When Bishop Joseph Strickland took to X on November 14, he didn’t mince words. The bishop emeritus of Tyler, Texas, posed a direct challenge to Pope Leo XIV and bishops worldwide: “How long will you halt between two masters? If you believe Christ is Lord, then follow Him! If the world is your master, then go to it! But no longer profane His sanctuary while you betray the Cross!”
His lengthy post cut straight to issues many Catholic conservatives have watched with growing concern. Strickland called out what he sees as a pattern of scandalization by Church leadership – from irreverent liturgies to welcoming unrepentant homosexual couples without calling them to conversion, to promoting open borders while ignoring the criminal consequences of illegal immigration.
The bishop’s language carried biblical weight, referencing the prophet Elijah’s challenge to the Israelites who wavered between God and Baal. But Strickland’s modern application targeted specific practices he believes harm the faithful, particularly the “little ones” Jesus warned against scandalizing in Matthew’s Gospel.
“A massive stockpile of millstones is ready to be distributed among you,” Strickland wrote, invoking Christ’s warning about those who cause others to stumble. “One for Pope Leo, a truck load for the Curia in the Vatican, and cargo ships full for the vast majority of today’s successors of the Apostles.”
The backdrop for Strickland’s intervention includes several recent controversies that have stirred traditionalist Catholics. Just last week, the notoriously pro-LGBT Jesuit Father James Martin celebrated a confirmation Mass for ABC News correspondent Gio Benitez, who is “married” to another man. Benitez even credited Martin for his return to the Church, noting that the dissident priest had welcomed him “exactly as I am.” His partner, Tommy DiDario, served as his sponsor during the sacrament.
At last week’s USCCB Fall assembly, Strickland raised concerns about this very situation during the question period. “I don’t know how many of us have seen on social media,” he began, “Priests and others gathered, celebrating the Confirmation of a man living with a man openly. And it just needs to be addressed.”
The response from his fellow bishops was telling. Session chair Bishop Daniel E. Flores simply acknowledged the question with “Thank you, Bishop,” then promptly moved to the next agenda item without any discussion or response from the panel.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church clearly defines marriage as “The matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life.” It also teaches that homosexual acts are “intrinsically disordered” and calls those with same-sex attraction to chastity and conversion.
Pope Leo XIV himself held a private audience this week with Alex Capecelatro, CEO of Josh.ai, and his homosexual “husband” Brian D. Stevens, a philanthropist who serves as a member of the Knights of Malta despite what traditionalists consider his scandalous lifestyle. According to Christopher Hale of Letters from Leo, the couple shared how much Father Martin’s pro-LGBT activism “means to them,” and Leo “nodded approvingly at the mention of that ministry.” Notably, the Pope did not use the opportunity to clarify Church teaching during the audience.
Strickland’s critique extends beyond individual cases to what he sees as systemic problems in how the Mass itself is celebrated. He accused bishops of making “the Sacred Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the Holy Mass, a bauble, a bargaining chip for your worldly conniving, a platform for spewing heresy and playing footsie with the world.”
Indeed, pro-LGBT “pride” Masses and other heterodox liturgies occur regularly across the United States and globally, often without rebuke from local bishops or intervention from Rome. These celebrations frequently incorporate rainbow symbolism and explicitly affirm lifestyles that contradict Catholic teaching on sexuality and marriage.
On immigration, Strickland challenged the bishops’ frequent calls to “welcome the stranger” while what he sees as willfully ignoring the darker consequences of open border policies. “You harm the little ones when you promote lawlessness and turn a blind eye to the rapes, the murders and the attacks of nefarious criminals who waltz across open borders,” he wrote.
The bishop pointed out that some migrants themselves become victims in the chaos of mass illegal immigration, while American communities face increased crime from MS-13 gang members and other dangerous individuals who cross the border illegally. “Some of the little ones find their homes and towns invaded as shepherds say ‘we must welcome the stranger,’ and then allow marauders and criminals free rein.”
Since President Trump’s return to office, both Pope Leo XIV and the U.S. bishops have repeatedly criticized his administration’s immigration enforcement efforts. The Pope has suggested that supporting what he calls “inhuman treatment of immigrants in the United States” is morally equivalent to supporting abortion, a comparison that has frustrated many conservative Catholics.
Bishop Athanasius Schneider offered a different perspective in a 2018 interview with Milan’s Il Giornale, describing mass immigration as “an orchestrated and long-prepared plan by international powers to radically change the Christian and national identities of the European peoples.”
Strickland’s intervention reflects deeper tensions within the American Catholic Church between those who emphasize traditional doctrine and those who prioritize what they call pastoral accompaniment. His willingness to publicly challenge both the Pope and his fellow bishops represents something rarely seen in recent decades, a direct confrontation over fundamental questions of Catholic identity and mission.
The silence that met his concerns at the USCCB assembly suggests these tensions will likely continue to simmer. For Catholics who share Strickland’s concerns, his words offer validation that someone in Church leadership recognizes their frustrations. For others, his approach may seem divisive at a time when unity appears elusive.
What remains clear is that Strickland’s challenge has been issued. Whether Church leadership responds with clarification, continued silence, or something else entirely may well shape the direction of American Catholicism in the months and years ahead. The bishop’s final words in his post capture the stakes as he sees them: “But no longer profane His sanctuary while you betray the Cross!”
