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A Sad Day in the Diocese of Tyler, Texas
I woke up this morning to this email link from LifeSiteNews.
Pope Francis has removed our good and faithful bishop, Joseph Strickland. This is devastating news to me and to all of us in the Diocese of Tyler, Texas. Bishop Strickland is one of the few bishops in the USA who actually practice what they preach. I’m so angry right now I don’t know what to say.
From the email link:
Bishop Joseph Strickland is being cruelly removed from his diocese by Pope Francis, despite being America’s most faithful shepherd.
This merciless attack on Catholic orthodoxy by Pope Francis demands a prayerful response today, so please sign our petition pledging to pray for Bishop Strickland as Pope Francis removes him from the Diocese of Tyler, Texas. We will be presenting Bishop Strickland with your prayer pledges, so sign up now!
The most stunning thing is that Bp. Strickland’s Diocese of Tyler has one of the highest vocations per capita in the United States.
Bp. Strickland has led the diocese for over ten years and been lauded by faithful Catholics for his promotion of love for Christ in the Eucharist and traditional Catholic teachings. But he is now being cancelled for, among other things, defending the Catholic Church against error.
The Vatican has had Bp. Strickland in their crosshairs for sometime, not least because, like St. Paul corrected St. Peter, Strickland publicly corrected several heterodox statements from Pope Francis.
Known as ”America’s bishop”, he has been outspoken in defending life and family, and has insisted that Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament be respected, which led him to refuse to give pro-abortion politicians Holy Communion.
Bp. Strickland has been fearless in his fight for fidelity to the teachings of the Catholic Church. In a recent episode of The Bishop Strickland Show, presented by LifeSiteNews, Bishop Strickland states that he is willing to suffer martyrdom, red or white, for defending the truths of the Catholic faith.
His unwavering dedication to promoting Jesus Christ and His Truth has had a profound impact on the lives of countless individuals.
We stand with Bishop Joseph Strickland, his love for Christ in the Eucharist, his devotion to Our Lady and the selfless work he has undertaken to foster greater fidelity among the clergy and even the Pope.
Please share this petition TODAY with your friends and family. We must pray for Bishop Strickland in this most painful trial.
I encourage all the Catholics on Ricochet and others of goodwill to sign the petition at the link and let Pope Francis know he has made a terrible mistake. Thank you and please pray for Bishop Strickland.
LifePetitions – Petitions for a Culture of Life https://t.co/Ma9oWDnCGK
— Scott Wilmot (@scwilmot315) November 11, 2023
Rejoice always that…no matter what the day brings Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life, yesterday, today and forever. May the saints and the Blessed Virgin Mary always inspire us to return to Christ no matter how we may wander into darkness. Jesus is Light from Light. pic.twitter.com/BInqtESYaH
— Bishop J. Strickland (@BishStrickland) November 11, 2023
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Published in Religion and Philosophy
1Jn 2:19 They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us.
From the outside looking in, just as an American on the planet, I like it better when the Pope is not a communist.
The Code of Canon Law identifies four ways diocesan bishops can lose their office: death, transfer, resignation, or criminal penalty.
All we know so far is that Bishop Strickland was removed at “the will of the pope”.
Happy to see Bishop Athanasius Schneider stand up for Bishop Strickland.
Read the rest by clicking on the tweet.
Maybe ACNA will welcome him. Anglicans love Truth.
Welcome whom? Francis?
This will never happen. Bishop Strickland was run off because he is Catholic. He is a successor to the Apostles. The Anglicans do not have this. But thanks for the ridiculous comment anyways.
I assume he was referring to Luther’s posting his theses.
Maybe. Still not sure how that is relevant.
At one time uncommon disobedience was a common virtue for those in the Catholic Church that were opposed to Pope John Paul II and Pope Bendict XVI. Now the demand for obedience to Pope Francis from those that were disobedient in the past is the clarion call.
The Hyperinflation of the Papacy:
Every Catholic should understand that they are either orthodox in their Catholic faith, or they are not.
That is a good article Doug; thanks.
The dichotomy you shared is very simple to understand but many don’t know what is orthodox or heterodox – including many bishops. It is very sad.
I have heard that Holy Spirit jive talk from so many con-men pushing ludicrous heresies that every time I hear it my audio nerves automatically insert the un- before holy. May the Lord continue to bless you Bishop Strickland, and through you His Church.
I’m really saddened by this. An explanation has to come out eventually and it better be good.
But have faith Scott. All things will lead to good. This might free up Bishop Strickland to pursue more evangelical endeavors and effect more people than his diocese.
I don’t have time for this right now but wanted to say that Michael Loften is a really smart guy (a PhD I think but not sure if he’s a theologian or Church historian) and contributor to Catholic Answers. He’s definitely on the conservative side. He’s got published books you can find on Amazon. I am very curious to see what he says.
I haven’t seen him speak on Pope Francis but he’s conservative in his theology.
