Conservative Bishop Joseph Strickland, just removed from his position governing the diocese of Tyler, Texas, by Pope Francis, broke his silence on why he thinks he lost his office. “The only answer I have to that is because forces in the Church right now don’t want the truth of the gospel,” the outspoken cleric said. Unfortunately, Strickland was too orthodox for woke Pope Francis.
This follows Pope Francis defrocking Fr. Frank Pavone even though Pavone had not committed crimes and was merely enthusiastic about defending Church teaching on abortion (Francis appointed a pro-abortion economist to the Pontifical Academy for Life and gave an award to a pro-abortion activist). It’s ironic that Francis, who is supposedly so dedicated to “mercy” and “dialogue,” should be determined to take out prominent clerics who criticize or otherwise oppose his measures. In contrast, Francis has twice sent warm and even laudatory messages to Fr. James Martin, whose pro-LGBTQ activism is directly violative of Biblical and Church teaching. As a Catholic, I find such actions from the pope deeply disturbing and saddening. Strickland was only doing his moral duty by critiquing Francis’s actions (see Gal. 2:11ff, where Paul recounts rebuking the first pope, St. Peter/Cephas).
Speaking to Editor-in-Chief John-Henry Westen at LifeSiteNews, Strickland explained that he had refused to step down from the bishopric Pope Benedict XVI gave him, but he’ll accept Francis’s decision. Some clerics want to change or ignore “the truth that is gloriously not going to go away. The truth that is Jesus Christ, His mystical body, which is the Church, all the wonders that the martyrs died for and the saints lived for through almost 2000 years since Christ died and rose,” Strickland said. Despite being backstabbed by Pope Francis, Strickland urged prayer for the pope as there are “many forces working at him.”
Back in June, Strickland made headlines by leading a Eucharistic procession as part of a protest against a display by Satanic anti-Catholic drag queens at Dodgers Stadium in L.A. Then in May, the Texas bishop declared on Twitter that “Pope Francis is the Pope but it is time for me to say that I reject his program of undermining the Deposit of Faith. Follow Jesus.” Among many other objectionable actions, Francis signed a document affirming the heretical argument that God wills a diversity of religions. Later, Strickland specifically called out the pope’s controversial synod in an Oct. 31 letter. Below are quotes from the letter, courtesy of LifeSiteNews:
The synod has gathered cowards in Rome, those who not only refuse to die for Our Lord and His Church, but indeed demand that His eternal truths be changed … And if you play nicely with these, then you mock the martyrs. It is not the blood of the cowards that is the seed of the Church, it is the blood of the martyrs …
It is easy to assert that no real damage has been done to the Church by the synod. But it has done untold damage in attempting to cheapen what Christ has said was worth His life and for which He indeed shed His precious blood. Playing nicely with those who attack truth makes no man a disciple … The prevailing imprudence in our Church today is not speaking out inappropriately… I’d rather do that than not speak out when it’s necessary, absolutely necessary.
The Texas bishop also praised the Latin Mass, which has been restricted more than once by Pope Francis. Strickland spoke the truth about the pope’s woke synod, and the pope removed Strickland.
Below is a tweet from Strickland slamming discussion topics at the controversial Synod on Synodality including “women deacons” and “LGBTQ outreach.” This is entirely in accord with Jesus’s commands in the Gospel to “repent” (Mark 1:15) or “do penance” (Matt. 4:17) or “sin no more” (John 5:14, 8:11). But it doesn’t happen to fit with Pope Francis’s false definition of mercy as affirming anything and everything to make people feel good.
It is a travesty that these things are even proposed for discussion. I pray that all who truly know Jesus Christ will not be deceived by this path. The Gospel welcomes all to repentance & sanctity, if there is no repentance the barriers to sanctity remain. https://t.co/uZKbGA6ULJ
— Bishop J. Strickland (@BishStrickland) June 21, 2023
Strickland explained to Westen that his diocese was doing very well in terms of finances and faithful young men — including seminarians — strong suits that many if not most other dioceses in the U.S. lack. But some individuals inside the Church “want to delete significant portions of Sacred Scripture,” Strickland stated. He added of his removal, “I really can’t look to any reason except [that] I threatened some of the powers that be with the truth of the gospel. That will not change … [Jesus] doesn’t morph into a different being than He was when He died on the cross and rose for us.”
Then there’s the fact that one of the bishops who conducted this “investigation” into Strickland, former Tucson Bishop Gerald Kicanas (my former bishop), has a questionable track record himself (from LifeSiteNews):
Kicanas was widely noted by Catholics concerned about the visitation due to his troublesome record on abortion and homosexuality. He defended Catholic Relief Services’s [CRS] funding of pro-abortion groups in 2012 and, among other things, was endorsed by a homosexual group in the likelihood of his becoming president of the U.S. bishops’ conference.
Throughout my childhood, I remember Kicanas always attended the Tucson March for Life, and yet when someone I know expressed concerns to him about CRS, providing solid evidence as basis for that concern, Kicanas was angry at the concerned Catholic — not at CRS. I personally heard Kicanas preach a homily praising Obamacare and the “Arab Spring,” which gave us ISIS. Kicanas made woke politics his priority. I wouldn’t trust an investigation conducted by Kicanas for five seconds.
Ultimately, I would say Bishop Strickland nailed it when he said that his outspoken defense of unchanging doctrine put him at odds with woke politicians like Pope Francis and Kicanas. That’s why Strickland was removed, while pro-sexual perversion heretics like Fr. James Martin are rewarded and praised.
Editor’s Note: The headline in an earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the opposite of the facts of the story. We apologize to our readers for this error.
