Pope Francis sacks firebrand US bishop Joseph Strickland who criticised him
- Strickland, a fierce critic of the pontiff, had rejected the pope’s ‘programme undermining the Deposit of Faith’
- It is very rare for a Roman Catholic bishop to be relieved of his duties outright
It is very rare for a Roman Catholic bishop to be relieved of his duties outright. Usually bishops in trouble with the Vatican are asked to resign before submitting a resignation, which the pope accepts.
Popes make such moves, considered drastic, when a bishop refuses a request to resign. Strickland is 65, 10 years shy of the usual retirement age for bishops.
Strickland, a prolific user of social media who had been bishop of the diocese since 2012, tweeted earlier this year that he rejected the pope’s “programme undermining the Deposit of Faith”.
He has been particularly critical of the pope’s attempt to make the Church more welcoming to the LGBT community and attempts by Francis to give lay people more responsibility in the Church and opposed a recent synod.
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In a blog posted on his website in September, the bishop addressed rumours that he was being encouraged by the Vatican to step down.
“I cannot resign as bishop of Tyler because that would be me abandoning the flock” under his care, he wrote.
“I have also said that I will respect the authority of Pope Francis if he removes me from office as Bishop of Tyler,” he wrote.
“I love Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church which He established. My only desire is to speak His Truth and live God’s Will to the best of my ability,” he wrote.
The dismissal followed a Vatican investigation earlier this year into the administration of the Tyler diocese, which Catholic media reports said included a review of his handling of financial affairs.
The dismissal was announced simultaneously by the Vatican and the US Bishops Conference. Neither statement gave a reason. There was no immediate response from Strickland.
Francis named the bishop of Austin, Texas, Joe Vasquez, as the interim administrator of the diocese, the statement said.
Strickland is a strong supporter of former US president Donald Trump and is seen as a hero by conservative US Catholic media outlets that are aligned with Trump.
Last year, when the Vatican defrocked ultraconservative US anti-abortion priest Frank Pavone for “blasphemous” social media posts and disobedience to bishops, Strickland was one of the few American bishops to defend him publicly.
“The blasphemy is that this holy priest is cancelled while an evil president promotes the denial of truth and the murder of the unborn at every turn, Vatican officials promote immorality and denial of the deposit of faith and priests promote gender confusion devastating lives … evil,” Strickland wrote on the platform then known as Twitter.
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse
