The Vatican has announced that the Bishop of Tyler, Texas, Rt Rev Joseph Strickland, has been dismissed. The dismissal was made known in the following statement:
The Holy Father has removed Bishop Joseph E. Strickland from the pastoral governance of the diocese of Tyler, United States of America, and has appointed Bishop Joe Vásquez of Austin as apostolic administrator of the same diocese, rendering it sede vacante.
The decision came after an apostolic visitation ordered by the Pope last June in the Diocese of Tyler, which was entrusted to two US bishops, Bishop Dennis Sullivan of Camden, and Bishop Emeritus Gerald Kicanas of Tucson.
No reason has been given for the dismissal, and no one has been able to point to any misdemenour on the part of the bishop, other than the accusation that Bishop Strickland was undermining the authority of the Pope. Bishop Strickloand has been a strong upholder of the Catholic Faith, and was well known as a defensor fidei.