Priest involved in sexting nun scandal lawyers up, refuses to cooperate with church investigation
The priest at the center of a sex scandal involving a nun accused of breaking her vow of chastity has been suspended from his holy duties and is refusing to say what happened between them, according to a Texas bishop.
Father Phillip Johnson, 38, has also lawyered up as accusations about him and now-fired Rev. Mother Superior Teresa Agnes Gerlach, 43, swirl.
“He would neither confirm or deny his involvement,” revealed Fort Worth Bishop Michael Olson in a video to address the growing scandal to church members.
“The superior informed me that the priest, on the advice of his own canonical counsel, refused to participate in the investigation,” Olson added.
Gerlach admitted she and Johnson had developed a long-distance sexting relationship over email and video call but claims she has not broken her vow of chasity and was unfairly ousted from the Arlington, Texas, Diocese she had presided over.
She’s now suing them for $1m saying they defamed her and illegally confiscated her phone and laptop.
In a message to The Post the Diocese of Raleigh, North Carolina, said the priest is currerntly suspended: “Father Philip Johnson is not currently exercising public ministry … [His] priestly faculties were restricted by Bishop Luis Rafael Zarama as a precautionary measure until more clarity regarding his status can be ascertained.”
Olson said when the Fort Worth Diocese reached out to the priest’s superiors as part of their investigation, they were also shut down.
Johnson’s miraculous journey saw him rise to become a Navy officer before being diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2008, which doctors said would claim his life within a year. However, he turned to religion and “miraculously and with the help of so many prayers, he persevered” and in 2017 was assigned to the Raleigh Diocese in North Carolina since 2017, according to a religious blog.
Gerlach has also suffered from health problems and is wheelchair-bound uses needs a feeding tube.
The nun and the priest first came into contact in 2020, while Johnson visiting the Carmelite Monastery in Traverse City, Michigan when he requested prayers from Gerlach’s monastery in Texas.
In an explosive 40-minute audio recording played in court Tuesday as part of the defamation suit, the nun admitted to “sexting” with Johnson.
In the audio recording played in court, Gerlach admitted: “He and I were writing often to each other. And we just got very close, and that’s when it happened.”
She admitted sending emails to Johnson then indicated that “just twice, on the phone,” they had committed an unspecified sexual sin “on video chat,” according to Catholic publication The Pillar.
“I was not in my right mind when this happened … I would never do anything like this. I’m a nun … then you fall,” she said on the tape.
However, she maintained: “It was all over the phone. So, he did not come down here.”
Gerlach’s lawyers have also said she was under the influence of fentanyl and other heavy medications when the interview took place, as part of her defence.
However during cross-examination in court, Olson was asked how he could tell Gerlach had violated her vow, to which he replied: “Look, it’s her own admission that she did. I can’t much greater authority than her own admission,” according to the Daily Mail.
The Vicar General for the Diocese of Fort Worth, Father Jonathan Charles Wallis, also testifed at the hearing saying he had known Gerlach since 2007 and she had told him she had broken her vow in December 2022, adding her “words were clear.”
He also testified Gerlach’s full-time caregiver, and fellow nun, Sister Francis Therese had referred to her as a “wh—e”.
After Fort Worth church leaders became aware of alleged “sexual misconduct” between the nun and the priest, Olson was given special powers by the Vatican to investigate the matter.
Gerlach was thrown out of the monastery at the beginning of June.
She and the other nuns from her convent sued the Forth Worth Diocese in civil court after they allege Olson violated their privacy by storming onto their property to seize electronic devices from them.
A local judge is expected to rule by the end of next week whether the case will stay in civil court or remain a church matter, Olson and his lawyers contend.
“This is a church matter; this is a pastoral matter; this is a spiritual matter,” the bishop stated in the online video.
“Others have attempted to draw me into addressing this matter in the inappropriate venues of civil court and also both in social media and the mainstream media, and I will not do so.”
