Pope Francis continues his progressive romp through Roman Catholic church teachings, enraging conservative Catholics after personally firing Bishop Joseph Strickland and relieving him of his duties as bishop of the Diocese of Tyler, Texas.
Strickland has been a thorn in the side of the Vatican for many years, with many likening him to a ‘Protestant priest’ for how frequently the firebrand prelate has publicly opposed the pope.
He has publicly questioned and criticized Covid lockdowns and mask mandates, including the way churches were shutting down because of it. He accused the Vatican of having a “deep state,” called the pope’s plethora of comments on support for civil same-sex unions “very dangerous” and “confusing,” called synodality “garbage,” criticized his fellow bishops for picking and choosing their theology, criticized the pope for giving communion to Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi, endorsed a video that attacked Francis by calling him a “diabolically disoriented clown and accused the pope of a “program of undermining the Deposit of Faith.
That’ll definitely do it.
A letter from the Vatican’s daily Bulletin reads:
The Holy Father has relieved from the pastoral governance of the Diocese of Tyler (U.S.A.) H.E. Msgr. Joseph E. Strickland and appointed the Bishop of Austin, H.E. Msgr. Joe Vásquez, [Bishop of Austin] as the Apostolic Administrator of the vacated diocese
While there is no such thing as a ‘good’ pope, since they are the head of an evil and wicked heterodox church, Francis has been particularly noxious and vexatious, doing things like affirming the faith of Joe Biden and saying he would never refuse him communion because the President’s love for abortion is between him and God, endorsing civil unions for gay couples, appointing multiple pro-choice people to his pro-life organization, saying that he’s open to priests blessing homosexual relationships, so long as there is no suggestion that they’re blessing gay marriages, and continuing to promote and endorse notorious LGBTQ-affirming priest James Martin.
In particular, it is the contrast between Martin and Strickland and the promotion of one and the punishment of the other that has Roman Catholics feeling so bruised. Ultimately, continuing to publicly put Pope Francis on blast for not living up to Roman Catholic teaching and operating as a transgressive faith-traitor wore on the decrepit pontiff too much, and Strickland was removed.
We pray Strickland repents the false gospel of Roman Catholicism and embraces salvation by grace and faith alone, because this clarity on a host of critical issues would be a welcome addition to the battle.