Edit: I just did a super quick search and he does defend Pope Francis more than I’m comfortable with. But I haven’t listened to anything. I have seen him defend Latin rite Christianity against Eastern Orthodox claims. I believe he spent some time in the Eastern Orthodox Church.
Though it shouldn’t that way, the Catholic Church is becoming just like the military and business: the nail that sticks out is quickly pounded down.
What does “staying home” even look like? You shouldn’t stay away from the Mass for any reason.
What does passively doing nothing and watching the Catholic Church’s reputation continue its downward slide look like?
That does bring to question just how Catholics are supposed to keep, defend, or reform their faith when the designated authorities are the ones perverting or betraying it. That’s a genuine question, not snark; could someone explain this to the Protestants and cultural Protestants in the room?
The Church is good at keeping secrets. Too good.
I listen to his show frequently. He is critical of Pope Francis at times, but frankly not as much as I am. I think he tries to look for the charitable explanation when possible. That’s not as satisfying to me as criticizing Pope Francis, but I think he does provide a rare voice of moderation on the subject of this pope.
It’s worth remembering that when King Henry VIII demanded fealty from the Catholic bishops in England, all but one, John Fisher, acquiesced. (and John Fisher lost his head). So poor leadership is hardly a novel thing in the long history of the Church – she is composed of human members as well as being divine (I think that the fact she has survived for two thousand years despite human failings is a testament to her divine aspect). But we do have a Catechism, and good clergy – actually, the younger priests coming up tend to be more solid and orthodox now than before. To me, Pope Francis is the last gasp of the “Spirit” of Vatican II crowd – they’re getting old and dying off.
I can’t do much about Pope Francis. I can be focused on my own parish, where I am blessed to have a solid priest.
Who said anything about “passively doing nothing”? And why would you refrain from worshipping God with the highest form of worship, the Mass, for any reason? Why would you recommend grave sin, which is what missing Mass is?
Are you Catholic? If not, then I can understand your recommendation, because you simply don’t understand the significance of what you’re recommending. If you are Catholic, your advice is so heterodox as to make Pope Francis look solid by comparison.
A “breaking” is coming. Institutions will re-form and realign in ways we cannot foresee.
I saw the Michael Lofton video and saw some other videos on Strickland concerning the investigation, and I have to conclude that the Bishop has been either supporting sedevacantism or unaware he has been supporting people that support sedevacantism. His removal does not appear to have anything to do with his support of the Latin Mass. This is sad because we need conservative voices but one can be radical in a progressive way and one can also be radical in a conservative way.
Passively? Staying away from mass is precisely a passive capitulation to the downward side, and Francis’ dearest wish. Bishop Strickland’s sterling record of producing vocations and donations is an implicit rebuke of Francis’ weaknesses in these areas.
In 2007, then Cardinal Bergoglio made his mark by his leading role in creation of the “Aparecida Document“, a document that drew the attention of George Weigel in a 2012 First Things article as a powerful defense of a vibrant evangelism and stalwart defense of the integrity of the Eucharist, of protecting Eucharistic coherence, especially with regard to communing politicians with public records against life issues. Weigel returns to the topic in 2021:
Now Francis is reduced to confused neologisms as he tests the defenses of His Church for weak points he can exploit from his position of privilege. Privileges rooted in the very tradition and Deposit of Faith that he derides as rigidity.
Francis would like it very much if the traditionalists and conservatives toddled off, stayed away, leaving the Church in the hands of its most fickle and least obedient members. Francis is not the Church, and he is mortal. He, too, shall pass. May the Lord have mercy on his soul.
Agreed. I have learned to not trust some sources on the Right, LifeSite News being one I avoid now.
Actually I didn’t realize I had bought his Answering Orthodoxy: A Catholic Response to Attacks from the East and I was flipping through it yesterday. Rather I realized I bought it; I didn’t realize he was the author.
Bishop Strickland is no sedevacantist, someone who holds that the office of Pope is vacant. I have heard him denounce that nonsense on multiple occasions in no uncertain terms, and sedevacantism was not a part of the vague references to financial issues and his refusal to suppress the Traditional Latin Mass by his Archbishop. Financially, his diocese is on a strong footing. On the TLM, he is quite public on his refusal to do injury to faithful members of his flock in pretty much those words.
Okay, but what do you do if the local priest is bad? Or if the good priest is forcibly removed and replaced by a bad one? The Henry VIII example actually demonstrates my point, in that the lay Catholics seemingly had no way to resist an assault on their faith after the designated authorities betrayed them-what can Catholics do under these circumstances to resist the corruption of their faith? It sounds like they would literally be damned if they do (go along with the corruption by attending Masses that either directly or indirectly promote heresy) or don’t (committing a Mortal Sin by not attending a compromised Mass, and instead worshipping as far as they can at their homes with other dissident Catholics)?
In other words, what can lay Catholics do right now to resist the Wokification of the Catholic Church, without endangering their souls in accordance with their beliefs? The only avenue I can perceive within the limited knowledge I have is that they can move to another diocese, and even that option can be systematically nullified if the Pope persists in purging dissenting Bishops.