Pope Fires Outspoken Texas Bishop — Here’s What’s Going On

The removal of Bishop Strickland may have been inevitable under the current leadership of the Catholic Church.

ClashDaily has had a lot to say about one of the world’s most prominent (so to say) voices of Christian leaders. Mostly because the current pontiff has had no shortage of core-of-the-sun temperature ‘hot takes’.

His history of such ‘hot takes’ are important to understanding why Bishop Strickland finds himself out of a job.

The backdrop

We’ve called him out for having sharper words to criticize Trump supporters than any he ever directed toward China’s Xi who broke his promises to the Church and has been actively oppressing Christians and destroying churches.

He’s shown more interest in championing environmental causes (some of them really bizzaro) than in resolving the ongoing sexual abuse crisis in the Roman Catholic church.

He has no problem with taking on theological positions include radical departures with Catholic doctrine of days gone by. He has unusual views on same-sex-marriage, claims God made people gay, green-lit modifications to the Lords’ Prayer. He may (or may not) have denied Christ’s divinity in an interview, compared politicians who condemn homosexuality to Hitler, is adding environmentalism to a list of ‘sins’ (no, not the Gaia worship).

He’s not a great judge of character: ‘Sweet Migrant’ That Met With Pope Francis In 2016 Set Fire To A Cathedral And Beat A Priest To Death

He used the occasion of Easter Sunday to push the jab and Socialism. And he denounces Free Market capitalism.

He incorporated a pagan ritual into the opening of a Synod.

That story got weirder: Watch: Literal Pagan Idols Were Removed From Catholic Church And Chucked Into The Tiber

The pope who was happy to lambaste patriotic Trump supporters — many of whom are Christian — had very little criticism for the rabidly pro-abortion policies of Pelosi and Biden. The rift between conservative and progressive (neo-Marxist?) wings of the Catholic Church continued to grow to the point that leaders in some of the more conservative factions were calling on the faithful to pray for their pope that he might have a heart change and be converted to authentic Christianity.

The investigation & removal

This list serves as a pretty good proxy for the sort of issues over which Texan Bishop, Joseph E. Strickland would have clashed with the Pontiff.

Here is part of the formal statement from the Vatican:

Cardinal Daniel Nicholas DiNardo, Metropolitan Archbishop of Galveston-Houston, released a statement in which he noted that the prelates who made the visit, Dennis Sullivan, the Bishop of Camden, and Gerald Kicanas, Bishop Emeritus of Tucson, “conducted an exhaustive inquired into all aspects of the governance and leadership of the Diocese of Tyler by its Ordinary, Bishop Joseph Strickland.”

“As a result of the Visitation,” the statement continues, “the recommendation was made to the Holy Father that the continuation in office of Bishop Strickland was not feasible. After months of careful consideration by the Dicastery for Bishops and the Holy Father, the decision was reached that the resignation of Bishop Strickland should be requested. Having been presented with that request on November 9, 2023, Bishop Strickland declined to resign from office.” Pope Francis then decided to remove the bishop. — Vatican News

We have our doubts as to just how much latitude those Archbishops had to arrive at any conclusion OTHER than making Bishop Strickland walk the plank.

But Strickland stuck to his guns. He refused to resign quietly.

He forced the Pope to fire him.

It’s the kind bold stand of courage and integrity we might have hoped to see from a general back in Afghanistan when Biden made the orders that everyone knew or should have known would lead to the chaos we saw in Kabal.

One way or another, the bishop’s concerns have been heard.

The controversial Catholic bishop of Tyler, Texas, announced May 12 on Twitter that he believes Pope Francis is “undermining the Deposit of Faith.”

Bishop Joseph Strickland, a vocal critic of Francis who in recent years has invited the pope to “fire” him and endorsed videos attacking the current pontiff as a “diabolically disordered clown,” said he acknowledges the validity of Francis’ election to the papacy, but exhorted: “Follow Jesus.”

Strickland questioned Francis’ fidelity to the Catholic faith in a tweet in which he sought to distance himself from statements made by a far-right Catholic podcaster who has questioned whether Francis is the real bishop of Rome. — NCROnline

He’s not calling for a revolution.

He’s calling for a return… a return to the core tenets of the faith they BOTH were ordained to contend for.

We may not be writing this as blog Roman Catholics.

But we ARE believers who hold to the same creeds. And on that basis, we can certainly respect Bishop Strickland’s stand.

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