{"id":1274815,"date":"2023-11-11T13:38:19","date_gmt":"2023-11-11T19:38:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/?p=1274815"},"modified":"2023-11-14T04:04:02","modified_gmt":"2023-11-14T10:04:02","slug":"pope-fires-tyler-bishop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/?p=1274815","title":{"rendered":"Pope fires Tyler Bishop"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"ROME (AP) \u00e2\u20ac\u201d Pope Francis on Saturday forcibly removed the bishop of Tyler, Texas, a conservative prelate active on social media who has been a fierce critic of the pontiff and has come to symbolize the polarization within the U.S. Catholic hierarchy. A one-line statement from the Vatican said Francis had \u00e2\u20ac\u0153relieved\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Bishop Joseph Strickland of the pastoral governance of Tyler and appointed the bishop of Austin as the temporary administrator.<\/p>\n

Strickland, 65, has emerged as a leading critic of Francis, accusing him in a tweet earlier this year of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153undermining the deposit of faith.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d He has been particularly critical of Francis\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 recent meeting on the future of the Catholic Church during which hot-button issues were discussed, including ways to better welcome LGBTQ+ Catholics.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, the Vatican sent in investigators to look into his governance of the diocese, amid reports he was making doctrinally unorthodox claims.<\/p>\n

The Vatican never released the findings and Strickland had insisted he wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t resign voluntarily, saying in media interviews that he was given a mandate to serve by the late Pope Benedict XVI and couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t abdicate that responsibility. He had also complained that he hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t been told what exactly the pope\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s investigators were looking into.<\/p>\n

His firing sparked an immediate outcry among some conservatives and traditionalists who had held up Strickland as a leading point of Catholic reference to counter Francis\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 progressive reforms. Michael J. Matt, editor of the traditionalist newspaper The Remnant, wrote that with the firing, Francis was \u00e2\u20ac\u0153actively trying to bury fidelity to the Church of Jesus Christ.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153This is total war,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Matt wrote on X, formerly Twitter. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Francis is a clear and present danger not only to Catholics the world over but also to the whole world itself.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

The two Vatican investigators \u00e2\u20ac\u201d Bishop Dennis Sullivan of Camden, N.J., and the retired bishop of Tucson, Ariz., Bishop Emeritus Gerald Kicanas \u00e2\u20ac\u201d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153conducted an exhaustive inquiry into all aspects of the governance and leadership of the diocese,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said the head of the church in Texas, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo.<\/p>\n

After their investigation, a recommendation was made to Francis that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the continuation in office of Bishop Strickland was not feasible,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d DiNardo said in a statement Saturday.<\/p>\n

The Vatican asked Strickland to resign Nov. 9, but he declined, prompting Francis to remove him from office two days later, DiNardo\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s statement said.<\/p>\n

Pope Francis does the sign of the cross during his weekly general audience in the Pope Paul VI hall at the Vatican, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. (AP Photo\/Andrew Medichini)
\nPope Francis does the sign of the cross during his weekly general audience in the Pope Paul VI hall at the Vatican, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. (AP Photo\/Andrew Medichini)<\/p>\n

It is rare for the pope to forcibly remove a bishop from office. Bishops are required to offer to resign when they reach 75. When the Vatican uncovers issues with governance or other problems that require a bishop to leave office before then, the Vatican usually seeks to pressure him to resign for the good of his diocese and the church.<\/p>\n

That was the case when another U.S. bishop was forced out earlier this year following a Vatican investigation. Knoxville, Tenn. Bishop Richard Stika resigned voluntarily, albeit under pressure, following allegations he mishandled sex abuse allegations, and his priests complained about his leadership and behavior.<\/p>\n

But with Strickland, the Vatican statement made clear he had not offered to resign, and that Francis had instead \u00e2\u20ac\u0153relieved\u00e2\u20ac\u009d him from his job.<\/p>\n

Francis has not been shy about his concerns about conservatives in the U.S. Catholic hierarchy, which has been split between progressives and conservatives who long found support in the doctrinaire papacies of St. John Paul II and Benedict XVI, particularly on issues of abortion and same-sex marriage.<\/p>\n

In comments to Portuguese Jesuits in August, Francis blasted the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153backwardness\u00e2\u20ac\u009d of these bishops, saying they had replaced faith with ideology and that a correct understanding of Catholic doctrine allows for change over time.<\/p>\n

Most recently, Strickland had criticized Francis\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 monthlong closed-door debate on making the church more welcoming and responsive to the needs of Catholics today. The meeting debated a host of previously taboo issues, including women in governance roles and welcoming LGBTQ+ Catholics, but in the end, its final document didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t veer from established doctrine.<\/p>\n

Ahead of the meeting, Strickland said it was a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153travesty\u00e2\u20ac\u009d that such things were even on the table for discussion.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u009dRegrettably, it may be that some will label as schismatics those who disagree with the changes being proposed,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Strickland wrote in a public letter in August. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Instead, those who would propose changes to that which cannot be changed seek to commandeer Christ\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Church, and they are indeed the true schismatics.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

In a statement Saturday, the diocese of Tyler announced Strickland\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s removal but said the church\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s work would continue in Tyler.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Our mission is to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to foster an authentic Christian community, and to serve the needs of all people with compassion and love,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d it said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We strive to deepen our faith, promote the common good, and create a welcoming environment for all to encounter the loving God \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Father, Son, and Spirit.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

In a social media post sent a few hours before the Vatican\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s noon announcement, Strickland wrote a prayer about Christ being the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153way, the truth and the life, yesterday, today and forever.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d He had changed the handle from his previous @bishopoftyler to @BishStrickland.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ROME (AP) \u00e2\u20ac\u201d Pope Francis on Saturday forcibly removed the bishop of Tyler, Texas, a conservative prelate active on social media who has been a fierce critic of the pontiff and has come to symbolize the polarization within the U.S. Catholic hierarchy. A one-line statement from the Vatican said Francis had \u00e2\u20ac\u0153relieved\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Bishop Joseph Strickland … Continue reading Pope fires Tyler Bishop<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":1274818,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/wp-content\/media\/2015\/07\/Joseph-Strickland-Bishop-150x150.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"Pope fires Tyler Bishop","footnotes":""},"categories":[177],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1274815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news-archive-archives"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-16 08:50:40","action":"change-status","newStatus":"trash","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/wp-content\/media\/2015\/07\/Joseph-Strickland-Bishop-150x150.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"Pope fires Tyler Bishop","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1274815","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1274815"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1274815\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1274816,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1274815\/revisions\/1274816"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1274818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1274815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1274815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1274815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}