- Feb 5, 2002
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While the U.S. bishops’ conference met Wednesday for their annual plenary meeting in Baltimore, dozens of Catholics gathered outside the conference hotel, to pray a rosary with the recently deposed Bishop Joseph Strickland, who was removed Saturday from leadership of the Diocese of Tyler, Texas.
While Strickland was removed from his diocesan post by Pope Francis after an investigation into his leadership, the bishop is not prohibited from attending meetings of the USCCB, but chose this week not to attend.
Instead, as the meetings unfolded in the early part of the week, Strickland prayed the rosary most days on the sidewalk outside the meeting, and met with supporters — while inside, his removal from office was a topic of informal discussion among bishops, many of whom raised questions about the process for removing him, and about the Vatican’s unwillingness to specify the reasons for its decision.
Strickland has been an outspoken critic of Pope Francis in recent years — a factor that may have contributed to his ouster — and at the same time, has built a large following of Catholics on social media, especially twitter.com.
While it is not clear what the Apostolic See expected when Strickland was ousted, the move has led to an outcry of support from a swath of American Catholics, many of whom say that Strickland is uniquely courageous among bishops, or uniquely committed to speaking truth.
During the USCCB’s lunch hour Wednesday, Strickland led a large group of Catholics in praying the rosary outside the bishops’ conference.
But why did they come? The Pillar decided to ask.
Continued below.
www.pillarcatholic.com
While Strickland was removed from his diocesan post by Pope Francis after an investigation into his leadership, the bishop is not prohibited from attending meetings of the USCCB, but chose this week not to attend.
Instead, as the meetings unfolded in the early part of the week, Strickland prayed the rosary most days on the sidewalk outside the meeting, and met with supporters — while inside, his removal from office was a topic of informal discussion among bishops, many of whom raised questions about the process for removing him, and about the Vatican’s unwillingness to specify the reasons for its decision.
Strickland has been an outspoken critic of Pope Francis in recent years — a factor that may have contributed to his ouster — and at the same time, has built a large following of Catholics on social media, especially twitter.com.
While it is not clear what the Apostolic See expected when Strickland was ousted, the move has led to an outcry of support from a swath of American Catholics, many of whom say that Strickland is uniquely courageous among bishops, or uniquely committed to speaking truth.
During the USCCB’s lunch hour Wednesday, Strickland led a large group of Catholics in praying the rosary outside the bishops’ conference.
But why did they come? The Pillar decided to ask.
Continued below.
Why they came: The Catholics who rallied for a deposed bishop
Catholics in Baltimore prayed with Bishop Joseph Strickland outside a USCCB meeting. Here's what they said.
www.pillarcatholic.com
