A nun and her convent have launched a $1 million lawsuit against a Bishop who allegedly interrogated her and made her confess to an illicit relationship while she was high on fentanyl.
Reverend Mother Superior Teresa Agnes Gerlach filed the unprecedented lawsuit against "pure evil" Bishop Michael Olson earlier this week.
The lawsuit alleges Olson burst into the Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity in Arlington, Texas last April to question Garlach about an alleged affair with an unnamed priest from outside the diocese.
Gerlach claimed the irate Bishop interrogated her immediately after she underwent a surgical procedure which had required general anaesthesia and that had left her still under the influence of fentanyl.
The suit argued Olson demanded the Mother Superior turn in her phone, Ipad and computer to be checked over. The Convent also alleges that the Bishop called for Gerlach to be removed from her room and moved to a guest room.
The diocese alleged shortly after that the wheelchair-bound Reverend Mother Superior, who has serious health issues, had confessed to breaking her vow of chastity.
While details about Gerlach's physical condition are unclear, KTVT reporter Jason Allen reported she normally has another Sister providing full-time care and assisting her with day-to-day tasks.
"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," Garlach said in a sworn affidavit.
Catholic priests and nuns take a very strict vow of celibacy when they take Holy Orders. The breach of the vow can result in severe penalties.
The Diocese of Fort Worth claimed Olson had been conducting an investigation into "grave misconduct" after a report claimed Garlach had "committed sins against the Sixth Commandment and violated the vow of chastity with a priest.
Gerlach's lawyer Matthew Bobo however denied the claim and said any confession Olson secured was made while the Reverend Mother Superior was "under heavy medication from a procedure.
Bobo said: "They are making it sound like she had some sexual liaison affair with another priest and that did not happen."
He added: "Bishop Olson and his agents are abusing their power, inflicting moral violence and psychological distress on the plaintiffs and the sisters by undertaking an illegal, unholy, unwarranted, explicit, and systematic assault upon the sanctity and autonomy of the plaintiffs and the sisters.
"They're emotionally traumatized. They're scared. They're fearful. They don't leave the monastery unless they seek medical care.
"They do prayer seven times a day. Most of the time it's in silence … It's a very private, cloistered, serene environment with very little interaction with the outside world."
The Diocese has since filed a countersuit arguing the case has no place in civil court as it is an ecclesiastical dispute.
They claimed a court would be required to interpret Canon Law and other Vatican documents, resulting in a clash between the court and Church governance.