Strickland removed from office by Pope Francis

Conservative Catholic Bishop Joseph Strickland has been removed from his post by Pope Francis. Strickland who grew up in Atlanta, Texas was an open critic to the pope and his attempt to make the Catholic Church to be more inclusive of women in governance and LGBTQ+ people in regards to practice and rules of the Church.

His removal was not a big surprise after the Pope had asked Strickland to resign but refused.

According to the Texas Tribune, “The Pope asked Strickland to resign from office on Thursday. The bishop declined, leading Francis to forcibly remove him, DiNardo said. Pending “more permanent arrangements,” the pope has appointed Bishop Joe Vasquez of Austin as administrator of the Diocese of Tyler.

“In a September public letter responding to the investigation, Strickland said he “cannot resign” because he would be abandoning the congregation the late Pope Benedict XVI charged him with leading.

“I have also said that I will respect the authority of Pope Francis if he removes me from office as Bishop of Tyler,” Strickland added.”

During an interview on LifeSiteNews Strickland was asked what was behind the decision to remove him, “The only answer I have to that is because forces in the Church right now don’t want the truth of the Gospel.”

He added: “They want it changed. They want it ignored.” During the interview, Strickland “encouraged those upset or confused by the development to pray for the pope and not to leave the Church.”

Strickland shared that he had been asked to resign on Nov. 9 but that he “couldn’t, of my will, abandon the flock that I’d been given.”

On Nov. 11 in a statement from Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, who is the head of the Archdiocese Galveston-Houston which is the “metropolitan of the ecclesiastical province that includes the Diocese of Tyler,” said “that following a June apostolic visitation by two retired American bishops at the behest of the Vatican that included “an exhaustive inquiry into all aspects of the governance and leadership” of Tyler under Strickland, a recommendation was made to Pope Francis that “the continuation in office of Bishop Strickland was not feasible.”- catholicnewsagency.com In an article from americamagazine.com Father John Beal, professor of canon law at The Catholic University of America said that “the removal does not, of itself, entail any wrongdoing.

“It’s just … a pastoral judgment that the ministry had become detrimental or ineffective in that particular place,” he told OSV News on Nov. 12.

The removal “does not affect his ability to function as a bishop in the spiritual realm, at least thus far,” said Father Beal. “There’s been nothing said otherwise, so they would have to make it public if they were going to limit his spiritual ministry.”

According to Stricklands’ website, “ he entered Holy Trinity Seminary and the University of Dallas; studying for the Diocese of Dallas in August of 1977, and earned a Bachelor of Philosophy in May of 1981. He continued his education at Holy Trinity and the University of Dallas and was ordained to the Diaconate by then Bishop Michael Sheehan at Holy Trinity Seminary on December 8, 1984.

“He earned a Master of Divinity Degree in May of 1985 and was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Dallas by Bishop Thomas Tschoepe at St. Monica Catholic Church in Dallas, Texas on June 1, 1985.

“He was assigned as a newly ordained priest to Immaculate Conception Church in Tyler, Texas in June of 1985 and served as Parochial Vicar until June of 1989. Upon the erection of the Diocese of Tyler on February 24, 1987, he then joined the presbyterate of the new diocese and was named the first vocation director for the diocese in March of 1987 by Bishop Charles Herzig. He was assigned as Parochial Vicar of Sacred Heart Church in Nacogdoches, Texas in June of 1989 and served there until October of that same year when he was assigned as pastor of St. Michael Church in Mt. Pleasant, Texas. He served as pastor of St. Michael’s until August of 1992 when he was assigned to canonical studies at the Catholic University of America by Bishop Edmond Carmody.

“Strickland completed his canonical studies with a Licentiate in Canon Law in May of 1994 and was assigned by Bishop Edmond Carmody as rector of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Tyler, Texas in June of that same year. He was appointed Judicial Vicar for the Diocese of Tyler in May of 1995 and named a Prelate of Honor with the title Monsignor by His Holiness Pope John Paul II in February of 1996.

“He was elected Administrator of the Diocese of Tyler in March of 2000 when Bishop Carmody departed for Corpus Christi, and served in that capacity until January of 2001 when Bishop Álvaro Corrada, SJ, was installed as the third Bishop of the Diocese of Tyler. He continued to serve as rector of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and Judicial Vicar of the diocese until February 1, 2010, when Bishop Corrada named him Vicar General. He served in that capacity until September of 2011 when Bishop Corrada was installed as the second Bishop of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico and appointed Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Tyler sede vacante. At that time, Bishop Corrada appointed him as Delegate of the Apostolic Administrator.

“On September 29, 2012, it was announced that His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI had chosen Strickland as the Fourth Bishop of the Diocese of Tyler. He was ordained to the episcopacy on November 28, 2012, by His Eminence Daniel Cardinal DiNardo, of the Archdiocese of Galveston- Houston with Bishop Álvaro Corrada, SJ of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico and Archbishop Michael J. Sheehan of Santa Fe, New Mexico assisting as co-consecrators. You may find out more about our Bishop by following him via his website, http://bishopstrickland.com/ or on Twitter at https://twitter.com/bishopoftyler” Strickland was born in Fredericksburg and raised in Atlanta, Texas.