Pope Backed by Thousands of Christians Over Bishop Strickland Removal

Thousands of Christians have signed a petition thanking Pope Francis for removing Joseph Strickland as the bishop of Tyler, Texas.

In a brief statement on Saturday, the Vatican said Francis had removed Strickland from the pastoral governance of Tyler, Texas, and appointed the bishop of Austin as the temporary administrator.

Strickland's firing following a Vatican investigation sparked an immediate outcry, and led thousands to sign a petition backing him. Supporters of Strickland have also announced a march in Tyler on Saturday.

But at least 10,000 others have signed a petition thanking Francis for removing Strickland, who has been a staunch critic of the pope in recent months.

"Although being forced to remove a bishop who won't resign is incredibly rare and almost never an easy thing to do, this action is wonderful news for truth, equality, and our work together for a more inclusive and loving church," the petition of the Faithful America website states.

Strickland "is a notoriously election-denying, QAnon-spreading, Francis-bashing, vaccine-rejecting, LGBTQ-hating, division-sowing, fire-breathing darling of right-wing Twitter," the petition says. "His agenda went beyond far-right culture wars to full-blown Christian nationalism, even appearing at a "Stop the Steal" MAGA event.

"Let's show the pope that grassroots Catholics and other ecumenical American Christians support him in this bold decision!"

Newsweek has contacted Strickland for comment via social media.

Strickland has been a leading critic of Francis, particularly of his efforts to make the church more inclusive and welcoming to the LGBTQ+ community. He accused Francis of "undermining the deposit of faith" on social media earlier this year.

According to the National Catholic Reporter, Strickland also used social media to spread anti-vaccine messages during the COVID-19 pandemic. He has criticized President Joe Biden, who is Catholic, for supporting abortion rights and spoke at a rally organized by supporters of former President Donald Trump wanting to overturn Biden's 2020 election victory.

Strickland is a "partisan false prophet who has absolutely no business continuing to hold a position of moral authority in the Body of Christ," the Rev. Nathan Empsall, the executive director of Faithful America, said in a statement provided to Newsweek. "Pope Francis's bold removal of the Bishop of Tyler is a testament to the inclusive direction he is leading the church, and a decision fully in line with the majority of Christians who reject Christian nationalism in favor of peace and love. Pope Francis has the full ecumenical support of Faithful America's Catholic and Protestant members alike."

The Vatican's brief statement on Saturday didn't give a reason for Strickland's dismissal. But Strickland told the conservative website LifeSiteNews that one of the reasons was his refusal to implement Francis' 2021 restrictions on celebrating the old Latin Mass.

"I stand by all the things that were listed as complaints against me," he told the website, adding that he refused to implement the restrictions because "I can't starve out part of my flock."

He added: "I'd do it the same way again. I feel very much at peace in the Lord and the truth that he died for."

Earlier this year, the Vatican sent in investigators to look into Strickland's governance of the diocese, which reportedly inlcuded a review of his handling of financial affairs.

The two Vatican investigators sent in to investigate Strickland "conducted an exhaustive inquiry into all aspects of the governance and leadership of the diocese," Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston said in a statement.

The Vatican didn't release the findings of the investigation, but DiNardo said the recommendation was made to Francis that "the continuation in office of Bishop Strickland was not feasible.

"After months of careful consideration by the dicastery for Bishops and the holy father, the decision was reached that the resignation of Bishop Strickland should be requested.

"Having been presented with that request on November 9, 2023, Bishop Strickland declined to resign from office. Thereafter, on November 11, 2023, the pope removed Bishop Strickland from the office of bishop of Tyler."