Bishop Joseph Strickland of the diocese of Tyler, Texas, a defender of church orthodoxy and a critic of Pope Francis, has indicated he would resist if the Pope asked him to resign.
Strickland has been outspoken about such things as President Joe Biden's "fake Catholicism" regarding abortion, COVID-19 vaccines, and a Major League Baseball team honoring a performance drag group that mocks many Christian and Catholic practices.
Religion News Service (RNS) reported Tuesday that speculation swirled about Francis asking for Strickland's resignation.
"I have received no information on this from Rome," Strickland wrote in an email to RNS.
RNS then asked Strickland whether he would resign if the pope requested.
"As a basic principle I cannot resign the mandate given to me by Pope Benedict the XVI," Strickland wrote.
"Of course, that mandate can be rescinded by Pope Francis, but I cannot voluntarily abandon the flock that I have been given charge of as a successor of the apostles."
The Rev. John Beal, a canon lawyer and professor at the Catholic University of America, told RNS that a pope can remove a bishop against the bishop's wishes.
However, "there is no procedure that is laid down for such an action." He added a bishop "could be 'deprived' (privatio) of his office as a penalty following a penal trial for some canonical offense," Beal wrote in an email to RNS.
The scholar also told RNS that he had doubts whether Strickland has done anything that rises to such a "punishable offense."
Removing Strickland from his position could create other problems for the Holy See.
"I believe that the fear is that, if he's removed, his visibility will be amplified," Massimo Faggioli, a professor of theology and religious studies at Villanova University, told RNS earlier this year.
RNS reported that public Vatican records show Francis met Saturday with Archbishop Robert Prevost, prefect of the Vatican's Dicastery for Bishops, and Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the papal nuncio, or ambassador, to the United States, among others.
The Pillar reported the pope and the Vatican officials discussed the prospect of requesting Strickland's resignation.
"The situation of Bishop Strickland is the agenda," one source told The Pillar, "and the expectation is that the Holy Father will be requesting his resignation — that will certainly be the recommendation put to him."
Before the meeting, a source told The Pillar that the pope would be presented with the results of an apostolic visitation of Stickland's diocese in June, as well as subsequent public actions by the bishop.
In November 2021, Strickland privately was chastised by Pierre during a meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Catholic traditionalists said Francis' targeting of Strickland is part of his effort to crack down on conservative dissent against his efforts to radically depart from church teaching on homosexuality and marriage.
During a visit to Portugal last month, Francis reportedly lashed out at American Catholics for their "very strong, organized, reactionary attitude" focusing on issues like abortion and sexuality instead of concerns over climate change and caring for migrants.
During his papacy, Francis has sought to change the church by appointing liberal bishops and Cardinals.
In November 2022, in a move that the National Catholic Register said "shocked" Catholics, the Pope removed the nation's most prominent pro-life priest, Father Frank Pavone, from the priesthood.
The Pope's representative claimed Pavone, who headed Priests for Life, had made "blasphemous communications on social media."
Pavone was not warned about the dismissal and given no opportunity to appeal.
Francis has spoken often that his papacy is open to "everyone, everyone, everyone," but that offer does not appear to apply for Church traditionalists.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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