A Canceled Article and Clueless Bishop of Yore

Should we expect our shepherds to know stuff?

The attention of the whole world has been fixed this past week on Bishop Strickland, “fired without cause” from the diocese of Tyler. All the possible “reasons” that have been floated by observers (it goes without saying that the Vatican, officially devoted to transparency and dialogue, has modeled the silence of the tomb) are remarkable only for their utter disproportion to the extremely grave step of episcopal deposition.

I mean, we do still believe that bishops are “successors of the Apostles,” don’t we? And in that case, can you imagine St Peter removing St James for, say, preferring a traditional rite of Mass with more Jewish elements in it, or removing St John for serving plague victims instead of telling everyone to social-distance and wear masks, or removing St Paul for posting quite explosive letters here, there, and everywhere without first checking in with Rome? In fact, if Judas hadn’t gone off and hanged himself, I can imagine St Peter removing him from the apostolic college for grave dereliction of duty, but that’s about it. The commentators have more than thoroughly exposed the screaming hypocrisy of removing an American bishop who, let’s say, scored a B+ in the subjects Camaraderie, Administration, and Compliance with Roman Diktats, while German bishops who have flunked Catholicism 101 are still sitting pretty in their well-funded thrones.