Bishop Gregory Kelly / Facebook
CV NEWS FEED // Bishop Greg Kelly was officially installed Feb. 24 as the fifth bishop of the Diocese of Tyler, Texas, during a solemn installation Mass attended by hundreds of East Texas Catholics at the W.T. Brookshire Convention Center, KLTV reports.
Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, the archbishop of Galveston-Houston, presided over the introductory rites of the Mass of Installation, according to the Diocese of Tyler.
Bishop Kelly, previously an auxiliary bishop in the Diocese of Dallas, was appointed to Tyler in December 2024 by Pope Francis, following the removal of Bishop Joseph Strickland in November 2023.
Speaking at his installation, Bishop Kelly said, “As the bishop of Tyler I do not have to make up the mission, the mission is given. I have to figure out how best to lead people forward,” according to KLTV.
While he stated that he does not see himself as a political leader, Bishop Kelly reaffirmed his commitment to defending human dignity from conception to natural death.
“It’s not a political message,” Bishop Kelly stated. “It’s something that looks at the basic human dignity of the person of existence from the womb to the end. We aren’t the lord of life. He is, and we have to do everything to nurture it.”
The Diocese of Tyler has been in the national spotlight following the Vatican’s decision to dismiss Bishop Joseph Strickland in November 2023. CatholicVote previously reported that Pope Francis requested Strickland’s resignation, which he refused, leading to his removal.
“The reasons given seemed to be related, for the most part, to my speaking the Truth of our Catholic faith, and to my warnings against anything that threatened that Truth (including things that were being brought up at the Synod on Synodality),” Bishop Strickland stated, as CatholicVote previously reported.
In the interim period before Bishop Kelly’s appointment, Bishop Joe Vásquez of the Diocese of Austin served as the apostolic administrator.
Founded in 1987, the Diocese of Tyler encompasses 53 parishes and 14 missions. Out of a total population of 1.4 million, approximately 120,000 are Catholic.
