In this episode, Bishop Joseph Strickland talks about his removal from the Diocese of Tyler, Texas, and what it means for the future of the diocese and the Church. Bishop Stricklands is a Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Tyler for over twenty-five years.
00:05:23.760And a lot of people who love you are going to be wondering right now what this means for you in terms of your living,
00:05:32.860in terms of your ability to minister as a prelate.
00:05:36.500Do you know what this entails for you in terms of where you're going to live, what you're going to do type of thing?
00:05:41.740Well, John Henry, as you ask the answers to questions, I don't have the answers right now.
00:05:51.100Maybe it sounds a little pietistic, but I believe it is simply the reality.
00:05:58.900I'm in the hands of the Lord, as we all are.
00:06:01.280None of us truly knows what tomorrow holds, and I'm able to go through this as an opportunity to really know that I don't know what tomorrow holds.
00:07:48.460I've said many times I've never experienced the blessing of an apparition or an allocution or anything supernatural in that sense.
00:07:57.820But I have been blessed with deep prayer, the rosary and Eucharistic adoration, the two pillars of prayer that are the pillars that are behind me,
00:08:09.800the pillars of St. John Bosco's vision, the Immaculate Virgin Mary and our Eucharistic Lord.
00:08:16.620I am blessed to know those pillars in a very personal way.
00:08:22.100The rosary has taken on a life for me that is just amazing.
00:08:55.520And because we know them, let us take on the charitable work of praying for the confused,
00:09:04.540praying for those who have turned their backs on the realities, the challenging realities of our faith.
00:09:11.020But all of that to say, I don't have answers for exactly how this works.
00:09:18.460But I know that I will bow to another taking the reins of first as administrator and then a new bishop being named to shepherd the Diocese of Tyler.
00:11:29.240So one of the main questions that people are having right now is why?
00:11:34.840Why would this happen when there is Father Rupnik, who just got the sexual abuser priest with all sorts of nuns begging for redress of their abuse that they suffered.
00:11:46.680He's put into a diocese, no real sanctions.
00:12:00.740But here you are, a faithful Catholic disciple of the Lord, apostle of the Lord, one of the successors of the apostles.
00:12:11.380And by the way, if you were to guess which one it would be, I would always say you're the successor of John because you hold your head to his heart more than anyone I've ever seen.
00:12:20.280But do you have any idea as to why this was done?
00:12:26.180Well, John Henry, the only answer I have to that is because forces in the church right now don't want the truth of the gospel.
00:12:39.020They want it changed, they want it ignored, they want to be rid of the truth that is gloriously not going to go away, the truth that is Jesus Christ, his mystical body, which is the church.
00:12:56.440All the wonders that the martyrs died for and the saints lived for through almost 2,000 years since Christ died and rose.
00:13:06.920So, and again, certainly Pope Francis has the responsibility of making the supreme pontiff decisions.
00:13:17.300He has, he's the only one with that authority.
00:13:20.840But there are many forces working at him and influencing him to make these kinds of decisions.
00:13:29.800So, I know it becomes frustrating, but we, that's why we pray for the Pope, for him as a son of God and for his role as the supreme pontiff.
00:13:42.740But we have to acknowledge there are tremendous and powerful forces at work in the world.
00:13:49.780St. Paul reminds us that we're not fighting against human beings, flesh and blood.
00:13:56.240We're fighting the powers and principalities of evil.
00:14:00.360And that's a pretty strong statement, but I believe it's true.
00:14:25.180They saw it as questioning and threatening their power.
00:14:29.860They saw it in all the ways that people, sadly, see it today.
00:14:35.640And even within the church and the great mystery of our time, there are people in the church, rather than glorying in the truth of Christ,
00:14:43.780they want to delete significant portions of sacred scripture and say, oh, we got that wrong, or we're just going to ignore it.
00:14:56.380Saints, through 2,000 years, didn't get it wrong.
00:15:01.800Doctrine and understanding develops, but it develops in the sense of deepening, not reversing direction.
