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.
I don’t get how you can be ‘too progressive’. Surely progress is a good thing, no? If you’re against progress, you’re in favor of things remaining as they are or getting worse. To me, that’s just being a cunt.
I guess what I’m saying is, “Pope removes bishop for being too much of a cunt” would’ve been a good headline also.
Progress in general is just a term. What people consider to be “progressive” can change from person to person. There’s also the obvious risk of progressing too quickly before things can stabilize, you could progress a third world country far quicker than their people/culture would be able to keep up, for example.
While I understand and agree with your general sentiment, but the idea that progress is actually progress just because it carries the term is a fallacy.
To me, that’s just being a cunt.
Welcome to religious conservatism.
deleted by creator
Wait but wasn’t a dogma that the word of the Pope IS the word of God? So that guy is an heretic and should be burnt at the stake
There’s a heresy called sedevacantism that basically believes the last few Popes don’t count because they’ve taken positions that the real Pope would never take.
They don’t do the burning at the stake bit anymore though.
Some people are lucky that today’s popes don’t act like the popes of the olden days.
BTW, which one was the last true Pope in theory eyes? I bet it’s the fascist one
I think most of them think the last real pope was Pius XII, and yeah he was the guy who signed the Reichskonkordat with the Nazis, which required priests in Germany to take an oath of loyalty to the German Reich.
He actually did that as Secretary of State before he became pope, on behalf of the previous pope, so they were both fash.
The reason sedevacantists dislike his successor, John XXIII, is that they are really upset about the Second Vatican Council introducing ideas like “the beneficial nature of diversity” and “concern for secular human values.” That’s the moment when they think the church went off the rails.
a heretic.
Only when the pope chooses to speak as god, forget the fancy term.
deleted by creator
Churches of all kinds are destroying themselves with politics.
From the article:
“This is total war,” Matt wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Francis is a clear and present danger not only to Catholics the world over but also to the whole world itself.”
Matt is the editor of a traditionalist newspaper. That guy needs to touch grass. How stupid can a person be?
deleted by creator
My brother in Happy Holidays, we are the winners. The only thing I am concerned about is whether there will be enough popcorn kernels available for us all. I’ve stocked up, almost 69 stones worth.
Tyler TX is also home to Idiot Child Louie Gohmert. There are churches and banks on every corner, and every time there’s new construction there’s a 50% chance it’s either a church or a bank.
The modern church is the shell of the institution it once was. Which is a good thing. Let’s make it even less relevant than it already is.
The goal isn’t to make it hollow, the goal is to shrink the size proportional to honest participation, so that it doesn’t have an outsized influence on the general population.
laypeople in Tyler had complained and that he was making unorthodox claims.
Oh you.
Honestly, though: good for those Catholic laypeople in Texas to complain to the friggin’ Vatican that this guy is a compete nut job!
We have an expression in Québec for people who either:
1- Defend someone else’s interests with more fervor than the other person themselves.
2- To have extremist values, thoughts or actions.
The expression is “Être plus catholique que le pape.” Or to be more Catholic than the pope himself.
We have pretty much the same expression in English!
In Italian we say “more royalist than the king”. Btw, the Pope was criticized even by Italian politicians because “they know better” what the Catholic faith should be like. And I’m not referring to some minor party, but to the very backbone of the current government. It seems like the Pope is intentionally trying to mess up their whole electoral campaign based on tradicional family and morality.
Not very surprising considering the current government is far right and they always believe they know better than anyone else.
Oh this guy definitely thinks himself the most holy Catholic person to ever live. He is light years away from the papacy in terms of ever being Pope, but definitely casually suggests to his followers that HE some random fuck in Texas would be a better Pope than the actual Pope
