The Pillar portal reports that “Pope” Leo XIV (Robert Prevost) has issued his first major change to the Code of Canon Law, amending canon 699 as it pertains to the dismissal of major superiors of autonomous monasteries. The change, promulgated on May 29, 2026, clarifies that a diocesan bishop may — with Vatican permission — dismiss a monastic superior accused of grave offenses, including “habitual neglect of the obligations of consecrated life; repeated violations of the sacred bonds; stubborn disobedience to the legitimate prescripts of superiors in a grave matter; grave scandal arising from the culpable behavior of the member; stubborn upholding or diffusion of doctrines condemned by the magisterium of the Church; public adherence to ideologies infected by materialism or atheism,” or illegitimate absence. The amendment effectively amends a 2022 change made by the previous antipope, Francis, which had transferred dismissal authority from the diocesan bishop to the religious superior herself. The Pillar notes that the catalyst for this legal adjustment was the case of the former Carmelite monastery of the Most Holy Trinity in Arlington, Texas, led by the notorious Mother Teresa Agnes of Jesus Crucified Gerlach, who was accused of drug abuse, personal misconduct, and ultimately of rejecting the authority of the Apostolic See. The portal adds that the monastery was eventually suppressed, its former members claimed association with the Society of St. Pius X, and the monastery’s property was transferred to a civil corporation without Holy See approval. The entire episode is a textbook illustration of the canonical chaos, doctrinal bankruptcy, and institutional rot that define the post-conciliar sect.
