A few weeks ago, Bishop Joseph Strickland sent an open letter to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops as the group met in Baltimore for its fall plenary assembly.
It was a remarkable letter in which Strickland accused his fellow bishops of silence in the face of “the false messages constantly flowing from the Vatican under the leadership of Pope Francis,” essentially accusing the Vatican of promoting heresy.
But even more remarkable was the bishops’ response: silence.
Granted, I may have missed an objection here or there, but Strickland’s charges are so grave and so sweeping that one would expect not just a few objections, but a whole boatload of them. For example, he refers to the bishops as “silent shepherds, unwilling to risk speaking up in the face of evil and destructive forces that threaten the Church.” He suggests, in addition, that their actions are reminiscent of Judas’s betrayal of Christ.
Moreover, Strickland insists that the bishops cannot claim to be ignorant of the damage Francis has done:
“There can be no bishop who is unaware of statements that Pope Francis has made that are unambiguous denials of the Catholic faith. For example, Francis has stated publicly…that all religions are a path to God. … How many souls will be lost who will accept his erroneous statement that all religions will lead to salvation? …Every bishop and cardinal should publicly and unequivocally state that Francis no longer teaches the Catholic faith. Souls are at stake!
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