In very rare move, Pope dismisses conservative US bishop Strickland
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[November 11, 2023]
By Philip Pullella
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -Pope Francis has dismissed Bishop Joseph E.
Strickland of Tyler, Texas, one of his fiercest critics among U.S. Roman
Catholic conservatives, a Vatican statement said on Saturday.
It is very rare for a 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 had said earlier this year that
he would refuse to resign if asked.
Strickland, a prolific user of social media who was named to the diocese
by the late Pope Benedict in 2012, tweeted earlier this year that he
rejected Pope Francis' "program 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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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.
It was announced simultaneously by the Vatican and the U.S. Bishops
Conference. Neither statement gave a reason.
There was no immediate response from Strickland. A recording on the
diocese's telephone said they were closed for the weekend.
Strickland had become one of the most vocal standard bearers of the
ultra-conservative wing of the U.S. Church and has a national following
far beyond the small diocese of Tyler in eastern Texas.
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![](../images/111123PIX/news_h82.jpg)
Pope Francis presides over the closing Mass at the end of the Synod
of Bishops in Saint Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, October 29,
2023. Vatican Media/Handout via REUTERS
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Last August, the pope lamented what he called a "reactionary"
Catholic Church in the United States, where he said political
ideology had replaced faith in some cases.
Strickland is a strong supporter of former U.S. president Donald
Trump and is seen as a hero by conservative U.S. Catholic media
outlets that are aligned with Trump.
Last year, when the Vatican defrocked ultra-conservative U.S.
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 canceled 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.
The Vatican said Francis named the bishop of Austin, Texas, Joe
Vasquez, as the interim administrator of the Tyler diocese.
(Reporting by Phil Pullella, writing by Alvise Armellini; Editing by
Kirsten Donovan and Christina Fincher)
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