Pope Francis has fired the Texan bishop Joseph Strickland, a fierce critic who has questioned the Pope's leadership of the Catholic church.

The Vatican said the bishop would be "relieved" of his duties as a result of investigations at his Diocese of Tyler.

Bishop Strickland is a leading voice in a branch of US Catholicism that is opposed to the Pope's reforms.

His removal comes after Francis spoke of the "backwardness" of some US Catholic church leaders.

Bishop Strickland has launched a series of attacks on the Pope's attempts to update the Church's position on social matters and inclusion, including on abortion, transgender rights and same-sex marriage.

In July, he warned that many "basic truths" of Catholic teaching were being challenged, including what he called attempts to "undermine" marriage "as instituted by God" being only between a man and a woman.

He criticised as "disordered" the attempts of those who "reject their undeniable biological God-given identity".


His letter suggested that attempts to change "that which cannot be changed" would lead to an irrevocable schism in the Church. Those seeking change, he warned, "are the true schismatics".

Bishop Strickland was under investigation by the Vatican and had previously declined the opportunity to resign, and in an open letter in September challenged the Pope to fire him.

"I cannot resign as Bishop of Tyler because that would be me abandoning the flock," he said.

The right-wing "Coalition for Canceled Priests" held a conference earlier this year to support him during the investigation.

The Vatican said that the decision to fire him "came after an apostolic visitation ordered by the Pope last June in the Diocese of Tyler". According to Catholic media, the investigation also looked at the handling of financial affairs at the diocese.

Bishop Strickland, 65, was appointed bishop in 2012, while Benedict XVI was pope.

It all follows significant attempts made by the Pope to make the Church more progressive during his papacy.

On Thursday, the Vatican announced that transgender people can be baptised in the Catholic Church, as long as doing so does not cause scandal or "confusion".

In October, he suggested that the Church would be open to bless same-sex couples, as he told a group of cardinals "we cannot be judges who only deny, reject and exclude".

Speaking at a meeting at the World Youth Day celebrations in Lisbon the Pope said the backwardness of some people was "useless".

"Doing this you lose the true tradition and you turn to ideologies to have support. In other words, ideologies replace faith," he added.

Climate change has also been a key pillar of his papacy - from a landmark paper on the environment in 2015 to recent warnings that the world may be "nearing breaking point" due to climate change.

He has also strongly condemned climate deniers and will be at the United Nations' Climate Summit (COP28) later this month - the first time a pope has attended the event since they began in 1995.

The Vatican said that the Diocese of Tyler would be temporarily administered by Bishop Joe Vasquez of Austin.

FreeStuffsNG:
Pray for the catholic Church in same manner as you pray for Ukraine, Russia, Isreal and Palestine.

The Church is at war with itself and truth. Even here in Nigeria, the Catholics are at war with themselves and the truth. Some are in favour of the reforms and saying " Yes Daddy " upandan while some are opposed to it but can't speak up against it because they are scared of losing. Father Mbaka and other Nigerian Catholics would have reacted to this if it's local Nigerian politics, endorsing candidates. For the supporters of Father Mbaka, this doesn't involve attacking the Bishop of Enugu Diocese. Father Kuka would have written a long piece to lambast our leaders as not being truthful.

So what's the truth? With account of how they have used their influence to interpret and dispense their faith, could the Catholic Church be today facing its past? At some point in the world, they were the only one with the original scrolls and its content.

To what extent can they 'reform' and to what extent in the past have they reformed the content of today's authority from which the Christian faith draws its doctrines from?This Catholic sef. Let us just pray for them.Check my signature for free stuffs!

Kukutente23:

Everything is politics to you
You sound narrow-minded and myopic
As to your last line, be informed that protestant bibles was written by a committee of scholars commissioned by King James and not the Catholic Church.
The Catholic Church was still stuck with the vulgate when KJV was released in early 17th century.

FreeStuffsNG:

I hardly read comments from uncouth people and neither do I respond to uncouth comments, I just report them to mods.

The first English translation was done by William Tyndale. Prior to that, most of us have no clue of what could be today's equivalent of 'reforms. Some of the errors of Tyndale still remain till date including the error in inserting the name James itself in the English Bible translation among many other errors that existed even before Politicians like King James stepped in. I know these things and my point has always been , are the ones where there are no errors sufficient for salvation? I believe so.

FreeStuffsNG:


The Church is at war with itself and truth. Even here in Nigeria, the Catholics are at war with themselves and the truth.

slickbak:
The number of catholics has dropped drastically over the years and the papacy knows it will be obsolete without inclusive reform.

Wisereborn:
[b]This pope seems to be legalizing what God Himself loathe...

Wisereborn:
This pope seems to be legalizing what God Himself loathe

Just like that of the old, when Abraham was pleading for Sodom and Gomorrah, if God should ask Abraham again, can we even find 5 righteous people in this world

Word of advice: don't depend on man. Depend on God's words and his teachings, know your Bible inside out. So that you can stand firm at all times for the end time is near!!!

slickbak:
The number of catholics has dropped drastically over the years and the papacy knows it will be obsolete without inclusive reform.