Pope Francis has removed the bishop of Tyler, Joseph Strickland, who had been openly critical of the pope’s efforts to reform the Catholic Church to be more inclusive of women in governance and LGBTQ+ people.
The removal Saturday comes after the Pope dispatched two U.S. bishops last year to investigate Strickland’s governance of the Diocese of Tyler. The two bishops, who lead dioceses in New Jersey and Arizona, found it was “not feasible” for Strickland to remain in office, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston said Saturday.
