Just What Does Faithful America Say
“Let’s not mince words: Bishop Joseph Strickland might just be the worst Catholic bishop in the United States.
The Bishop of Tyler, Texas, is a Christian-nationalist election denier who spoke to at least one “Stop the Steal” rally before the January 6 insurrection. The fact that he is still in a powerful leadership position should concern us all: for the ways he has harmed people in Jesus’s name, and for the damage he’s done not just to Catholicism but to the broader Body of Christ.
He tweets QAnon links. He spreads deadly anti-vaccine misinformation. He blatantly violates the separation of church and state by falsely asserting Catholics cannot vote for Democrats, whom he has called “evil.” He repeatedly attacks LGBTQ rights, even outside of Texas. He is a strident critic of Pope Francis, once endorsing a video that called the pope a “diabolically disordered clown.”” 1
“If Texas Bishop Joseph E. Strickland is known outside of his diocese for anything, it’s for controversy.
The conservative firebrand, who oversees the Diocese of Tyler, Texas, has sparked backlash from critics for everything from voicing support for priests who refuse to get vaccinated against COVID-19 to offering a prayer at a “Jericho March” event in the weeks leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. More recently, Strickland challenged Pope Francis, announcing on his Twitter feed that he believes the pontiff is “undermining the Deposit of Faith.” His efforts have inspired some detractors to call for Strickland’s resignation, while others have urged Vatican intervention.
But according to multiple sources, Strickland has already been on the receiving end of the Vatican’s ire for more than a year: He was chastised by a representative of the Holy See in 2021, they say — a move that simultaneously signals the potential for formal Vatican disciplinary action and exemplifies the difficulty of reining in a controversial cleric.” 2
- FaithAmerican, July 3, 2023 – Thank the Vatican for investigating election-denying, QAnon-spreading, Francis-attacking, partisan bishop
- Religion News Service (RNS), Jack Jenkins, May 23, 2023 – In rare move, Vatican official chastised Texas Bishop Strickland at conference – Texas Bishop Joseph Strickland did not deny that he was confronted by the papal nuncio at a bishops conference in November 2021.
