When Bishop Joseph Strickland was removed as bishop of the Diocese of Tyler, TX in November 2023, one of the reasons given for his termination by Apostolic Nuncio Christophe Pierre was that he refused to "implement the motu propoio Traditionis custodes," i.e. cancel Latin Masses throughout his diocese. Bishop Strickland refused to do so because he could not, in good conscience, hurt well-meaning, faithful Catholics in his diocese: "As a shepherd and protector of my Diocese, I could not take actions which I knew with certainty would injure part of my flock and deprive them of the spiritual goods which Christ entrusted to His Church."
Strickland's successor and the new "Apostolic Administrator" of the Tyler Diocese, Joe Vasquez, has no such qualms. After Pierre sacked Strickland, Vasquez wrote to the Vatican asking for "guidance on how to implement Traditiones Custodes in this diocese." The answer that came back from the Dicastery for Divine Worship was cruel indeed: cancel all five Latin Masses in the diocese, except for the Latin Mass at the FSSP Parish in Tyler, St. Joseph the Worker. Diocesan Latin Masses in Tyler, Malakoff, Texarkana, Gilmer, and Nacogdoches are to end as of November 30, 2024. No other priests in the diocese will have faculties for the Latin Mass except those at St. Joseph the Worker. Everywhere else, the Latin Mass is "discontinued."
Like most FSSP parishes, St. Joseph the Worker in Tyler, TX is quite crowded. At a time when the Church in Western Europe (so familiar to Cardinal Pierre, who hails from France) is in the process of disappearing entirely, Latin Mass parishes in Tyler and across the globe are packed with young families and converts. Cancelling all five of the Latin Masses in the Diocese will place an enormous strain on its single FSSP parish. Traditional Catholics in far-flung Texarkana are further out of luck, as they now face a two-hour drive to Tyler if they wish to pray as Catholics have for thousands of years.
Such practicalities are of no moment to Vatican leadership. Indeed, a situation where the Church is growing is scarcely conceivable to Western Europeans like Cardinal Pierre, who have witnessed the Church in their native countries collapse within their lifetimes. And the notion of the Vatican micro-managing a parish in rural Texas would seem antithetical to the principles of "synodality," which supposedly emphasize the need for local churches to govern themselves. But under the leadership of Western European Cardinals Hollerich and Grech, the Synod entirely-- and deliberately-- ignored the chorus of voices urging the Church to return to its own traditional liturgy and rescind the horrible, destructive Traditionis Custodes.
We need more shepherds like Bishop Strickland, who bravely stood for the Church's unchanging teaching and liturgy at the expense of his job. Someday, this brave bishop will be celebrated for the care he showed for his flock and the love he showed for Christ and his Church. Let us keep him, and the Catholics of the Diocese of Tyler, in our prayers.
