Pope Francis removed Bishop Joseph Strickland when an investigation by the Vatican revealed problems with Strickland's "governance" of the Diocese of Tyler, Texas,
Strickland is one of the pope's fiercest and most passionate critics in the United States. He is well known for his social media use, which has heavily criticized Francis for his stand on LGBTQ issues and other hot-button social issues that have roiled the Catholic Church for decades.
Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, the vice president of the United States Bishops’ Conference, says that two other bishops, Bishop Dennis Sullivan of Camden and Bishop Emeritus Gerald Kicanas of Tucson, conducted an "Apostolic Visitation" of Strickland. After "an exhaustive inquiry into all aspects of the governance and leadership of the Diocese of Tyler by its Ordinary, Bishop Joseph Strickland," the Vatican asked for the bishop's resignation.
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When Strickland refused, the Vatican removed him. Austin, Texas, Bishop Joe Vasquez was named in his place.
Bishop Strickland, a prolific social media user, has accused Francis in a tweet of “undermining the deposit of faith” and, more recently, attending a conference where he read a letter from a “dear friend” rejecting the Pope’s legitimacy. In 2018, hours after Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò released his dossier of questionable allegations against the Pope and called on him to resign, he issued a statement to his diocese saying they were “credible”. Two years later, he offered a prayer by video to the crowd at the Jericho March, a gathering of those who believed the 2020 US presidential election was stolen from President Donald Trump.
Archbishop Viganò also spoke at the march, with the involvement of the two prelates in the event underlining how opposition to Francis has become increasingly politicized.
Strickland ran afoul of one the basic tenets of the Catholic Church's leadership; the Pope is “the visible source and foundation of the unity both of the bishops and of the whole company of the faithful” and that the “college or body of bishops has no authority unless united with the Roman Pontiff, Peter's successor, as its head."
As much a pain in the backside that Strickland was to Francis and the Church's hierarchy, it was actually the way he governed his diocese that allowed the Vatican the excuse to remove him.
One Church source told The Tablet that problems with the bishop’s governance of the diocese were a critical factor in his removal, with some of the problems identified included a breakdown in communion (relationships) with fellow local bishops and with a number of his priests.
Strickland had a string of controversial statements that were at odds with the tone and tenor of Pope Francis's pontificate.
Strickland's criticisms and defiance of Francis dovetailed with a decadelong conservative Catholic resistance to Francis. That resistance, much of it located in the Anglophone world, has criticized the current pope for deemphasizing issues like abortion in favor of social justice concerns such as climate change. Strickland and other conservative prelates have fought back against the current pontiff's reform agenda, which includes the effort to make the church a more welcoming space for LGBTQ people and for Catholics whose lives do not conform to official church teachings.
Most controversially, Strickland approved an incendiary tweet two months prior to the 2020 election that included a video of Father James Altman speaking on the subject, "You cannot be Catholic and a Democrat."
As the Bishop of Tyler I endorse Fr Altman’s statement in this video. My shame is that it has taken me so long. Thank you Fr Altman for your COURAGE. If you love Jesus & His Church & this nation...pleases HEED THIS MESSAGE https://t.co/D413G0lfQV
— Bishop J. Strickland (@BishStrickland) September 5, 2020
Strickland blurred the lines between church and politics too often for many in the Church hierarchy, not just the woke Pope Francis. In the end, he had very little support even among conservative bishops, which gave Francis the room he needed to fire him.
No doubt conservative Catholics will miss his strong endorsement of their positions on many issues, including abortion.
