Pope Francis on Saturday forcibly removed the bishop of Tyler, Texas, a firebrand conservative prelate active on social media who has been a fierce critic of the pontiff and has come to symbolize the polarization within the U.S. Catholic hierarchy.
A one-line statement from the Vatican said Francis had “relieved” Bishop Joseph Strickland of the pastoral governance of Tyler and appointed the bishop of Austin as the temporary administrator.
Strickland, 65, has emerged as a leading critic of Francis, accusing him in a tweet earlier this year of “undermining the deposit of faith.” He has been particularly critical of Francis’ recent meeting on the future of the Catholic Church during which hot-button issues were discussed, including ways to better welcome LGBTQ+ Catholics.
Earlier this year, the Vatican sent in investigators to look into his governance of the diocese, amid reports that priests and laypeople in Tyler had complained and that he was making unorthodox claims.
Despite the evilness of the Catholic church as a whole, I’ve got to say I kinda like Pope Francis. Too bad the majority of religious leaders aren’t more like him.
He still protected sexual abusers like Cardinal McCarrick. He’s handled the PR of sexual abuse than his predecessors, but he hasn’t excommunicated a single abuser or enabler. He hasn’t turned any records over to law enforcement.
Religious leaders need better role models than the pope.
Aint Churh people one big family ? Not gonna turn one of their own if they don’t have to.
Don’t forget he basically said Charlie Hebdo had it coming.
Dude’s still an ass, he’s just a comparatively smaller ass than his predecessors.
He’s no saint, though.
What you’re mentioning is the equivalent of “huh, this pope gives us 10 fewer kicks in the nuts per day than the previous popes. I kinda like him!”
He wants to welcome lgbt people in the church? The reaction shouldn’t be “oh he’s so good!” It should be “about damn time, fuckers!”
Unless - bear with me, this may be a hot take - he’d like more lgbt+ people in the church in order to have more consenting children for the older clerics to take advantage of.