Fired Bishop Strickland: 'I'd Do It the Same Way'; 'Very Much at Peace'

( NewsMax )

Tyler, Texas, Bishop Joseph Strickland, one of Pope Francis' biggest critics in the U.S. Roman Catholic church, is sticking to his conservative principles after his ouster Saturday.

He is steadfast in saying he would not change a thing.

"I'd do it the same way again," Strickland told LifeSiteNews in an exclusive interview. "I feel very much at peace in the Lord and the truth that he died for."

It is very rare for a bishop to be relieved of his duties outright. Usually bishops in trouble with the Vatican are asked to resign before submitting a resignation, which the pope accepts. Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston said in a statement that Strickland was asked to resign on Nov. 9 but refused.

Strickland indicated in the LifeSiteNews interview that one reason was his refusal to implement Vatican directives to restrict the use of the old-style Latin Mass favored by some conservatives.

"I stand by all the things that were listed as complaints against me," Strickland said. "I know I didn't implement Traditionis Custodes [the Pope Francis decree restricting the Traditional Latin Mass] because I can't starve out part of my flock."

Strickland is 65, 10 years shy of the usual retirement age for bishops.

Strickland, a prolific user of social media who was named to the diocese by the late Pope Benedict in 2012, tweeted earlier this year he rejected Pope Francis' "program undermining the Deposit of Faith."

Strickland had become one of the most vocal standard bearers of U.S. Church conservative and has a national following far beyond the small diocese of Tyler in eastern Texas.

Strickland is a strong supporter of former President Donald Trump and is seen as a hero by conservative U.S. Catholic media outlets that are aligned with Trump.

Last year, when the Vatican defrocked ultra-conservative U.S. anti-abortion priest Frank Pavone for "blasphemous" social media posts and disobedience to bishops, Strickland was one of the few American bishops to defend him publicly.

"The blasphemy is that this holy priest is canceled while an evil president promotes the denial of truth and the murder of the unborn at every turn, Vatican officials promote immorality and denial of the deposit of faith and priests promote gender confusion devastating lives... evil," Strickland wrote on the platform then known as Twitter.