- Feb 5, 2002
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COMMENTARY: This sad tale of the Texas bishop is one of partisanship threatening communion, social-media extremism and new rules for the removal of bishops.
The removal of Bishop Joseph Strickland as bishop of Tyler, Texas, is a story for our time; it could not have been imagined even 10 years ago. It is a tale of partisanship threatening communion, social-media extremism and new rules for the removal of bishops.
The removal of a bishop from his diocese is a sad outcome, even if thought best for the common good of the local Church. In this case, the one person who may not be sad is Bishop Strickland himself. He seemed to desire precisely this outcome. It’s not just that he refused a papal request to resign — and was therefore relieved of office.
In recent months, Bishop Strickland became increasingly extreme in his attacks on the Holy Father, recently speaking at a conference in Rome where he sympathetically read an anonymous “letter from a friend” in which the very legitimacy of the “usurper” Pope Francis was questioned. A bishop who does that as frictions with Rome grow is not waiting to be shown the door, but opening it himself, asking for it to be slammed upon him. It is plausible that Bishop Strickland, now relieved of the pastoral care of Tyler, will be more free to travel and say whatever he wants about the Holy Father.
Continued below.
www.ncregister.com
The removal of Bishop Joseph Strickland as bishop of Tyler, Texas, is a story for our time; it could not have been imagined even 10 years ago. It is a tale of partisanship threatening communion, social-media extremism and new rules for the removal of bishops.
The removal of a bishop from his diocese is a sad outcome, even if thought best for the common good of the local Church. In this case, the one person who may not be sad is Bishop Strickland himself. He seemed to desire precisely this outcome. It’s not just that he refused a papal request to resign — and was therefore relieved of office.
In recent months, Bishop Strickland became increasingly extreme in his attacks on the Holy Father, recently speaking at a conference in Rome where he sympathetically read an anonymous “letter from a friend” in which the very legitimacy of the “usurper” Pope Francis was questioned. A bishop who does that as frictions with Rome grow is not waiting to be shown the door, but opening it himself, asking for it to be slammed upon him. It is plausible that Bishop Strickland, now relieved of the pastoral care of Tyler, will be more free to travel and say whatever he wants about the Holy Father.
Continued below.
What’s Next for Bishop Strickland?
COMMENTARY: This sad tale of the Texas bishop is one of partisanship threatening communion, social-media extremism and new rules for the removal of bishops.