00:15:10.100But there are forces in the world that want to reverse the direction, want to change moral teachings, want to totally restructure the church.
00:15:23.620But beautifully, the church has functioned with all the human failings.
00:15:29.760She continues to be here because she is holy, guided by the Holy Spirit.
00:15:34.540And the Holy Spirit has fostered basic structures in the church.
00:15:40.440I would conclude these thoughts by looking to what's happening in Catholic architecture, at least that I've seen recently.
00:15:51.140Some beautiful churches being built in recent years.
00:15:55.380When I was in the seminary, they weren't building beautiful churches.
00:15:59.020They were experimenting with buildings that many of them are being torn down now.
00:16:05.540I think that's a good metaphor for what is going on in the world.
00:16:11.500We want to build, or the world wants to build, something different.
00:16:23.860He has revealed who we are and what the plan for humanity is.
00:16:29.020This isn't the first time that the powers that be have wanted to reject that truth.
00:16:36.760What is troubling and at least unprecedented as I experience it, people from within the church are wanting to change the church and to reject the basic truths.
00:16:50.780But the answer is to stay with it, and frankly, I truly believe the Diocese of Tyler that I used to serve a few hours ago, blessed with many seminarians, fine young men, strong, that would be wonderful husbands or wonderful spiritual fathers as priests.
00:17:14.380Financially strong, tremendous generosity from the people, no place is perfect, no family is perfect, but the Diocese is in good shape and some very dedicated people serving in the chancery offices and the priests serving in the parishes.
00:17:33.620I'm so proud of the priests and the diocese, so I really can't look to any reason except I've threatened some of the powers that be with the truth of the gospel that will not change, that cannot change.
00:17:51.300It's perennial, it's everlasting, it's glorious, and if you want it to change, then I'm a problem, and I think that's what, that's the reason.
00:18:03.360And again, I don't lay it all at the feet of Pope Francis, I mean, he, that's, I mean, I've been a bishop, you have to make decisions.
00:18:12.640He's the one making the decision, so to me that calls us to deeply pray for him.
00:18:21.920He's one man, as I'm one man, none of us has superpowers, we all have the gift of the Holy Spirit to guide us when we open our hearts to that.
00:18:33.360But there are forces that we must acknowledge as well that are behind this, that are pushing this kind of removal of the bishop for standing with the gospel, as you say.
00:18:49.380I mean, it's very humbling, but it's a beautiful image that I love to embrace.
00:18:52.840If I can, in any minuscule way, stand at the foot of the cross, as John the Apostle did, the only one to stand there, I am blessed to have that role, as John was.
00:19:08.280Not an easy role, but a role that says, I'm standing at the cross of truth incarnate, and in many ways, the body of Christ, the mystical body of the church, that is the church, the body of Christ, is going through a passion now.
00:19:27.120Now, the forces of the world, the forces of the world, in the church and beyond, many people, we've all read, many times, people saying, we will finally eliminate the Catholic Church.
00:19:39.960We just celebrated Pope St. Leo the Great yesterday, and we were reminded in the gospel proclaims that the gates of hell will not prevail.
00:19:51.120And so, when people are pushing a false narrative that looks maybe attractive to many, and it looks like, oh, the church is easing its rigid teachings, that, if it's not the truth, is not going to last.
00:20:09.040And ultimately, it leaves lives and families, societies empty and devastated.
00:20:16.340And so, I have to continue to proclaim the truth with joy and hope, with humor, hopefully, with a bright outlook, with the light of Christ guiding me.
00:20:29.680But, again, I give long answers, but I think the reason for this is that I threatened too many in the power of places who want to change the truth.
00:22:28.500Cardinal Serra sort of removed in some ways, even though he'd reached retirement age, sure, but it was an immediate removal.
00:22:36.580And there have been all sorts of things with regard to what's gone on in this Vatican under Pope Francis
00:22:42.800that have been very, very disturbing for the faithful.
00:22:48.260And I know you have a great heart for prayer for the Pope.
