Pope dismisses conservative US bishop

The Vatican has removed an American bishop from his position. The conservative theologian Strickland is known as one of the harshest critics of Pope Francis.

Pope Francis has removed one of his harshest critics among the American bishops from his position. As announced by the Vatican press office, he revoked Bishop Joseph Strickland’s leadership of the Diocese of Tyler, Texas. He appointed Bishop Joe Vasquez of Austin as the temporary administrator of the diocese.

The Vatican has not yet provided a reason for the removal. The diocese has not issued an immediate comment, and the US bishops’ conference has only released an English translation of the Vatican’s statement, which includes information about the size of the diocese.

Suspicion of financial irregularities

In June of this year, the Pope ordered an ecclesiastical visitation of the diocese, which is located in the eastern part of the state of Texas. With approximately 100,000 Catholics, it is one of the smaller dioceses in the United States. At the time, American media reports mentioned suspicions of financial irregularities.

It is very rare for a Roman Catholic bishop to be completely relieved of his duties. Normally, bishops who have issues with the Vatican are requested to resign before submitting a resignation request accepted by the Pope.

Strickland intends to retain his position

Texan Strickland was appointed Bishop of Tyler by Pope Benedict XVI in late 2012. According to media reports, the Vatican’s Congregation for Bishops, responsible for bishop appointments, allegedly discussed Strickland’s possible removal in September. At that time, Strickland stated that he would not give up his position even if the Pope were to suggest it to him. He received this responsibility from the late Pope Benedict XVI and cannot evade it.

Harsh criticism of Francis

In recent years, Strickland has made headlines with sharp criticism of the church-political and theological course taken by Pope Francis. In May, he emphasized in a tweet that Pope Francis was the rightful Pope but undermined the traditional doctrine of faith.

On October 31, Strickland read aloud from a letter written by a friend in a contribution for the “Rome Life Forum,” a conservative Catholic forum in Rome, accusing Pope Francis of having unlawfully seized the papal office and displaced the rightful Pope. He was particularly critical of Francis’ recent meeting on the future of the Catholic Church, during which discussions took place on better integrating LGBTQ+ Catholics. Prior to the meeting, Strickland stated that it was a “travesty” for such matters to be under discussion.