Subscriber OnlyUSAnalysis

Pope Francis’s removal of Texas bishop shows divisions between some US Catholics and Rome

Differences are so great between American bishops and Vatican under Francis that it has ‘placed US Church on verge of schism’

Bishop Joseph Strickland, left, speaks to supporters outside the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops at the Marriott Waterfront hotel in Baltimore, on Wednesday. Photograph: Wesley Lapointe/New York Times

Martin Wall's face
Martin Wall in Washington
Sat Nov 18 2023 - 06:00

The Catholic parish not too far from where I live published its annual accounts last week.

The parish priest quipped he was delivering “the sermon on the amounts” as he briefed parishioners on the financial performance.

The numbers were stunning.

If it was not a sin, they would make many a parish or even diocesan administrator in Ireland green with envy.

READ MORE

Overall, the parish received nearly $7 million (€6.4 million) in revenue from all sources including pledged amounts, collections, donations and bequests.

It also spent a similar amount, including more than $1 million on its extensive social justice programmes.

[ A traditionalist backlash greets Pope Francis’s opening towards LGBT people ]

The parish is based in an upmarket area with some high-profile parishioners. US president Joe Biden is known to stop by to attend Mass from time to time. However, the figures show the wealth generated by some parishes in parts of the United States.

By comparison, Dublin’s Catholic archdiocese, which has nearly 200 parishes, recorded an income of €5.2 million in 2021, down from €7.4 million in 2020. The Dublin figures have to be taken in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The parish down the road from where I live is also growing. It recorded an increase of a couple of hundred in the number of households registered, while there was a significant rise in the number of Baptisms, First Communions and Confirmations.

Overall, the Catholic Church in the US has grown also over recent years. Depending on the methodology for counting, there are between 62 and 73 million Catholics across the country.

The American branch is the wealthiest region of the church worldwide. However, it also has its problems. Just like in politics, the church in the US has deep ideological divisions.

Geographically in the US, the centre of gravity of the church has been moving southwards, away from the big cities in the northeast and midwest such as New York, Boston and Chicago.

But at the same time many bishops and priests also seem to have been moving, to the political right.

Several bishops and cardinals in the American hierarchy were appointed under Pope John Paul or Pope Benedict and see the world quite differently from Pope Francis.

These divisions were set out last weekend when Pope Francis removed Bishop Joseph Strickland from his post as leader of the diocese of Tyler in Texas in the aftermath of an investigation by Vatican authorities.

[ Pope removes leading US conservative bishop from office ]

A number of conservative bishops have appeared doubtful at some of Francis’s reforms and consider him very liberal on social issues such as divorce and same-sex relationships. They have also been unhappy at Francis’s discouragement of the celebration of the traditional Latin Mass.

The conservative bishops are strongly pro-life. Some have issued bans on Catholic politicians – including former Democrat speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi – from receiving the Eucharist over their support for abortion rights.

But Bishop Strickland went further than most on the conservative wing. In May he accused Francis in a tweet of “undermining the deposit of faith”.

Tim, Luke and Tina McMorland listen to Bishop Joseph Strickland during a rally outside the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in Baltimore on Wednesday. Photograph: Wesley Lapointe/New York Times

The removal of Bishop Strickland caused outrage among some conservative Catholics. US media has reported that about 30,000 people have signed a petition of support.

A rosary procession “in defence of Holy Mother Church and Bishop Strickland” was announced earlier this week for Tyler, Texas on Saturday.

The 250-strong American Catholic hierarchy held their annual meeting in Baltimore, Maryland during the week. A short distance away supporters sang and prayed with the deposed bishop. Some held signs which said: “We stand with Bishop Strickland.”

The big question is what all this will mean for the Catholic Church in the United States and its relationship with Rome.

In her book Playing God, which was published earlier this year, Catholic journalist Mary Jo McConahay argues that the differences were now so great between senior American bishops and the Vatican under Francis that it has “placed the US Church on the verge of schism”.

She argues that essentially a number of senior bishops were, politically, in lockstep with often extremely wealthy far-right figures not only on moral issues but in relation to other down-to-earth areas such as the economy, the Covid-19 pandemic and the environment.

The book maintains that within some right-wing Catholic circles the doctrinal position of “sedevacantism” was being promoted – essentially that Francis was not a valid occupier of the Holy See given his political and economic philosophies.

It remains to be seen whether the removal of Bishop Strickland – probably the most outspoken critic of the pope from within the American Church – will dampen down the divisions with Rome. Or whether on the other hand they will become more entrenched – leading potentially to a split.

LATEST STORIES