In a rare decision, Pope Francis has dismissed American Bishop Joseph Strickland, a prominent conservative who was removed from office after he repeatedly criticized his papacy, the Vatican announced Saturday. “The Holy Father has reported to the pastoral government of the Diocese of Tyler (United States) Joseph E. Strickland,” the Vatican announced in a statement, a few weeks after Francis sent two American bishops in June to the diocese of Joseph Strickland, Texas. The bishop of Austin, Joe Vasquez, has been appointed apostolic administrator of the diocese, continues this text without further details.
Joseph Strickland has no comments yet
According to commentators, it is extremely rare for a bishop to be directly relieved of responsibility, rather than encouraged, or ordered, to resign. In a blog posted on his website in September, Archbishop Strickland responded to rumors that the Vatican was encouraging him to resign. “I cannot resign as Bishop of Tyler because to do so would be to abandon the flock in my care,” he wrote. “I have also stated that I will respect the authority of Pope Francis if he removes me from my position as Bishop of Tyler.”
Joseph Strickland had no immediate comment on his dismissal, which was announced Saturday while it was still early morning in the United States. In his blog, he wrote in September: “I love Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church that he established.” “My only desire is to speak His truth and live God’s will to the best of my ability.” The Vatican did not specify what triggered this summer’s apostolic visit or what conclusions it reached. Monsignor Strickland wrote that the two bishops spent a week conducting discussions, including with him, about the situation in the diocese.
Francis deplores “strongly reactionary attitude” of certain American Catholics
The Texas bishop, appointed by former Pope Benedict XVI in 2012, was one of Pope Francis’ most prominent critics. The 86-year-old Argentine pope has sought to make the Church more compassionate, open to different points of view. But he has faced stiff opposition from his critics, particularly in the United States, who have accused him of sowing confusion and failing to respect the fundamental beliefs of Catholics. In a message published at the beginning of the year on X (formerly Twitter), Joseph Strickland accused the pope of “undermining the deposit of faith”.
Many of his detractors accuse Francis of not being firm enough on the subject of abortion and of being too compassionate towards homosexuals and divorced people. At a Jesuit meeting in Lisbon, Francis deplored the “strongly reactionary attitude” of some Catholics in the United States. He said looking to the past “was unnecessary and (it was) necessary to understand that there is an appropriate evolution in the way we approach questions of faith and morality.”
The decision to fire Joseph Strickland was also announced by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, in a statement as terse as the Vatican’s. The Diocese of Tyler has more than 120,000 Catholics, out of a total population of more than 1.4 million, according to the conference. For its part, the diocese posted a statement on its website confirming the Vatican’s announcement, adding: “Our work as the Catholic Church in Northeast Texas continues.”