CV NEWS FEED // CatholicVote has confirmed that the Vatican has launched an apostolic visitation to the Diocese of Tyler, Texas, and its bishop, Joseph Strickland.
According to witnesses who requested anonymity because they are active in the life of the diocese, the vicar general and moderator of the diocese’s curia, the Very Rev. John Gomez, JCL, convened via phone and email several priests, religious, and laypeople of Tyler to meet with the apostolic visitators appointed by the Vatican.
Witnesses confirmed to CatholicVote that the apostolic visitation is being led by Bishop Dennis J. Sullivan of Camden, New Jersey, and Gerald Frederick Kicanas, retired bishop of Tucson, Arizona, and former Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago, Illinois. Both bishops, accompanied by two priest experts in canon law from out of town, interviewed the witnesses about what they know regarding the personal life and pastoral activities of Bishop Strickland.
The interviews took place “under confidentiality” at a Holiday Inn in downtown Tyler, and according to the witnesses, they were requested to sign non-disclosure agreements; something unusual in a canonical process.
CatholicVote reached out to one official at the diocese to confirm or deny the existence of the canonical process. The official declined to speak on-record, stated that they were not at liberty to discuss the issue, and suggested contacting Fr. Gomez directly.
Strickland, a Texas native originally ordained for the Diocese of Dallas, was assigned to the Diocese of Tyler it was first erected in 1987. On September 29, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him as the fourth bishop of Tyler.
Strickland has been an outspoken critic of President Joe Biden and a strong proponent of barring the second Catholic president in U.S. history from receiving Holy Communion. He has also criticized several of Pope Francis’ actions, from the publication of the apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia to the current process toward the Synod on Synodality.
Strickland is very active on social media. On May 12 he tweeted: “I believe Pope Francis is the Pope but it is time for me to say that I reject his program of undermining the Deposit of Faith. Follow Jesus.”
More recently, commenting on the working document on the Synod on Synodality, Bishop Strickland tweeted:
It is a travesty that these things (“inclusion” of LGBTQ, polygamous marriages and diaconal ordination for women) are even proposed for discussion. I pray that all who truly know Jesus Christ will not be deceived by this path. The Gospel welcomes all to repentance & sanctity, if there is no repentance the barriers to sanctity remain.
The apostolic visitation was requested by the new prefect of the Dicastery of Bishops, Archbishop Robert Francis Prevost.
Prevost, a Chicago native and member of the order of St. Augustine, served as a missionary in Peru. On September 26, 2015, Pope Francis appointed him bishop of Chiclayo (Northern Peru.)
On November 21, 2020, Francis appointed Prevost as a member of the Congregation for the Bishops upon the recommendation of Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago.
On January 30, 2023, Francis appointed Prevost as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, effective April 12.
Prevost is slated to become the next U.S. cardinal in the upcoming consistory.
