Usually bishops in trouble with the Vatican are asked to resign before submitting a resignation, which the pope accepts. Popes make such moves, considered drastic, when a bishop refuses to resign.
So high level overview is that Strickland was an ultra MAGA bishop who strongly supported Trump, and has publicly stated that he’d refuse the normal method for a bishop to be removed, in which he is asked to resign.
There’s also this anecdote from the article:
Last year, when the Vatican defrocked ultra-conservative U.S. anti-abortion priest Frank Pavone for “blasphemous” social media posts and disobedience to bishops, Strickland was one of the few American bishops to defend him publicly.
“The blasphemy is that this holy priest is canceled while an evil president promotes the denial of truth and the murder of the unborn at every turn, Vatican officials promote immorality and denial of the deposit of faith and priests promote gender confusion devastating lives…evil,” Strickland wrote on the platform then known as Twitter.
So basically, Strickland joined one of the most authoritarian organizations in the world, the Catholic Church, and then refused to obey the Pope, instead choosing to worship fucking Donald Trump, of all people, all the while calling President Biden and even the Vatican “evil.”
Sounds like this man was far too stupid to be in such a position of power. Just another idiot who sacrificed himself for a rich con man.
So high level overview is that Strickland was an ultra MAGA bishop who strongly supported Trump, and has publicly stated that he’d refuse the normal method for a bishop to be removed, in which he is asked to resign.
There’s also this anecdote from the article:
So basically, Strickland joined one of the most authoritarian organizations in the world, the Catholic Church, and then refused to obey the Pope, instead choosing to worship fucking Donald Trump, of all people, all the while calling President Biden and even the Vatican “evil.”
Sounds like this man was far too stupid to be in such a position of power. Just another idiot who sacrificed himself for a rich con man.
Watch him create his own church to grift his followers once he gets kicked out.
SCHISM! SCHISM! SCHISM!