00:22:53.260This is the words that Bishop Schneider uses, that he says that you and other faithful bishops canceled or marginalized in this way should say.
00:23:05.780And this is the quote from him to pray.
00:23:08.120He says, Holy Father, why are you persecuting?
00:23:10.000Why are you persecuting and beating us?
00:23:12.080We tried to do what all holy popes asked us to do.
00:23:15.560With fraternal love, we offer the sacrifice of this kind of persecution and exile for the salvation of your soul and for the good state of the Holy Roman Church.
00:23:39.600I have great respect for Bishop Schneider and his story, to me, it just resonates with deep faith.
00:23:47.300He grew up in a childhood where many people are fearful of maybe returning to something like that in many places in the world where they would look forward to an occasional opportunity to celebrate the Mass.
00:24:02.440So I have great respect for Bishop Schneider.
00:24:05.360I mean, we have very different backgrounds.
00:24:07.840We're from halfway around the world from each other.
00:24:10.860And I would say, with regard to Pope Francis, that one of the things that Bishop Schneider said that I really embrace is, as a bishop, he is our older brother.
00:24:24.760And so we have an obligation to pray for him, to pray for the very best deepening of faith for him.
00:24:33.880And I know that, you know, I had two older brothers.
00:24:37.600And sometimes it's tough because, you know, you can have anger, all the human emotions.
00:24:52.920And Pope Francis is the head of this body on earth, representing Christ, serving the servant of the servants of God, one of the ancient descriptions of the papacy.
00:25:06.720So I like that, caring for him, praying for him.
00:25:11.980And that's what I hear in that last expression of Bishop Schneider that you offered, to pray for him as an elder brother.
00:25:23.320And if there's apparent confusion or a lack of embracing of that truth on the part of an elder brother, we have an obligation out of love to patiently and always respectfully, but clearly, with clarity and charity, we need to pray and call elder brothers, younger brothers, everyone in the church, all the mystical body of the church.
00:25:52.940We all need to be called to a deeper faith, to turn from sin, to turn from any false messages and to embrace the challenging truth.
00:26:03.960And so I do urge all of us to pray more and more deeply and to pray to the Immaculate Virgin Mary and to turn to the sacred heart of Christ, praying that his mercy may wash over both Francis and the church and the world.
00:26:24.240It needs to be noted that the church is going through this tremendous turmoil at a time when the world is also in the midst of two major wars that could become even worse at any moment, many people dying and suffering.
00:26:41.760So the church, in turn, is not as strong as she should be in bringing the light of Christ to the world.
00:26:51.580And so we all have the obligation as faithful Catholics, and I again urge people to be more faithful than ever, not allow this to pull them back from living faithfully and vibrantly and joyfully, full of hope, their Catholic faith.
00:27:08.880And at the heart of that, to pray for the deep abiding conversion of Pope Francis and of all of us to a deeper relationship with the sacred heart of Christ.
00:27:21.340Dear Bishop Strickland, thank you so very much for sharing with us, even so few hours after you removed your heart and the beauty of your love for the church, your encouragement for everyone to remain faithful, not to let these times of strife get to them in such a way that move them away from the faith, rather move closer to it, to embrace a life of prayer in a much more earnest way.
00:27:44.960Because we recognize that the church is in crisis, or at least as a crisis of the pastors of the church, the bishops of the church, the cardinals, and even the Pope.
00:27:55.420And so I want to assure you also, on behalf of the tens of thousands of LifeSite supporters and readers and fans of yours, prayers and thanksgiving and love for you,
00:28:11.020and also waiting with hearts full of anticipation to see how the Lord uses you as a successor of the apostles in carrying forward his church to the glory that is to come, to the triumph of the Immaculate Heart.
00:28:28.180We are, as you said, we need to be anchored between the two pillars of Don Bosco's dream, between the Holy Eucharist and Our Lady, and you are firmly anchored there.
00:28:44.160We take your example, and we very much look forward to your future, which we know will be bright in whichever way that means.