Exclusive: Bishop Strickland Decries Trump Admin's 'Threatening Attitude' Towards Pope [View all]

Source: Newsweek

Published. Apr 11, 2026 at 05:00 AM EDT updated Apr 11, 2026 at 06:53 AM EDT


A Catholic bishop in the U.S. told Newsweek Friday that the pope is bigger than one world leader or administration, after reports the Pentagon told Vatican officials to get in line with American world policy.

Bishop Joseph Strickland, who used to lead the Diocese of Tyler, Texas, before he was removed from his position by Pope Francis, said he was concerned about what Trump administration officials were reported to have told Cardinal Cristophe Pierre in a closed-door meeting in January.

“The position, the chair of Peter, the papacy, is bigger than one individual,” Strickland said. “What was most troublesome, to me, was it seemed to be treating the papacy as just one more world leader.

“We certainly understand that for people who don't believe in the papacy, but for us as Catholics, it's more than just one more world leader. We believe it's a divinely established office. So, it needs to be treated in a different perspective."

Read more: https://www.newsweek.com/bishop-strickland-trump-admin-attitude-pope-pentagon-meeting-11813820

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As some might be aware, Strickland was one of the loud RW loon Bishops, so much so, and so defiant, that he was finally removed by Pope Francis. He had been appointed by the Nazi Pope Benedict XVI.

Pope forcibly removes Texas Bishop Joseph Strickland, a vocal U.S. conservative

I guess if you lose people like him or Alex Jones or Nick Fuentes, you have now reached the depths of depravity.