The Vatican has removed a US bishop from his position. The conservative theologian Strickland is considered one of Pope Francis’ harshest critics.
Pope Francis has removed one of his harshest critics among US bishops from office. According to the Vatican press office, he removed Bishop Joseph Strickland’s leadership of the Texas diocese of Tyler. He appointed the Bishop of Austin, Joe Vasquez, as temporary administrator of the diocese.
The Vatican has not yet announced a reason for the removal from office. There was no immediate comment from the diocese, and the U.S. bishops’ conference only released an English translation of the Vatican’s statement detailing the size of the diocese.
Suspicion of financial irregularities
In June of this year, the Pope ordered an ecclesiastical inspection (visitation) of the diocese, which is located in the east of the state of Texas. With around 100,000 Catholics, it is one of the smaller dioceses in the USA. At the time, American media reports suspected financial irregularities.
It is very rare for a Roman Catholic bishop to be completely relieved of his duties. Typically, bishops who have problems with the Vatican are asked to resign before submitting a resignation request that the pope accepts.
Strickland wants to stay in office
The Texan Strickland was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI at the end of 2012. appointed Bishop of Tyler. According to media reports, the Vatican authority responsible for bishop appointments, the Dicastery for Bishops, is said to have discussed the possible removal of Strickland from office as early as September. At the time, Strickland declared that he would not resign his office even if the Pope suggested it to him. He got this from the late Pope Benedict XVI. receive and cannot shirk this responsibility.
Sharp criticism of Francis
In recent years, Strickland has repeatedly made headlines with his sharp criticism of Pope Francis’ church political and theological course. In May, he emphasized in a tweet that although Pope Francis was the rightful pope, he was undermining the traditional teachings of the faith.
On October 31, in a contribution to a forum of conservative Catholics in Rome, the Rome Life Forum, Strickland read from a friend’s letter accusing Pope Francis of usurping the papacy and ousting the rightful pope. He was particularly critical of Francis’ recent meeting on the future of the Catholic Church, which discussed, among other things, ways to better integrate LGBTQ+ Catholics. Ahead of the meeting, Strickland said it was a “travesty” that such things were even being discussed.