In remarks given to French periodical
L'Homme Nouveau (September edition)
What is being done to Bishop Strickland is terrible, an abuse of the divine right of the episcopate.
If I could advise Mgr Strickland, he should absolutely not resign, because then they could wash their hands of his innocence. [Note: Which is why Strickland refused to resign, and was sacked.]
According to the commandment of justice, a bishop can only be removed by the Pope if he has been guilty of something evil (heresy, schism, apostasy, crime, or a totally non-priestly behavior), for example the pseudo-benediction that insults God and deceives people about their salvation - blessing people of opposite or the same sex in extramarital relationships.
Arbitrary dismissal from the post of bishop of a diocese in which a bishop is established by Christ himself as his own shepherd undermines the Pope's authority, as happened historically with the unworthy bargaining for the office under the Avignon papacy (this loss of trust was one of the main reasons for the Reformation's separation of Christianity from the Catholic Church and its hatred of the Pope, who by his arbitrary actions had put himself in God's place).
According to Catholic teaching, the Pope is in no way the Lord of the Church, but rather, as Christ's representative for the universal Church, the first servant of his Lord, who was to say to Simon Peter, who had just become the rock of the Church: "Get thee behind me (Italian indietro, the true indietrismo), for thou thinkest not what God wills, but what men will" (Mt 16:23).
The Pope has no authority from Christ to intimidate and bully good bishops modeled on Christ the Good Shepherd who, in accordance with the episcopal ideal of Vatican II, sanctify, teach and shepherd God's flock in Christ's name, simply because false friends denounce these good bishops to Francis as enemies of the Pope, while heretical and immoral bishops can do as they please or disturb Christ's Church every day with some other nonsense.
