Pope Francis ordered the removal of a bishop of a small Texas town, who has become a fierce critic of the Pope in recent months.
On Saturday, Francis removed Bishop Joseph Strickland from the pastoral governance of the diocese of Tyler, Texas, after he accused the Pope of “undermining the deposit of faith.”
Through social media, Strickland criticized Francis’s liberal views on same-sex marriage, abortion, and LGBTQ issues.
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In 2020, Strickland called the church “weak” and “not clear” and dared the pontiff to fire him, The National Catholic Reporter (NCR) reported earlier this year. The AP reported Strickland also took aim at Francis’s recent meeting on hot-topic issues, including in the integration of LGBTQ+ Catholics, the potential for woman deacons, and access to the priesthood for married men. Strickland also repeatedly spread anti-vaccine messages during the COVID-19 pandemic while criticizing President Biden’s support for abortion rights, NCR reported. In 2020, Strickland also voiced support for a controversial video that argued Catholics could not vote for Democrats in political elections.
In June, Francis ordered investigators into his governance of the diocese after reports that priests and laypeople in the town had complained that he was making unorthodox claims.
However, the Vatican never released the findings despite removing Strickland from his position.
Strickland told LifeSiteNews that he stood by his decision, saying, “I feel very much at peace in the Lord and the truth that he died for.”
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