Pope Francis has fired the Texan bishop Joseph Strickland, a fierce critic who has questioned the Pope’s leadership of the Catholic church.
The Vatican said the bishop would be “relieved” of his duties as a result of investigations at his Diocese of Tyler.
Bishop Strickland is a leading voice in a branch of US Catholicism that is opposed to the Pope’s reforms.
His removal comes after Francis spoke of the “backwardness” of some US Catholic church leaders.
