not necessarily a stretch given with the demolishing of Notre Dame high school and then selling the property.
Sheila Johnson comes out in support of the nuns.
“This is not social. This is very serious and dangerous…and very personal. I’m going to fight until the bitter end.”
Laity in Unity calling for the removal of Bishop Michael Olson of the Ft. Worth Diocese
June 24, 2023 – Bishop Olson is on the front page of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram with the headline: “Hearing postponed after Fort Worth bishop’s attorney says evidence supports actions”.
Bishop Michael Olson makes front page news – the scandal continues to grow
Meanwhile, a petition posted late Thursday from the Laity In Unity Foundation is calling for Olson’s removal.
The petition includes a letter to the Most Rev. Christophe Pierre, who is the Vatican’s ambassador to the United States. The letter requests an apostolic visit and an investigation into Olson’s actions at the monastery.
The diocese declined to comment on the petition and the letter to Pierre.
“Bishop Michael F Olson has operated against canon law on numerous occasions, has employed abusive language and conducted vindictive actions against priests, nuns and the lay faithful in our diocese,” the petition states.
June 27, 2023 – Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò releases a statement titled: “On the scandalous persecution of the Nuns of the Carmel of the Holy Trinity in Arlington, Texas.” In this statement, Archbishop Viganò goes into great detail regarding the missteps of Bishop Olson while head of the diocese of Fort Worth. He also makes several comments on the case of Father Richard Kirkham and the “fierceness” of Bishop Olson’s actions against an “innocent man”. He also goes on to say that it is necessary to suspend ALL CONTRIBUTIONS to the current ecclesiastical structure.
Declaration of Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò
With what unscrupulousness was Carballo able to appoint as Commissary the same person who, after abusing his (Bishop Olson) power against Father Richard Kirkham in 2018 and having been repudiated by the Congregation for the Clergy in 2019; after removing and suspending numerous pastors and priests causing so much scandal to the faithful that a petition was circulated to remove him as bishop, he had further compromised himself with canonical violations against the Carmel of the Most Holy Trinity and Mother Teresa Agnes, becoming a party to the case and thereby losing all appearance of impartiality necessary for the exercise of a task as delicate as that of Pontifical Commissary? We have here a plastic representation of the arrogance with which corrupt power flaunts its abuses, even claiming to be able to bend the Law – and Justice! – to its own criminal design.\
________________
It goes without saying that the gross errors of the Vatican Decree render it ipso facto null and void. Why, it even concerns a non-existent Saint Joseph Monastery! It is over this phantom Monastery that the Dicastery gives competence to Commissary Olson! In this very sad story there also emerges the complicity between the principals Braz de Aviz and Carballo, and their hired assassins in the Dioceses; along with the evidence of a criminal design carried out following a very precise scheme, with very clear subversive purposes.
________________
But, as Sacred Scripture teaches, we must obey God rather than men (Acts 5:29), above all when men shield themselves with the authority of God in order to undermine the foundations of the Church which He founded at the price of His Precious Blood.
________________
And if we want to stay in Fort Worth, the case of Richard Kirkham demonstrates fierceness against an innocent man and, viceversa, the maximum tolerance – and confidentiality – shown towards a priest addicted to alcohol, drugs, pornography, and sex.
________________
I therefore exhort my brother Bishops, priests, religious, and the faithful not only to prayer and penance to ask for an intervention from Heaven that puts an end to this scandalous betrayal of the Catholic Hierarchy, but also to raise their voices so that the false shepherds and mercenaries are permanently removed from the Church and duly punished for their heinous crimes. And if among the priests who read my appeal there are some who could make themselves available to guarantee spiritual assistance to the Nuns of Arlington and celebrate the Holy Mass for them according to the venerable Tridentine Rite, I think that by this action – which would honor their Priesthood – they could carry out a work of true Mercy that the Lord will not fail to reward. It is time for heroic deeds, for generous souls, for fighting spirits who react against the apostasy that is ever more rampant in the ecclesial body.
________________
I also believe that it is necessary to suspend all contributions to the current ecclesiastical structure, so that those concerned see it as an unequivocal signal of dissent on the part of the lay faithful. May they generously support the traditional communities, especially the Carmel in Arlington and the Benedictines in Pienza, the priests and religious, who are persecuted by the Bergoglian regime!
I make my own the words of Saint Peter in addressing myself to the Nuns: Resist, strong in faith! And know that your fellow believers scattered throughout the world must suffer the same difficulties as you (1 Pt 5:9). Remain united to Christ, your Lord and Spouse, in order to remain united among yourselves in the observance of the holy Carmelite Rule and in the furrow of Tradition.
December 4, 2023 – Texas Monthly releases an in-depth article, The Bishop Who Picked a Fight With the Wrong Nuns, that shines a light on Bishop Olson’s time as the Bishop of Ft. Worth. In this extensive article, the author, Nate Blakeslee, covers many of the controversies in the Ft. Worth Diocese that have been caused by Bishop Olson, which included his interactions with FRK Advocates. It ties together everything in one article and, when viewed all together, paints a very troubling picture of Bishop Olson. It certainly begs the question of why the Vatican has not yet intervened and removed Olson as leader of the diocese before more harm can be done.
Fort Worth cleric Michael Olson is no stranger to headline-making scandal. But when he threatened to remove an ailing nun from her home, he might have finally met his match.
December 14, 2023 – CBS News airs a 6+ minute news piece on the Texas Monthly’s in-depth article. It goes into intense detail on the history of Bishop Olson in the Ft. Worth Diocese.
CBS News Reporting on ‘The Bishop Who Picked a Fight With the Wrong Nuns’.
